Dems can’t blame Trump for Jan. 6, absolve Schumer
In March 2020, as the Supreme Court was hearing arguments in a case about a Louisiana abortion law, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., spoke to a rally on the steps of the Supreme Court and bellowed: “I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions!”
His remarks, specifically naming Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, drew immediate condemnation, and not just from Republicans. American Bar Association President Judy Perry Martinez declared she was “deeply troubled” by Schumer’s “threatening two sitting justices of the U.S. Supreme Court over their upcoming votes in a pending case.” Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. issued a rare rebuke, declaring that “threatening statements
FROM THE RIGHT
Ross Douthat
Star Parker
Jonah Goldberg Armstrong Williams Pat Buchanan
Marc Thiessen George Will of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous.”
Early Wednesday, Nicholas John Roske arrived in a taxi at Kavanaugh’s home armed, according to court documents, with a Glock 17, two magazines and ammunition, a tactical knife, pepper spray, a hammer, a screwdriver, a crowbar, zip ties and duct tape. He was later arrested nearby after he called authorities and said he wanted to kill a specific justice, according to federal prosecutors. A Supreme Court spokeswoman identified that justice as Kavanaugh. Roske allegedly told police he was angered by the leaked draft of an opinion by the Supreme Court indicating that it might overturn Roe v. Wade, and that Kavanaugh would seek to loosen gun-control laws. The Justice Department announced later that day that Roske had been indicted on “federal charges of attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice.”
While not mentioning Schumer, Sen. Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., correctly pointed out that this “is exactly the kind of event that many worried the unhinged, reckless, apocalyptic rhetoric from prominent figures toward the Court… could make more likely.”
Schumer did not just threaten the justices: After left-wing activists doxed Kavanaugh and other conservatives on the court — publishing their partial addresses online, as well as a map allegedly showing where the justices live — the senator dismissed the danger of protesting in front of justices’ homes. “There’s protests three, four times a week outside my house,” he said. “The American way to peacefully protest is okay.”
No, it’s not okay to protest outside the home of a Supreme Court justice. It’s illegal. Federal law — Section 1507 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code — clearly states that it is unlawful to protest near a “residence occupied or used by [a] judge, juror, witness, or court officer” with the intent of influencing “the discharge of his duty.” But Attorney General Merrick Garland has done absolutely nothing to enforce that law. Indeed, just hours after the potential assassin’s arrest, protesters were back in front of Kavanaugh’s house, violating federal law with impunity and sending him an unambiguous message: We know where you live.
Imagine what would ensue if a gunman succeeded in killing a conservative justice, and possibly prevented the high court from issuing its expected ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. A Supreme Court decision changed by an assassin’s bullet would cause a constitutional crisis that would make Jan. 6 pale by comparison.