An intensifying campaign of violence targeting the Supreme Court and pro-life women’s centers make Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) past threats against conservative justices seem “sickening,” a U.S. senator said on Wednesday. Instead of coddling rioters promising “days of rage,” America needs a rebirth of faith and virtue, he said.
On Wednesday morning, police arrested a man who said he visited the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh intending to kill the Trump appointee. Police sources reported that the suspect said he wanted “to give his life purpose” by executing Kavanaugh, because “he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to an abortion.” The man reportedly had a gun, a tactical knife, pepper spray, and zip ties on his person.
In light of the arrest, many individuals on social media shared a video of Schumer whipping up a 2020 rally at the Supreme Court, saying, “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.”
“Frankly, it’s sickening when I see those comments from Schumer,” U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), founder and chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, told “Washington Watch” host Tony Perkins on Wednesday. “There are deranged people in our country who will hear that and be motivated to take violent action. We’ve got to take the temperature down in this moment of our history.”
Schumer’s counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), took him to task on the Senate floor Wednesday. “This is exactly the kind of event that many worried the unhinged, reckless, apocalyptic rhetoric from prominent figures toward the court — going back many months, and especially in recent weeks — could make more likely,” he said.
McConnell called on House Democrats to pass a bill that enhances police protection for Supreme Court justices’ family members, which the Senate passed unanimously last month, “before the sun sets.”
Unfortunately, that legislation will not protect grassroots pro-life advocates, who have become the bullseye for violent, pro-abortion activists nationwide.
Early Wednesday morning, a radical pro-abortion group called Jane’s Revenge firebombed CompassCare, a pro-life women’s center based in Buffalo, New York. The same group claimed responsibility for throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of Wisconsin Family Action, an affiliate of the Family Research Council which provides diapers and baby clothes to unprivileged mothers, in May. The same month, someone threw two Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of Oregon Right to Life.
Nor has all recent violence against pro-life individuals followed the leaked decision of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs case. In January, a group of socialist protesters reportedly threw a smoke bomb into a student pro-life conference in Austin, Texas.
“This is the pro-abortion ‘Kristallnacht,’” insisted Jim Hardin, the CEO of CompassCare. “It’s shameful what these abortion activists have done, but it’s even more shameful that you don’t hear a denunciation of this violence of pro-life pregnancy centers from the sources of power. Where is the legislature? Where is [New York Governor Kathy] Hochul? Where is Biden?”
In the absence of Democratic politicians tamping down the vitriolic rhetoric, Daines attempted to calm the waters.
“Violence is never the answer, no matter what side you’re on, on any issue,” he urged. “Violence is never the answer.”
To discourage violence, the government must enforce the law, punish abortion radicals, and protect right-to-life groups, Daines said. “God ordained the work of government to restrain evil and ensure that societies and communities flourish.” But the government cannot maintain peace or enforce justice without widespread and diffuse religious sentiment and adherence to Judeo-Christian morality, he said.
“You can’t have freedom without virtue, and you can’t have virtue without faith,” said Daines. “We need to elevate that discussion in our country, because the issues facing our nation are bigger than just laws. The rule of law and the Constitution only work when you have virtue and true freedom of the people.”
Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.
