Republicans Demand Merrick Garland File Charges Against Pro-Abortion Extremists

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 15, 2022   |   6:10PM   |   Washington, DC

Republican lawmakers urged U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate pro-abortion terrorism again Wednesday amid dozens of reports of arson, vandalism and threats against pro-lifers in recent weeks. To date, Garland hasn’t charged a single abortion activist with violence or vandalism related to firebombings, vandalism or doxxing and protesting outside the homes of Supreme Court justices.

U.S. House and Senate Republicans both sent letters to the Department of Justice leader on Wednesday, demanding that he take action in response to the violence, The Washington Times reports.

“… the Department of Justice must act swiftly to investigate and prosecute recent domestic terrorist attacks against pro-life organizations and dissuade future perpetrators of such violence,” more than 120 House Republicans wrote in a letter published at the Washington Examiner.

Though Garland has condemned the threats and violence, many think his office is not doing enough to stop it. In their letter, Senate Republicans asked why his department has not arrested any illegal protesters outside the justices’ homes, especially since Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the target of an assassination attempt last week.

“We continue to be baffled over the lack of prosecutions under Title 18, Section 1507 of the U.S. Code,” the Senate Republicans said. The law prohibits protests outside the homes of judges, witnesses, jurors and other court officials to protect them from intimidation.

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“While judges serve a public office, the principle of judicial independence means that their deliberations should be free from influence outside the courtroom,” they continued. “This means especially that their deliberations should be free from harassment and intimidation, nowhere more than in their homes where their families reside.”

Senator Marco Rubio also asked Garland to specifically prosecute Jane’s Revenge.

“Despite the damage that has already been done and even though these groups have kept their promise to raise the violent stakes, the DOJ has not been faithful to its promise of ensuring the public’s safety against these violent, radical activists,” Rubio wrote. “To date, there has not been a single charge brought against any individual or group despite the countless pro-life centers in America that have been firebombed and vandalized in recent months.”

A pro-abortion group, Ruth Sent Us, recently posted the addresses of the Supreme Court justices’ homes and a photo of Kavanaugh’s daughters’ school online. The same group also mentioned Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s children last week in a call to protest outside her home and a local elementary school. Both have school-age children.

U.S. House Republicans, led by Reps. Scott Franklin, of Florida, Claudia Tenney, of New York, and Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, also urged Garland to investigate the recent vandalism and arson attacks on pro-life organizations and churches.

“Since the draft Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health U.S. Supreme Court opinion was leaked on May 2, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court Justices and pro-life advocates have experienced heightened threats and violence,” they wrote. “[The department] has a clear duty to pursue these recent attacks as instances of domestic terrorism, and it is the responsibility of the National Security Division to protect the United States from threats to our national security by seeking justice through law.”

They described the attacks as acts of domestic terrorism by citing federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2331), according to the Examiner. The House Republicans also asked Garland about plans to “prevent similar attacks from occurring against other pro-life organizations.”

The two letters are the latest in repeated urgings from Republican lawmakers to investigate and prosecute the escalating violence. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, also has sent Garland several letters asking how the department plans to crack down on and prosecute pro-abortion violence.

While Garland and the Biden administration have condemned violence, they have not condemned protests outside the justices’ homes since Politico reported about a leaked draft ruling showing the high court overturning Roe v. Wade this summer.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did respond to a journalist’s question about the violence, saying: “Well, that’s something, clearly, the DOJ is looking into. And they’ve taken that very seriously. We have seen an uptick of that type of arson and bombing and — or attempt to bomb, as we saw just recently over the weekend,” according to the Examiner.

The U.S. Marshals and Department of Justice also have increased security for the justices, their staff and families.

According to Axios, a recent report from the Department of Homeland Security warned that radical abortion activists may burn down or storm the Supreme Court building and murder justices and their law clerks if the court overturns Roe. The report indicates these pro-abortion extremists also plan to target churches and other places of worship.

Other pro-abortion groups have been calling for churches, especially Catholic Churches, to be the target of abortion activists’ outrage.

LifeNews has been keeping track of the growing hostility, listing approximately 60 incidents to-date since the leak. Find the list here.

The Supreme Court is expected to release its final ruling on the Mississippi abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health this summer, potentially later this month.

Since Roe in 1973, more than 63 million unborn babies and hundreds of mothers have died in supposedly “safe, legal” abortions.