Can we all agree on that, at least?
There seems to be some idea among the wingnuts that liberals will not condemn this. They are wrong. This is grotesque:
An armed man was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home after allegedly making threats against Kavanaugh, according to a Supreme Court spokesperson.
The man was arrested at about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday and taken into custody in Montgomery County.
The suspect’s name has not been released but a law enforcement official told ABC News that he is from California.
Montgomery County police said the case has been transferred to the FBI.
The Department of Homeland Security warned in May that there could be threats against Supreme Court justices over the leaked draft of the Roe v. Wade decision.
A bulletin obtained by ABC News in May said the draft leak “prompted a significant increase in violent threats — many made online via social media and some of which are under investigation –directed toward some U.S. Supreme Court Justices and the Supreme Court building.”
The National Capital Threat Intelligence Consortium identified at least 25 violent threats on social media that were referred to partner agencies for further investigation, the bulletin said.
“Some of these threats discussed burning down or storming the U.S. Supreme Court and murdering Justices and their clerks, members of Congress, and lawful demonstrators,” the bulletin said.
U.S. Marshals bolstered their protective details for the justices and began guarding their homes around the clock in the wake of the leaked draft, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday.
“This kind of behavior is obviously behavior that we will not tolerate,” Garland said. “We will do everything we can to prevent them [violence and threats of violence] and to hold people who do them accountable.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday, “This is exactly, exactly the kind of event that many feared the terrible breach of the court’s rules and norms could fuel.”
McConnell used the incident to call on the House to pass legislation increasing protection for Supreme Court Justices and their families.
McConnell is very committed to ending violence when he wants to be, isn’t he? But he’s making no sense. Why would the leak create more ill will than the ruling itself? Assuming they have not substantially changed their minds, it was going to happen anyway.
Cable news tells me that the guy was upset about the abortion ruling and gun rights and he planned to kill Kavanaugh and then himself. Thank goodness he was unable to do it. We have successfully avoided political assassination in this country since the 1960s when it happened frequently. There were a few attempts after that but we’ve been lucky. It’s a terrible, terrible thing and let’s hope this isn’t the next step in our political devolution.
Update: Apparently, the 26 year old called the police himself saying that he was having suicidal thoughts and they came and got him.