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Armed Man Arrested Near Home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


An armed California man was arrested near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday, according to reports.

Fox News noted that the suspect was carrying a firearm and a knife and had made violent threats against the justice.

“The man’s name is being withheld at this time, but sources say he is in his 20s and was picked up on a nearby street. He did not get to the Kavanaugh home,” the report said.

Fox News added that the U.S. Marshal Service and the Montgomery County Police Department are currently handling the investigation.

The incident comes following the unprecedented leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion earlier this month overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states.

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The February draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito and signed by four other conservative justices including Kavanaugh, returns the issue to the states. But that was a draft; the final ruling is expected this month. Previous reporting indicated that the justices who signed onto the reversal of Roe had not changed their minds.

The incident also comes on the heels of a warning issued this week by the Department of Homeland Security stating that violence around the country is expected to increase over the summer due in part to political differences.

The memo warns of a “heightened threat environment” over the next several months, adding that the department will be monitoring for risks of domestic terrorism and foreign actors attempting to disrupt the country and promote acts of violence.

“The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, as noted in the previous Bulletin, and several recent attacks have highlighted the dynamic and complex nature of the threat environment,” DHS said in a new bulletin from the National Terrorism Advisory System.

“In the coming months, we expect the threat environment to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets,” DHS said.

Potential targets listed in the bulletin include “public gatherings, faith-based institutions, schools, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, U.S. critical infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents.”

“Threat actors have recently mobilized to violence due to factors such as personal grievances, reactions to current events, and adherence to violent extremist ideologies, including racially or ethnically motivated or anti-government/anti-authority violent extremism,” said the warning.

The department stressed that “foreign adversaries—including terrorist organizations and nation-state adversaries—also remain intent on exploiting the threat environment to promote or inspire violence, sow discord, or undermine U.S. democratic institutions.”

“We continue to assess that the primary threat of mass casualty violence in the United States stems from lone offenders and small groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances,” the bulletin adds.

Fox News adds:

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The update from DHS Tuesday reiterated from its previous bulletin that individuals both for and against abortion online have advocated for violence against government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel, and facilities in response to the high-profile U.S. Supreme Court case. 

“Chinese, Iranian, Russian, and other foreign malign influence actors have sought to contribute to U.S. internal discord and weaken its focus and position internationally,” the DHS said. “As the U.S. 2022 mid-term elections approach, malign foreign actors could bolster their messaging to sow discord and influence U.S. audiences in keeping with practices during previous election cycles.”

As for the high court, several protests have already been held outside the homes of some of the conservative justices who signed onto the Roe reversal, including outside Kavanaugh’s home.

Douglas Blair, a news editor for The Daily Signal, said the pro-abortion protests outside the justice’s residence were “one of the scariest things” he’s ever witnessed.

In an interview on “Fox & Friends” Monday, he labeled the protests an “attempt at intimidation” as he blasted the Biden administration for not more forcefully condemning them.

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“This is an attempt at intimidation. And I think it really says a lot, too, that the Biden administration is willing to absolutely let these justices out to dry,” he said.

“They’re not going to say, ‘It’s not acceptable for you to go to somebody’s house and yell and scream.’ That’s not how we do it in this country,” Blair continued.

“I did not see Justice Kavanaugh. My hope is that he wasn’t home. My hope is that he was safe with his family somewhere else because it was genuinely one of the scariest things I’ve ever witnessed,” added Blair.

“Watching these people yell and scream and try and change the vote of what is most possibly the most important vote in the history of this country: The right to live your life and to have a human being survive in the womb,” he said.

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