Police arrest armed man near house of Supreme Court justice
Washington, Jun 8 (EFE).- Police arrested an armed man early Wednesday morning near the home of US Supreme Court Justice Brent Kavanaugh, a spokesperson for the high court told EFE.
The area around Kavanaugh’s home in recent weeks has become the site of pro-abortion demonstrations in response to the leak of a draft ruling indicating that the Supreme Court is preparing in June to overturn the right to abortion in the United States.
The spokesperson said that the arrested man had made threats against Kavanaugh but did not specify if his anger was in response to the high court’s apparent pending move to overturn the protection for abortion.
Kavanaugh, who was nominated to the top US court by former President Donald Trump, is one of the justices favoring the abolition of abortion, according to the draft of the ruling leaked in May by the Politico online news outlet.
The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the investigation, reported that the arrested man had expressed his intention to assassinate Kavanaugh and was angry about the decision to overturn the right to abortion, as well as about recent mass shootings that have shocked and horrified the nation.
Police made the arrest at about 1:50 am, according to the Supreme Court spokesperson.
According to The Washington Post, the man was unable to get close to Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland’s Montgomery County, near Washington DC, and was apprehended on a nearby street.
After the incident was reported, US Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned any and all threats or violence against Supreme Court justices, saying they “strike at the heart of our democracy.”
“We will do everything we can to prevent them,” Garland said at a news conference to make public the creation of a team headed by the DOJ to probe the response of Uvalde, Texas, police to the recent mass shooting at an elementary school there that left 19 children and two teachers dead and many others wounded.
Garland also said that last month he decided to increase security for the justices on the high court to 24 hours a day due to the leak of the draft ruling, which has sparked many protests around the country.
EFE
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