A radical leftwing group is laying plans to shut down the Supreme Court in response to a leaked opinion that overturns Roe v. Wade, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
#ShutdownDC is planning to block streets adjoining the Court to prevent the justices and their staff from reaching their chambers. Organizers acknowledged their operations go beyond constitutionally protected activity, and they referenced the likelihood of arrests and clashes with law enforcement during a Tuesday night briefing the Free Beacon monitored.
“One of our goals would be to expand the current political crisis by shutting down the Supreme Court,” one of the organizers said. The group planned the blockade for Monday, June 13, a day when the Court will likely hand down opinions.
#ShutdownDC is concocting its ploy amid continued concerns over the Supreme Court’s security and that of the justices following the unprecedented leak. The Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence arm circulated a memo in May warning of a sharp rise in threats to the High Court. Law enforcement is investigating violent threats from pro-abortion extremists against members of the Court as well as the Court building itself, the memo said.
The Tuesday night briefing included more than 60 activists and was led by four or five organizers, some of whom concealed their identities. The presentation included a detailed “tactical” plan for blocking access to the Court’s underground parking garage, which is the primary entry and exit point for employees and justices.
The plan calls for demonstrators to obstruct two points near the Court on 2nd Street, and a third spot on A St., which bisects 2nd Street directly behind the Court building. A Street is a residential area, while 2nd Street is a busy commuter thoroughfare.
To coincide with the blockade, #ShutDownDC is planning a rally in front of the Court on First St., which lies between the U.S. Capitol and the Court’s marble plaza. Organizers described the rally as a “low-risk” location, in contrast to the blockade posts where they anticipate arrests and skirmishes with police.
“It’s possible we will see many different law enforcement agencies, as we’ve become used to,” an organizer said. Several agencies have jurisdiction over the area, including the Capitol Police and Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. None of the organizers made threats against particular justices, but they opened the briefing by warning that their tactics are illegal and readily acknowledging their goal is to massively disrupt the third branch of the government.
