November 5, 2024
A Department of Homeland Security memo warned that a surge in violence is likely after the Supreme Court issues its ruling in an abortion case that could result in a...

A Department of Homeland Security memo warned that a surge in violence is likely after the Supreme Court issues its ruling in an abortion case that could result in a ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973.

The Friday memo said threats against various levels of government “are likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling,” according to Axios.

The bulletin warned of an emerging “threat to government, religious and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities and ideological opponents,” according to CBS.

Since a draft opinion leaked that called for overturning Roe v. Wade, protesters have demonstrated outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, a Wisconsin pro-life organization was firebombed and a New York City protest blocked pro-life demonstrators from holding a vigil at a Planned Parenthood.

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The memo noted that the threat environment is already supercharged.

The National Capital Region Threat Intelligence Consortium has referred at least 25 violent online posts for investigation, according to CBS.

The bulletin said that social media threats linked to the abortion decision have touched upon “burning down or storming the U.S. Supreme Court and murdering Justices and their clerks, members of Congress and lawful demonstrators.”

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The bulletin from the DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis said “grievances related to restricting abortion access could fuel violence by pro-choice abortion-related violent extremists.”

The memo also warned law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for individuals or groups “levying violent threats, encouraging others to commit violence or doxing individuals to incite or enable violence against others for abortion-related motivations,” as well as “pre-operational surveillance, unusual or suspicious interest in a facility or attempts to gain unauthorized entry to government facilities, reproductive healthcare facilities or personal residences of Supreme Court Justices.”

But while there is a lot of threatening language floating about, little has crystallized into specific actionable threats.

“A lot of what we have been seeing has been implied threats without specific locations,” said Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association.

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“That makes it difficult when you’re trying to figure out what crosses that line in online groups, and people can have extreme ideologies, there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s the discussion of violence, death and destruction that we’re concerned about.”

Jonathan Wackrow, a risk management consultant and a former special agent with the Secret Service, said the weekend massacre in Buffalo, New York,  has “complicated everything even more,” Axios reported.

“The attack in Buffalo actually has a measured impact on this Roe decision and how people will react to it. You see that people are willing to engage in the most violent acts in furtherance of that ideology.”