Conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh should die, one man decides The 26-year-old travels heavily armed to the home of the judge appointed by former US President Trump and is arrested. The background is said to be upcoming important decisions by the Supreme Court.
A 26-year-old California man has been charged with attempted murder following threats against conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The man was arrested early Wednesday morning near Kavanaugh's home in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, US court documents showed. He was carrying a semi-automatic firearm, a knife and a bulletproof vest.
The 26-year-old was reportedly spotted by two police officers in front of Kavanaugh's house on Wednesday night. The man called 911 and said he was having suicidal thoughts. He traveled from California to kill Kavanaugh. According to the court documents, the police arrested him while he was still on the phone.
According to a sworn testimony provided by FBI officials, the man said he was angry about a pending Supreme Court decision on abortion rights and about the shooting at a Texas school in May. The man assumed that Kavanaugh wanted to represent decisions that would further relax gun laws in the United States. The Supreme Court is set to make a decision that could overturn gun control laws in New York. US President Joe Biden "strongly condemned" the threats against Kavanaugh, the White House said.
The incident came ahead of a much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights. A draft judgment leaked in early May shows that the conservative majority of the court's judges are on the verge of overturning the US abortion rights enshrined in the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. States would then have a free hand to ban abortion or drastically restrict access to abortions.
The court's final decision is expected later this month. After the draft judgment became known, there had already been protests in front of the houses of several conservative Supreme Court judges, including Kavanaugh, who was appointed by ex-President Donald Trump. The security measures in front of the judges' houses and in front of the courthouse itself were then increased.
Kavanaugh is one of six US Supreme Court justices considered conservative. They face three more liberal judges. However, compared to some of his conservative peers, Kavanaugh is considered more moderate.
Senate Republicans blamed Democrat rhetoric for Wednesday's attempted attack. They pointed to statements by Senator Chuck Schumer in March 2020, in which he warned Judge Kavanaugh and another Trump-nominated conservative judge, "You're going to pay the price" and "You have no idea what to expect" if they vote for the annulment of abortion protection vote. Schumer apologized the next day and denied that he threatened the judges.
