Pro-Abortion Activists Protest in Cities, Burn American Flag

Pro-abortion activists gather in protest in Washington, on June 24, 2022. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Pro-abortion activists began to assemble in cities across America on Friday afternoon to protest in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade, a seminal ruling that made abortion legal nationwide in 1973.

The activists congregated in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, as well as Chicago, Seattle, and other cities.

In the nation’s capital, people dressed like members of the far-left extremist group Antifa held signs and chanted. At one point they burned an American flag and chanted about burning cities.

In images circulating online, a burning U.S. flag can be seen on the ground next to a poster with the names of the conservative Supreme Court justices who supported the court’s opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito.

A protester lights a cigarette on a burning American Flag while marching with pro-abortion activists in Washington, on June 24, 2022. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

They chanted, “If we don’t get it, burn it down,” according to Fox News. They also reportedly chanted, “Every city, every town, burn the precinct to the ground.”

A number of the protesters dressed in Antifa’s signature black, and they utilized a tactic used by Antifa to shield their faces using black umbrellas.

Antifa played a driving role in violent, fiery protests that swept America and lasted for months after the death of George Floyd in May 2020 until around the time of the general elections in November of that year, when they petered out.

Pro-abortion protesters block cameras with umbrellas as they gather in protest in Washington, on June 24, 2022. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

According to the Wall Street Journal, protesters began to gather outside of a federal courthouse in Los Angeles around noon and in Miami they congregated in a busy part of an arts district in Wynwood.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke at a protest in Union Square while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined demonstrators in Washington.

A common sign seen at protests across the country read “bans off our bodies.”

Violent Extremists

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly issued a memo on Friday to warn that government officials and judges could be at risk by violent extremists following the ruling.

Government officials and judges “probably are at most risk for violence in response to the decision,” according to the memo, obtained by Axios and CNN. The warning was reportedly sent to DHS personnel, law enforcement, first responders, and private sector partners.

“Americans’ freedom of speech and right to peacefully protest are fundamental Constitutional rights. Those rights do not extend to violence and other illegal activity,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Hill.

Places of worship and facilities that provide abortions in various states were mentioned in the memo as being at risk of being targeted by domestic violent extremists who are both pro-abortion and pro-life due to prior arson attacks.

The memo reportedly stated that DHS was aware of “at least 11 incidents of vandalism threatening violence targeting religious facilities perceived as being opposed to abortion.”

The White House has previously encouraged pro-abortion activists to protest within the law.