DHS Warns of Violent Extremism in Memo After Roe v. Wade Ruling: Reports

Supreme Court Police officers set up security barricades outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 1, 2021. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly issued a memo to warn that government officials and judges could be at risk by violent extremists after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday.

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.”

Pro-abortion protester Lili Galante outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 24, 2022. Emel Akan/The Epoch Times

“DHS will continue working with our partners across every level of government to share timely information and to support law enforcement efforts to keep our communities safe,” the DHS spokesperson added.

The Epoch Times contacted DHS for further comment.

The memo was issued by DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and comes the same day the Supreme Court returned the power to make or change abortion laws to the hands of the states for the first time since 1973.

Axios reported the memo warned that threats of violent extremism are likely for a number of weeks as states amend abortion laws in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.

The plot to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and recent attacks by pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge were cited in the memo as well, Axios reported.

Trigger Laws

More than a dozen U.S. states had mechanisms built into abortion legislation that were triggered on Friday when the Supreme Court made its ruling, according to a research group.

At least 13 states have “trigger laws” that ban abortions immediately after the ruling Friday. They are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

On Friday, the Utah legislature’s general counsel certified that the state’s 2020 trigger law met legal requirements.

Pro-life supporters celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 24, 2022. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Its ban contains narrow exceptions for rape and incest if those crimes are reported to law enforcement, and for serious risk to the life or health of the mother, as well as confirmed lethal birth defects.

Ohio also had its abortion law triggered on Friday, which bans most abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

Enforcement of Ohio’s 2019 “heartbeat” ban had been on hold for nearly three years under a federal court injunction. The state attorney general, Republican Dave Yost, asked for that to be dissolved because of the high court’s ruling, and a federal judge agreed hours later.

Other states will revisit their laws now that Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Protests

Pro-abortion activists on Friday reacted with protests in several major cities around the country after the Supreme Court decision.

Protests were taking place in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, as well as in Chicago, Seattle, and other cities.

Abortion clinics, pregnancy centers, churches, and police are ramping up security measures in some areas.