Some of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s neighbors told The Washington Post this week that they are “tired” of the pro-abortion protesters assembling in front of the justice’s home in Maryland.
Pro-choice advocate Emily Strulson, who lives a half-block away from Kavanaugh, told The Post that she understands the “passion” of the demonstrators but has “had enough” of the constant protests outside Kavanaugh’s home since the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Strulson began marching for abortion rights in middle school and had hundreds of yard signs distributed throughout her area stating “Chevy Chasers for Choice.”
Lyric Winik, who lives a few doors down from Kavanaugh, told The Post that “the vast majority of people here [Chevy Chase] are pro-choice,” and that “the very vast majority of people here think that these protesters have gotten out of control.”
The Post attempted to speak with 18 of Kavanaugh’s neighbors, three of which spoke on the record. Four who spoke on the condition of anonymity and shared concerns about their privacy. The remaining neighbors declined to speak to The Post or did not respond to letters from the publication left at their home requesting an interview.
The sample of those who did speak, though, along with police statements and video recordings of the demonstrations, paint a picture of rising tensions. Some residents have walked up to directly challenge the protesters’ methods, while protesters have responded by assigning the term “Karen” in their chants to ridicule residents as uptight and privileged. Their shouted exhortations that previously linked “Kavanaugh” to an obscene action now include a variant that has “Karen” as the subject.
Requests to the protesters to reduce volume, Winik said, are quickly rebuffed.
“They just call us fascists,” she said. “Nothing about this is healthy. We’ve got kids on this street scared to leave their homes.”
She worries their efforts — highlighted as they are by antiabortion advocates — are counterproductive. “I do think they’re hurting their own cause,” she said.
Strulson’s husband emailed a Democratic lawmaker of the Montgomery County Council to inform him of the “significant disruptions” caused in the neighborhood by the protesters. He noted that the protesters had become “more belligerent, using lots of foul language in their chants” and left signs with foul language on the street. He added that children are not playing outside due to the protesters.
Katie reported last month how an armed man was arrested outside Kavanuagh’s residence plotting to kill the justice. Matt noted how Kavanaugh had to exit Morton’s The Steakhouse through the back because pro-abortion advocates showed up.
In May, after the leaked draft opinion was published, protesters picketed in front of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home in Virginia. One of her neighbors told a reporter that the protesters should “go home and get a family.”
Spoke with one of Justice Barrett’s neighbors. He says the protestors should “Go home and get a family.” pic.twitter.com/wBWLWOJfAt
— Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 11, 2022
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