Earlier on Wednesday, as Spencer reported, a man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house for saying he wanted to kill the justice. The suspect was later identified as 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske of Simi Valley, California, and federal charges of attempted murder have been filed against him. Such an incident makes it all the more necessary for Congress to pass legislation protecting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, with the pressing nature now finding itself in the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.
Val Demings needs to call on Pelosi to pass this bill to keep our Supreme Court Justices and their families safe. https://t.co/QxaXRlpseo
— Team Marco (@TeamMarco) June 8, 2022
As Spencer has also covered, the U.S. Senate quickly and unanimously passed such legislation, though it's been held up in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats are also looking to protect whoever leaked the draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito showing that the Supreme Court looks to overturn Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision.
In addition to tweeting about Demings' lack of showing appropriate concern, the Rubio campaign spoke to Townhall.
"House Democrats' inaction keeps the door open for potential violence against our Supreme Court Justices, making the process anything but 'irrelevant,' as Val Demings would have you believe. If Demings truly recognizes the danger that Supreme Court Justices and their families face, she will promptly urge Nancy Pelosi to pass the bill that grants them the heightened security they clearly need," Elizabeth Gregory, Rubio for Senate spokeswoman, said in a statement.
Since that person leaked the opinion, there has been an increase in violence and vandalism toward pro-life organizations and churches. Protesters have also shown up to the homes of conservative justices, and Justice Alito had to flee his home.
The Biden administration has been relatively slow to act, all the more troubling considering that a memo from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned that more violence is expected to come. Jen Psaki, the then-White House Press Secretary, sought to frame the issue as people having "passion" about the issue and even said the White House "encourage[s]" protests.
A Fox News report by Brooke Singman includes a statement from White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates, who condemned the actions against Kavanaugh and indicated he supported the legislation, making it all the more necessary to send it to his desk.
Not only has Demings not co-sponsored such legislation in the House, she downplayed the leak and even doubled down on her indifference during an interview on May 8 with WJXT Jacksonville.
WJXT Anchor Kent Justice asked Rep. Demings "how do you feel about that news even coming out," referring to the leak as "an unprecedented breach of security from the Supreme Court."
Demings responded that "I believe whoever was sounding the alarm, this is clearly wrong, and I believe our focus on needs to be on this is clearly wrong," before going on to make it apparent she was referring to the draft opinion as opposed to the link.
"It's basically telling over 70 percent of the American people what you think is right, or what you care about, that's not your decision, your decision will be made for you, and I think that that's disgraceful," Demings continued, appearing to be discussing the percentage of Americans who support Roe v. Wade, though those polls may be misleading since many Americans don't know that overturning Roe would simply return the abortion decision to the states, and may also fear that it bans abortion nationwide.
More Americans prefer the abortion decision to return to the states, which is what overturning Roe will do. Thus, for Demings to categorize it as how "it's not your decision, your decision will be made for you," is inaccurate.
Justice followed up with Demings, offering her the chance to clarify. "Do you mean to say you agree with whoever leaked this opinion?"
"What I'm saying," Demings said, "is the process is irrelevant to me. What's important is that this United States Supreme Court in its current form, it appears, is ready to take away a woman's right to choose her own destiny and make her own decisions no matter how personal they are."
She continued on with radical pro-abortion talking points that served as a mis-categorization of the opinion, such as how "this Supreme Court is saying that those decisions should be made by people you've never met before, people who don't know or care about your personal or individual story or circumstances. That is wrong and that is not who we are as a nation."
In addition to referring to Roe as "established law," Demings want on to positively portray protesters who showed up to the Supreme Court, and said "we're going to fight that [opinion] with everything that we have."
As of Wednesday evening, Demings has not tweeted from her official or campaign account about the incident from earlier on Wednesday, though she has tweeted about other topics.
Rubio has tweeted multiple times from his own account.
Last month ago I asked @TheJusticeDept to take the threats against Supreme Court justices seriously
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 8, 2022
Last night a California man with at least one weapon & burglary tools went to Brett Kavanaugh’s home to try and kill him https://t.co/XTLzBSjVsG
And Pelosi still refuses to pass the bipartisan bill increasing security for Supreme Court justices https://t.co/mizFpv9n0s
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 8, 2022
Although Demings is considered the Democratic front-runner, she still has to win the party's primary on August 23. Prognosticators consider the race to be "Likely Republican" or "Lean Republican."