Psaki Says White House Continues ‘To Encourage’ Peaceful Protesting Outside Justices’ Homes
White House press secretary Jen Psaki urged activists to continue peacefully protesting outside of Supreme Court justices’ homes Tuesday.
Protests erupted across the country after a leaked draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court may be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. Some of these demonstrations targeted the homes of conservative justices, with crowds gathering outside their homes over the weekend and throughout this week.
Psaki was asked on Tuesday whether President Joe Biden believes such protests outside of justices’ homes are “attempts to interfere or intimidate.” The press secretary began by reiterating a statement she posted to Twitter on Monday, which noted that Biden doesn’t believe in “violence, threats, or vandalism” as a form of protest.
“What I do find is interesting – and I think many people have noted – is that there are voices on the right who have called out this, protests that are happening, while remaining silent for years on protests that have happened outside of the homes of school board members, the Michigan secretary of state, or including threats made to women seeking reproductive reproductive health care or even an insurrection against our capital,” Psaki first said.
“So I know that there’s an outrage right now, I guess, about protests that have been peaceful to date, and we certainly continue to encourage that outside of judges’ homes and that’s the president’s position,” the press secretary added.
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Psaki didn’t directly address whether the president sees protesting outside of justices’ homes as “attempts to interfere or intimidate,” instead reiterating that they “haven’t really seen” outrage at the examples she listed as forms of intimidation.
On Monday, after crowds gathered outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices and a Wisconsin pro-life organization’s office was vandalized and set on fire, Psaki stated that judges “must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety.”
Later that day, Psaki was confronted by news of a federal statute that prohibits picketing justices’ homes “with the intent of influencing any judge.” (RELATED: Psaki Does Not Give Direct Answer If Biden Wants Pro-Abortion Protesters To Influence SCOTUS Justices)
“We’re certainly not suggesting anyone break any laws,” Psaki replied at the time. “I would note that the president’s view has long been, and I tweeted this earlier this morning and repeated and made a number of these comments last week as well, that violence, threats and intimidation have no place in political discourse.”
“Yes, we are a country that promotes democracy and we certainly allow for peaceful protest in a range of places in the country. No one should violate the law, no one is suggesting that. And it should never resort to violence, to threats, to intimidation in any way, shape or form,” she added Monday.
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