White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is reacting to protesters who gathered outside of the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices.
In a tweet Monday, she wrote, “[President Joe Biden] strongly believes in the Constitutional right to protest.”
“But that should never include violence, threats, or vandalism. Judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety,” she added.
.@POTUS strongly believes in the Constitutional right to protest. But that should never include violence, threats, or vandalism. Judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) May 9, 2022
Last week, Politico published a story based on a draft opinion that appeared to show the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade.
After the draft leaked, a group called “Ruth Sent Us” — which is named after the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — published the addresses of the six conservative justices on the court.
It called for people to protest the draft opinion outside of the justices’ homes.
And over the weekend, protesters gathered outside of the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The New York Post notes that it is not known if the justices or their families were home at the time of the protests.
On Thursday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy noted that activists shared the home addresses of the six conservative Supreme Court justices.
He asked, “Is that kind of thing this president wants to help your side make their point?”
“Look, I think the president’s view is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document,” Psaki responded.
She continued, “We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That is certainly what the president’s view would be.”
“So he doesn’t care if they’re protesting outside the Supreme Court or outside someone’s private residence?” Doocy asked.
However, the press secretary said, “I don’t have an official U.S. government position on where people protest. We want it, of course, to be peaceful. And certainly, the president would want people’s privacy to be respected.”
“But I think we shouldn’t lose the point here, the reason people are protesting is because women across the country are worried about their fundamental rights that have been law for 50 years — their rights to make choices about their own bodies and their own healthcare — are at risk,” she continued.
Psaki added, “That’s why people are protesting. They’re unhappy, they’re scared.”