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Wisconsin Sen Johnson asks AG Garland why Madison anti-abortion center attack not domestic terrorism

Johnson highlighted ongoing protests outside the homes of the court's Republican-appointed justices

Published: May 13, 2022 9:05pm

Updated: May 13, 2022 9:56pm

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson questioned why the Justice Department  has not labeled a violent attack on an anti-abortion center in his home state as "domestic terrorism."

Pro-abortion activist group Jane's Revenge last weekend targeted the Wisconsin Family Action clinic in Madison with Molotov cocktails, following the release of a draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito suggesting the Supreme Court was poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that gives women the constitutional right to access an abortion.

He pointed out in the letter that the group has claimed responsibility for the crime and said, "This was only a warning… next time the infrastructure of the enslavers will not survive. ... Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, but we are all over the US, and we will issue no further warnings."

The Republican lawmaker also pointed out the FBI defines a domestic terrorism incident as an "ideologically-driven criminal act, including threats or acts of violence made to specific victims, made in furtherance of a domestic ideological goal that has occurred and can be confirmed."

And he wrote. "Attacking a pro-life organization in a manner that could have injured or killed the office’s occupants due to differing political ideologies fits these definitions. ... I am unfortunately compelled to write to you about this matter because DOJ has a track record of not prosecuting left-wing violence as we have seen with the summer of 2020 riots that occurred nationwide."

He also cited the protests outside of the homes of the Supreme Court's Republican-appointed justices, most of whom, according to the leak, have endorsed reversing Roe v. Wade. 

"There are currently mobs outside of the residences," Johnson wrote. "The intimidation of sitting Supreme Court justices is a clear violation of federal law, and, once again, DOJ, FBI, and [the Department of Homeland Security] have yet to condemn these activities. Compare your silence on these events to your robust actions against parents attending public school board meetings to voice their concerns about far-left ideologies being integrated into school" curriculum.

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