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Department of Homeland Security agents were filmed Tuesday night driving into a crowd of abortion rights activists and shoving them backward as they blocked off the streets in protest of a draft Supreme Court opinion showing that it is likely to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Videos posted to Twitter by Vishal Singh showed a DHS vehicle drive into the crowd in downtown Los Angeles at around 8.40pm local time.
At that point several of the protesters began yelling at the officers, as they got out of their cars and told people to ‘back up.’
One DHS agent could then be seen shoving a woman as she approached him, saying: ‘You don’t do that, you understand me? Back up.’
Soon the agent was surrounded by protesters telling him to ‘back up’ instead before screaming at him to ‘get the f*** out of here.’
Another video, posted by John Motter, showed what appeared to be the same agent using his baton to push protesters back as he again told them to ‘back up.’
One of the agents later explained to Singh that the protest was an ‘unlawful assembly,’ as they were seen blocking off the streets.
The altercation came as thousands of people throughout the country took to the streets from California to New York to protest a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
The agents then got out of the vehicles and told protesters repeatedly to ‘back up’
A Department of Homeland Security vehicle was filmed driving into a crowd of abortion rights protesters in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night
Video posted online showed a DHS agent shoving the protesters backwards
The unidentified agent was just on of several who responded to the scene of Pershing Square
Together, they blocked off the streets declaring the protest an ‘unlawful assembly’
A police officer was seen standing guard near a demonstrator after a confrontation with protesters
In the aftermath, NBC Los Angeles reports, an officer was reportedly injured – and the LAPD ordered a citywide tactical alert.
Originally, KTLA reports, the LAPD provided an escort to those attending the abortion rights rally as they walked from the federal courthouse to Pershing Square.
But around 8.50pm, the LAPD sent out a tweet urging people to avoid the area due to ‘police activity.’
Police Chief Michael Moore later said that some of those who were in attendance at Tuesday night’ rally attempted to ‘take the intersection’ and some in the crowd threw rocks and bottles at police officers trying to clear the area.
It remains unclear whether anyone was arrested in the scuffle or what injuries the officer may have faced.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Thousands of protesters gathered at the Foley Square in New York City on Tuesday
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: An aerial view showed the size of the crowd in Manhattan who showed up to protest a draft decision by Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade
WASHINGTON DC: Security personnel guarded the Supreme Court on Tuesday as protesters waved signs outside
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: One woman showed up to a protest in San Francisco with a hanger reading ‘Never Again’
There are 18 states that have near-total bans on their books, while four more have time-limit band and four others are likely to pass new bans if Roe is overturned
But the rally in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night was just one of dozens to prop up across the country after Politico reported that Justice Samuel Alito wrote a draft opinion in February repudiating both Roe and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision.
‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,’ Alito writes in the opinion, which was reportedly circulated among the court members. ‘We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,’ he continues in the document, titled ‘Opinion of the Court.’
‘It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.’
Alito’s draft does not necessarily represent the sentiments of other justices who did not pen the opinion, but it’s been suggested that the court’s 5-3 conservative supermajority will likely deliver on the historic reversal.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who reportedly does not plan to join in the majority opinion, confirmed the legitimacy of the draft as he announced a leak probe.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Following the news, abortion rights activists took to the streets throughout the country
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: One abortion-rights activist held up a sign arguing for ‘no forced pregnancies’ outside the federal building in Oakland
WASHINGTON DC: Throughout the day protesters flooded the steps of the Supreme Court
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: One woman was overcome with emotion as she protested for national abortion rights
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: A man held up a sign urging ‘healthcare for all (except Alito)’
But in the meantime, pro-abortion rights activists from the steps of the Supreme Court to New York City, Nevada, Texas and California took to the streets Tuesday to protest the draft decision.
In downtown Seattle, the New York Times reports, thousands of people called for an escalating series of mass action, including possible national strikes if the Constitutional right to abortions is demolished.
The protests there reportedly featured speakers saying they need to risk arrest through civil disobedience.
Some smaller protests, though, like the one in Louisville, Kentucky, just featured a few dozen people held signs in front of a court house.
Meanwhile, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington DC protesters gathered throughout the day, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren even joining it at one point.
‘I am angry,’ the Massachusetts Democrat fumed. ‘Angry and upset and determined.’
‘I am here because I am angry, and I am here because the United States Congress can change all of this. Angry, but committed,’ Warren intoned.
She accused conservatives of ‘plotting, carefully cultivating these Supreme Court justices so they could have a majority on the bench who would accomplish something that the majority of Americans do not want.’
‘They knew what they were getting when they voted for these people. And this is what they want. It is up to the rest of us to make the legislative process work,’ she said.
Warren was among a group of Democrats who were recounting recent history that set up the court’s 6-3 conservative majority: including the filibuster of Obama nominee Merrick Garland, the rush to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the last weeks before the 2020 elections after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the clash over Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the third of President Donald Trump’s nominees.
‘What should be investigated and prosecuted is the fact that people who were nominated to the Supreme Court stood up and said they believed in the rule of law and precedent, and then at first opportunity, changed direction by 180 degrees and are going for a full repeal of Roe,’ she said.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined demonstrators during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday
But conservatives are now focusing their efforts on finding the person who leaked the draft decision, with GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah saying whoever leaked the explosive memo ‘needs to be brought to justice’ in an interview on Fox News soon after the report.
‘This entire kerfuffle has been brought about as a result of an unscrupulous person trying to subvert 235 years of tradition, trying to subvert the way the Supreme Court operates,’ Lee said.
He also released a statement on Monday night calling the decision ‘well-reasoned’ but further panned the leak as ‘dangerous, despicable, and damaging.’
The Utah conservative is on a Senate subcommittee that will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on Monday about ‘transparency and accountability for 21st century courts.’
‘I have questions about whether that person should ever be allowed to practice law. That something that will be worked out in due time. These are small circles. As a former Supreme Court clerk I can tell you there are very few people in the entire building who had access to the opinion,’ he said on Fox.
‘I am virtually certain there are number people inside the court, probably figured out who it is. That person needs to be brought to justice and held to account to what they did. This is the first and what I predict will be a series of other attempts to delegitimize the supreme court of the United States in the coming months.’
Following suit, moderate Republican Senator Mitt Romney on Tuesday morning called for both an investigation and consequences.
The Utah lawmaker began his statement by lauding the reported high court decision and said: ‘Laws regarding abortion would now be returned to the people and their elected representatives.’
‘The breach of the Court’s deliberative process, however, is an appalling affront against a critical institution and should be fully investigated and those responsible should be punished.’
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said the leaker should be disbarred if they are a law clerk.
Source: Daily Mail
