White House condemns actions of armed suspect near Justice Kavanaugh’s home

‘Public officials ... must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety or that of their families’

President Joe Biden’s administration has condemned threats of violence and intimidation against members of the US Supreme Court and other public officials following the arrest of a suspected gunman near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement provided to Fox News that the president condemns the alleged actions of the suspect and “is grateful to law enforcement for quickly taking him into custody”.

“As the president has consistently made clear, public officials – including judges – must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety or that of their families,” according to the statement. “And any violence, threats of violence, or attempts to intimidate justices have no place in our society.”

The president supports legislation to fund increased security for the Supreme Court and justices, the statement said.

The Supreme Court Police Parity Act, which would extend police protection to the immediate families of the justices and other officers of the court, passed the US Senate and is now up for consideration in the House of Representatives.

Law enforcement officials and a spokesperson for the Supreme Court told The Independent that an armed man from California was arrested near Justice Kavanaugh’s Maryland home in the town of Chevy Chase around 1.50am on 8 June.

The suspect was armed with “at least one weapon and burglary tools” and threatened to kill the justice, according to The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the investigation. The report claims that the man was angry about a forthcoming decision on the 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade and abortion access in the US.

The investigation has transferred to the FBI, according to officials. The FBI has also directed inquiries about the case to Montgomery County police, which were not able to publicly confirm details of the case or suspect.

Following protests outside justices’ homes ahead of an anticipated decision on constitutional protections for abortion care in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the president’s “longstanding view is that violence, threats and intimidation of any kind have no place in political discourse.”