Attorneys general from 19 states including Arizona are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to take action in response to the recent acts of violence committed against pregnancy resource centers and the offices of pro-life organizations.
“President Biden’s Department of Justice yet again has its priorities absolutely backwards,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
Following the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , the attorneys general state, “charities that support pregnant mothers in need have been firebombed and pro-life organizations have been attacked almost daily and terrorized.” Although the attacks began almost a month ago, it was only last week that the FBI announced it would investigate them.
In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the state attorneys general refer to his lack of action as intolerable, politically motivated and in violation of his oath of office. Noting that the federal government’s duty to protect its citizens against violence “does not turn on the victim’s identity” and that “access to justice cannot turn on partisan affiliation,” the letter calls on the U.S. Department of Justice to vigorously investigate and prosecute these illegal acts. In the letter, Carr and his colleagues even offer state assistance with the investigations.
In May, 24 attorneys general called on the U.S. Attorney General to enforce federal law prohibiting any attempt to intimidate U.S. Supreme Court justices by protesting outside their homes.
In the letter to Garland, the state attorneys general continue, “In particular, you have done nothing to break up picketing outside the homes of Supreme Court justices rumored to have voted to overrule Roe v. Wade – this despite the fact that a federal law plainly prohibits such conduct. And over the past year, the federal government has repeatedly sought leniency for violent criminals motivated by what this administration perceives as progress.”