Samuel Case, FISM News

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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said on Tuesday that the May leak of the draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade has put a “target” on the back of Supreme Court Justices.

“It was a great betrayal of trust by somebody. And it was a shock because nothing like that had happened in the past. So it certainly changed the atmosphere at the court for the remainder of last term,” Alito, who authored the opinion, said while speaking at a Heritage Foundation event. 

“The leak also made those of us who were thought to be in the majority in support of overruling Roe and Casey targets for assassination because it gave people a rational reason to think they could prevent that from happening by killing one of us,” Alito added.

At the event, Alito cited the assassination attempt on conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh following the leak. “A man has been charged with attempting to kill Justice Kavanaugh,” he noted.

Following the leak, protestors rallied outside the homes of conservative justices. One pro-abortion group, Ruth Sent Us, went as far as publicly posting the daily schedule of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s family, including church and the children’s school addresses.

Meanwhile, pro-life centers and crisis pregnancy centers have seen an uptick in violence, including vandalism and arson.

Alito said he hopes the new term will see things “get back to normal the way they were before all this last term, before COVID, get back to normal to the greatest degree possible.”

Chief Justice John Roberts previously ordered an investigation into the leak, but no one has yet been charged. 

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas described the leak as a “kind of an infidelity,” saying it “changes the institution fundamentally.”