Activists Protest Near Home of SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas Amid Democrat Ethics Probe

Protester Nadine Seiler holds up a banner during an abortion protest near the home of Justice Clarence Thomas on May 11. (Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times)

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.—Pro-abortion advocates on May 11 gathered outside the Virginia neighborhood of Justice Clarence Thomas for a protest that was potentially illegal under federal law.

With a contingent of Fairfax County police officers nearby guarding the private road leading to Thomas’ home, the abortion advocacy group “Ruth Sent Us” mounted the protest as the most recent in a series of controversial protests at the homes of conservative justices.

A contingent of Fairfax County police officers stands by on the other side of the road during a protest near the home of Justice Clarence Thomas on May 11. (Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times)

Protesters flew banners that read, “Say no to Christo-Fascism,” “[expletive] Thomas,” and Antifa pride flags.

Another read, “An unethical judiciary makes a mockery of this democracy,” a reference to allegations that Thomas committed ethical violations by failing to report gifts such as luxury vacations given by his wealthy friend, Texas billionaire Harlan Crow.

“Clarence Thomas, have you no shame?” read another.

The relationship between Crow and Thomas has generated outrage on the left as well as calls for Thomas’ impeachment from Democratic lawmakers. Senate Democrats have vowed to pursue ethics reforms on the Supreme Court.

Republicans, meanwhile, say Democrats are conducting a witch hunt against Thomas and the court in general because, after years of liberal dominance, it now has a 6–3 conservative majority. Crow’s attorney, in a letter on May 8 to Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), described the campaign as a “manufactured ‘ethics crisis’ at the Supreme Court” serving “as a ploy to further Democrats’ efforts to undermine public confidence and change the makeup of the court.”

Other protesters, around seven in total, engaged in chants against the Thomases.

“Two, four, six, eight, Thomas is a reprobate,” went one.

“Ginni Thomas is an insurrectionist,” went another, targeting Thomas’ wife.

Another protester flew a “Black Lives Matter” flag.

An abortion advocate flies a "Black Lives Matter" flag during a May 11 protest outside the Virginia neighborhood of Justice Clarence Thomas. (Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times)

Under U.S. Code Section 1507, protesters are forbidden from picketing near the homes of judges “with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge.”

“Ruth Sent Us” and other abortion advocates have organized a series of protests at the homes of conservative justices to protest their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In that case, conservative justices overturned a prior decision that held that abortion was a federal right. In the wake of the case, the right to regulate abortion has been returned to the states.

Law enforcement officers present at the protest refused to answer questions about their refusal to enforce Section 1507.

At least one U.S. Marshal, responsible for the enforcement of federal law, was on scene blocking access to the private road. No arrests or attempts to disperse the protesters were made. The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Marshals Service and Fairfax County police for comment.

In March, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) revealed the apparent reason for this failure to enforce the law: the Department of Justice (DOJ) had circulated a training memo explicitly directing Marshals not to make arrests under Section 1507.

Protesters’ Claims

One of the protesters, Nadine Seiler, discussed why she was at the protest with The Epoch Times, saying it was due to ethical concerns over the Thomases.

“I’m by myself,” Seiler emphasized, saying she was not associated with “Ruth Sent Us” but was simply protesting the Supreme Court in general and Thomas in particular.

She said her particular concerns about Thomas revolved around the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the justice and his wife allegedly failed to report.

“He’s still on the Supreme Court dictating [morality and ethics] to the rest of us?” Seiler said, citing these allegations.

Asked about the illegality of the protest under federal law, Seiler replied: “We are not trying to change his mind. We are not intimidating him. We don’t know where [exactly] he lives.

“We are here to let him know that we know what kind of person he is and what he’s done. We are not intimidating him. We are not threatening him.”

Turning to the issue of abortion, Seiler said that Thomas and the other conservatives were “dictating” to others on the basis of their religion.

“They are Christo-Fascists,” Seiler said. “There’s a separation of church and state in the First Amendment.”

Seiler suggested that the six conservative justices were only opposed to abortion “because their God says it’s murder.”

When Seiler was pressed on whether a non-religious person could be opposed to abortion, she conceded they could but said that it didn’t matter. She said these were personal values that shouldn’t be imposed on others.

Seiler was also pressed on the constitutionality of the decision in Dobbs.

In Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not confer the right to an abortion. In turn, the right to regulate abortion was returned to the states.

Seiler said that she wasn’t concerned about the “vaunted Constitution.”

Asked whether it could be argued that this transition was democratic inasmuch as it returned the issue to the states, Seiler dismissed the premise of states’ rights altogether.

Under a system of states’ rights, a federalist division of powers critical to the U.S. constitutional system, Seiler said, “States’ rights means people like me [black people] don’t exist. So I don’t care about states’ rights.”

Other protesters refused to speak to The Epoch Times.