Law enforcement officials warn of potential violence in DC and nationwide in wake of Supreme Court draft opinion

Late Wednesday night, teams began installing an 8-foot-tall, non-scalable fence around parts of the Supreme Court building, and Thursday night, crews set up concrete Jersey barriers blocking the street in front of the court — a sign that officials are worried that protests, which have so far been peaceful, could turn less so.

The call, first reported by Politico, highlights the proactive effort and coordination among law enforcement nationwide following the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, which exposed how quickly social media chatter can morph into an attack.

Multiple sources told CNN the recent developments could embolden violent extremists to engage in attacks or other criminal activity targeting abortion clinic staff, patients or clinic facilities.

One law enforcement source added that government officials — including the nine justices and their staffs — or abortion-related advocacy groups and abortion-related First Amendment-protected events could be targets for violence.

The source also said social media chatter against the justices and members of Congress is being tracked — work that has become standard practice in an era of heightened use of social media to express extremist ideas.

The US Marshals Service protects roughly 2,700 judges nationwide, and notes that threats or inappropriate contacts have spiked in recent years. The inspector general report noted the agency responded to more than 4,200 threats in 2020, up 81% from 2016.

The DC Metropolitan Police Department and US Capitol Police have added officers to the area since the leaked opinion surfaced.