A recent tweet from a Harvard professor regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade drew criticism after some Twitter users claimed the post was a call for violence.
The tweet in question was posted by Harvard law clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo, who wrote, “The 6 justices who overturned Roe should never know peace again.”
“It is our civic duty to accost them every time they are in public,” the June 25 tweet continues. “They are pariahs. Since women don’t have their rights, these justices should never have a peaceful moment in public again.”
“They’re coming for contraception, same sex marriage, and the ability to criminalize LGBTQ people again,” Caraballo added. “May those justices feel the unease, insecurity, and anxiety they seek to inflict on us.”
The instructor then shared a photo of the six justices who voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade case, which returned the right to regulate and potentially outlaw abortion to the states, with the caption “For reference.”
Several Twitter users rebuked Caraballo’s statements.
“Is this a threat at SCOTUS Justices? @FBI,” one Twitter user asked while tagging the FBI’s official account.
“It is a Federal crime in America Alejandra for threatening a Federal Judge which carries minimum 10 years in prison. Consider this your warning!” said another Twitter user while linking to the federal law they referenced and tagging the U.S. Marshals’ official account.
Another Twitter user tagged Harvard Law’s official account.
“Interesting take by this individual. Because SCOTUS decided state legislators, voted in by citizens, should draft law, on THIS specific topic, per the Constitution, they want jurists’ accosted.’ What are you teaching in law school. Geez. Yikes. Sigh,” the user wrote.
After receiving many responses chastising her for threatening Supreme Court Justices, Caraballo posted a follow-up tweet two days later to say she was not calling for violence.
“Imagine thinking that accosting someone is terrorism and a threat of violence. These people aren’t very smart. Read a dictionary,” Caraballo said while sharing a screenshot of a dictionary definition of “accost,” which is “to approach or speak to (someone) in an often challenging or aggressive way.”
The Harvard instructor also posted an example of someone “being accosted” in the way she claims she meant, retweeting a video of a man yelling at Texas Senator Ted Cruz in a public restaurant.
Caraballo has been a full-time clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic for nearly a year. She focuses on “projects that advance social justice through the law in the area of technology,” according to her LinkedIn page.
She previously criticized people who protested an “all ages pride show” as “Christian fascists” and has repeatedly called for Twitter to ban the popular account’ Libs of TikTok,’ referring to the account’s owner as a “terrorist.”
Caraballo’s tweets about accosting Supreme Court justices came in the wake of multiple protests at the homes of Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The protests began after a leaked draft opinion indicated the high court was set to overturn Roe v. Wade and the related case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
On June 8, the protests reached a boiling point when a man was arrested for attempting to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh.