The office of Washington state Rep. Andrew Barkis, a Republican lawmaker in the Evergreen State, was attacked by would-be arsonists Monday, who attempted to burn down the building.
According to the Twitter account of Republican state Rep. J.T. Wilcox, two men approached the office — one with a hammer — at 4:00 a.m. local time on June 13. After the first smashed open one of the office windows, the other lit a flare and threw it into the building.
Luckily, Wilcox said the flare landed on a masonry floor and failed to ignite anything flammable.
He posted a video on social media of the alleged terror attack —
Last night 2 individuals broke a window and threw a lit flare into the office of my seatmate, Rep. Andrew Barkis. We have no information about perps or motivation, but I'm very concerned. Thank goodness the flare landed on a masonry floor. pic.twitter.com/vRr829tCPC
— Rep. JT Wilcox (@jtwilcox111) June 13, 2022
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident.
A man armed with a loaded gun was arrested outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland last week. He reportedly admitted to police he had planned to assassinate Kavanaugh.
And according to the Capitol Police, violent threats against lawmakers have more than doubled in the last five years. That includes a 2017 left-wing domestic terror attack against Republican lawmakers at a Congressional baseball practice that left Rep. Steve Scalise, R-L.A., badly wounded.
In recent months, reports of firebombing, vandalism, and terror attacks against conservative organizations have reportedly ballooned.
According to the pro-life organization Catholic Vote, over 20 pregnancy centers have been vandalized — including some that were firebombed — since a leak in May that revealed that the Supreme Court may soon overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortions in every state.
Abortion rights advocates have predicted a “summer of rage” against conservative groups.
Recent targets were —
- Hollywood, FL — South Broward Pregnancy Center and Archdiocese of Miami Respect Life Ministry
- Asheville, NC — Mountain Area Pregnancy Services
- Manassas, VA — First Care Women’s Health
- Alexandria, VA — Concerned Women for America
- Reisterstown, MD — Alpha Pregnancy Center
- Frederick, MD — BirthRight of Frederick
- Frederick, MD — CareNet Frederick
- Buffalo, NY — CompassCare Pregnancy Services
- Madison, WI — Wisconsin Family Action
- Des Moines, IA — Agape Pregnancy Resource Center
- Denton, TX — Woman to Woman Pregnancy Resource Center
- Austin, TX — Trotter House
- Long Beach, CA — His Nesting Place Home for Mothers & Children
- Sebastopol, CA — Pregnancy Center Billboard
- Eugene, OR — Dove Medical Clinic
- Keizer, OR — Oregon Right to Life
- Gresham, OR — Gresham Pregnancy Resource Center
- Portland, OR — Southeast Portland Pregnancy Resource Center
- Vancouver, WA — Options360 Women’s Clinic
- Federal Way, WA — Care Net Pregnancy and Family Services of Puget Sound
- Lynnwood, WA — Next Step Pregnancy Services