Journalist Ken Klippenstein confirms FBI is targeting and investigating abortion activists after a lengthy and concerted effort by Republicans to do so

FBI is targeting and investigating *abortion activists* after a lengthy and concerted effort by Republicans to do so.

A new report in the Intercept by Ken Klippenstein reveals that the FBI is targeting *abortion activists* after a lengthy and concerted effort by Republicans to do so.

“The FBI opened nearly 10 times as many investigations into cases of abortion-related domestic terrorism as it had in 2021…In the same time frame, FBI investigations into “racially or ethnically motivated extremists” decreased from 215 to 169; investigations into ‘anti-government / anti-authority’ declined even more sharply, from 812 to 240. In fact, the only other category to see an increase in cases was ‘animal rights / environmental,’ which underwent a modest increase from seven to nine cases.”

The FBI has been aware of violence related to abortion rights over the years, Wray said, but the Supreme Court’s recent actions on the issue have generated “a general intensification of violence across the issue.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said that abortion-rights activists “have actively targeted over 82 churches and pregnancy centers,” in some cases spray painting them, smashing windows or firebombing the spaces. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) noted during her questioning that last year, attacks targeting abortion clinic staff and patients “increased 128 percent over the previous year, including a 600 percent increase in stalking.” Among those attacks were instances of arson and molotov cocktails being thrown through windows, she said.

When it was reported that the Supreme Court intended to reverse Roe v. Wade, the FBI put out a directive to its field offices “to be looking actively for potential threats of the very sort you’re talking about,” Wray told Lee. FBI joint terrorism task forces are “specifically focused” on attacks and threats against churches, “pro-life organizations,” pregnancy resource centers and similar organizations and facilities, Wray said.

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He did not specify how many abortion-related domestic terrorism investigations the FBI was working on.

“I think this is part of a larger phenomenon that we are experiencing in this country right now,” Wray said to Klobuchar. “I understand that passions run high, especially on an issue like abortion, but there’s just way too many people that seem to think that that justifies engaging in violence and destruction of property and threats of violence.”

The FBI has been aware of violence related to abortion rights over the years, Wray said, but the Supreme Court’s recent actions on the issue have generated “a general intensification of violence across the issue.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said that abortion-rights activists “have actively targeted over 82 churches and pregnancy centers,” in some cases spray painting them, smashing windows or firebombing the spaces. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) noted during her questioning that last year, attacks targeting abortion clinic staff and patients “increased 128 percent over the previous year, including a 600 percent increase in stalking.” Among those attacks were instances of arson and molotov cocktails being thrown through windows, she said.

When it was reported that the Supreme Court intended to reverse Roe v. Wade, the FBI put out a directive to its field offices “to be looking actively for potential threats of the very sort you’re talking about,” Wray told Lee. FBI joint terrorism task forces are “specifically focused” on attacks and threats against churches, “pro-life organizations,” pregnancy resource centers and similar organizations and facilities, Wray said.

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He did not specify how many abortion-related domestic terrorism investigations the FBI was working on.

“I think this is part of a larger phenomenon that we are experiencing in this country right now,” Wray said to Klobuchar. “I understand that passions run high, especially on an issue like abortion, but there’s just way too many people that seem to think that that justifies engaging in violence and destruction of property and threats of violence.”

Last year, as the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade sparked major protests nationwide, the FBI opened nearly 10 times as many investigations into cases of abortion-related domestic terrorism as it had in 2021, a new internal report reveals. While the report doesn’t say how many of these incidents were motivated by support for reproductive rights and how many were anti-abortion, the uptick follows calls by top Republicans in Congress for the bureau to pursue “pro-abortion terrorism.” “Pro-abortion terrorism is sweeping our nation,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote in a column last June, lamenting that “only after the outcry from the pro-life community did the FBI announce an investigation” into Jane’s Revenge — a small group of activists that firebombed an anti-abortion pregnancy center on June 7, 2021 — and that the attorney general “has yet to launch a wider DOJ investigation.” While conceding “no one has been killed or seriously injured,” Rubio said, “Things will only get worse before they get better.” (Facebook later quietly designated Jane’s Revenge a terrorist organization, as The Intercept reported.)