Hawley’s wife files criminal complaint against protester after Virginia demonstration
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s wife has filed a criminal complaint against the activist who led a protest outside the couple’s Northern Virginia home last month, according to a report by ABC News.
Erin Hawley, an attorney and former Supreme Court clerk, was at home with the couple’s infant daughter at the time of the Jan. 4 protest. She is the complainant, according to the ABC report.
Hawley accused the activist group Shutdown DC of threatening his family and vandalizing his home when it staged a protest outside his home in Vienna, Virginia, on Jan. 4. That was two days before Hawley led a challenge to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.
Local police contradicted Hawley’s account, releasing a statement that the described group as peaceful and saying in an interview that there were no reports of vandalism.
But the demonstrators were in violation of a Virginia law that forbids protests outside of private residences. They also committed a noise violation as they used bullhorns to chant slogans, police said.
The complaint was filed against Patrick Young, the organizer who served as Shutdown DC’s spokesman after the senator accused the group of threatening his family. A magistrate judge has issued a summons, according to the ABC report.
Hawley’s office told ABC that because of “the attacks in the media and from the left over the past few weeks, Josh’s family has been the subject of numerous threats on their lives that are being monitored by authorities.”
The complaint against Young won’t be made public until he receives the summons, which has yet to happen. Shutdown DC said in a statement that is not aware of any summons.
“We are not aware of any summons issued related to our candle light vigil at Senator Hawley’s house. Police on the scene did not believe a crime was committed. That was confirmed by the Vienna Police department in media reports days later. If a summons has been issued, it is outrageous that a rich and powerful person — a United States Senator — can go to their magistrate to get a summons to harass a normal person,” the statement said.
At the time, Hawley decried the protesters as “Antifa scumbags” and accused them of “screaming threats through bullhorns, vandalizing property, pounding on the doors of homes and terrorizing innocent people and children.”
Young, a 37-year-old research analyst, told The Star last month that Hawley had misrepresented the nature of the demonstration.
“Some people wrote messages to him in sidewalk chalk on the public sidewalk in front of his house. The same kind of chalk kids use to play hopscotch,” Young said at the time, giving a description that was largely affirmed by local police.
Two days after the protest, rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an effort to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory. Five people were killed, including a police officer.
Hawley has faced a flood of criticism for leading the effort to challenge the Electoral College results and for pumping his fist to a crowd of former President Donald Trump’s supporters outside the Capitol before the chaos.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 3:31 PM.
