Virginia district court judge dismisses complaint against protester at Hawley’s home
A Virginia District Court last week dismissed a criminal complaint filed against an activist who led a protest outside of Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s northern Virginia home in January over Hawley’s attempt to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
The complaint, filed by Hawley’s wife Erin Morrow Hawley, alleged that Patrick Young broke the law by picketing the home and was later amended to say he trespassed when he helped organize a protest by ShutDownDC at the family’s home on January 4.
The protest was held two days before Hawley challenged Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in an effort to overturn the victory of President Joe Biden.
Young reached an agreement in April, where he would have pleaded no contest if he violated the conditions that he have no contact with Erin Hawley and did not visit the family’s home. Because he met those conditions, the case was dismissed on August 16.
“Mr. Young initially lied to the press, including the Kansas City Star, about his actions the night of January 4 when he attempted to terrorize the Hawley family,” said Whitney Smith, a spokeswoman for Hawley. “But then he got caught. When the government charged him with illegal trespassing, Mr. Young changed his tune, pleaded no contest, and agreed to stay away from Erin Hawley.”
Later Tuesday, Hawley inaccurately tweeted that The Kansas City Star did not include details of the case, including that the charges were amended from picketing to trespassing.
Young did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but on Twitter last week ShutDownDC celebrated the dismissal of the case.
Following the protest Hawley called the activists “Antifa scumbags,” said they threatened his wife and newborn daughter and vandalized the family’s property. He said he was in Missouri at the time of the protest, which was billed as a “Vigil for Democracy.”
A 50 minute video showed the activists largely stayed on the public street and sidewalk, where they wrote messages with chalk, held signs, made speeches and chanted slogans through a bullhorn. At one point, around four protesters approached the door, knocked, and left what they said was a copy of the constitution at the doorstep.
Vienna, Va. police called the protest a “minor event” and did not press charges against the protesters. Erin Hawley, a former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, filed the criminal complaint in February.
Hawley has said he was the subject of numerous threats after he attempted to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election and was photographed pumping his fist toward a group of supporters of former President Donald Trump that later stormed the Capitol and disrupted the certification. He alleged that his sister was threatened at her medical practice in Springfield in June.
In her criminal complaint, Erin Hawley said she felt frightened by the protesters and said she was fearful of bringing her two older children back to the home. She said the family hired private security and a data company to get their address scrubbed from the internet.
ShutDownDC has spent the past week calling for the Biden administration to halt construction of a pipeline that would go from Canada to Wisconsin. On Monday, they protested at the home of Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain.
An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the agreement Patrick Young entered with the court. He agreed to plead no contest if he came into contact with Erin Hawley or visited the Hawley’s home before August 16. The charges were then dismissed.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 9:16 AM.