Has new security fencing been erected around the U.S. Supreme Court building in advance of a "big case ruling"? No, that's not true: The video accompanying this claim dates back to a May 5, 2022, post on the social media platform X. The 2024 post was one of several making the claim of fencing around the building, none accurate. Several Washington, D.C., based journalists responded to the rumors by posting photos of the Supreme Court taken on the evening of June 17, 2024. These pictures show no fencing across the front of the main steps, some spare uninstalled panels of "bicycle rack" style temporary fencing, and that same fence lining the interior edge of the sidewalk.
The false claim about the fence surfaced in a now-deleted post (archived here) on X by @Mrgunsngear on June 17, 2024. It was captioned:
Fences have gone up around the Supreme Court today which indicates a big case ruling is coming; likely one that will anger the left as they're the only ones who can violently riot in democrat run cities without consequence...
What decision do y'all think it will be 🤔⬇️
Regardless of what it is it'll likely drop on Friday based on SCOTUS' typical announcement schedule. Stay tuned 👀
#SCOTUS #CityLife #SupremeCourt #urban #WashingtonDC #democrats
(Image source: X screenshot taken on Tue Jun 18 13:53:21 2024 UTC)
The video used in the post by @Mrgunsngear originated on X in a May 5, 2022, post (archived here) by @VictoryDay_Hope (pictured below with the datestamp circled). Their post was captioned:
Fences erected around US Supreme Court building. Public events and protests cancelled. It's as if they're expecting trouble
(Image source: X screenshot taken on Tue Jun 18 13:53:21 2024 UTC)
Versions of the claim appeared in several other posts on June 17, 2024, and were still active at the time of writing, including here, here and here.
On the evening of June 17, 2024 Andrew Leyden, a freelance photographer based in Washington, D.C., posted four photos (below left) of the Supreme Court building on X (archived here). Leyden also posted a livestream on YouTube walking around the block, showing low "bicycle rack" fencing lining the inside edge of the perimeter sidewalks, and no fencing at all across the front entry steps. Another post (archived here) made by Daniel Barnes, a NBC News producer covering Federal courts and the Justice Department, in response to a now-deleted post by @bennyjohnson, shows a photo of the Supreme Court steps the same evening (below right).
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image of X screenshots taken on Tue Jun 18 14:40:19 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to the public information office of the Supreme Court and will update this article if we receive a reply.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims regarding the Supreme Court can be found here.
