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With several of President Donald Trump’s policies now making their way through the legal system, judges who have ruled against the administration are facing increased threats of violence and impeachment.
Several judges have raised alarm about the rise in threats that they and their colleagues have received, warning that it is a long-term trend across presidential administrations.
But Trump and his allies’ recent attacks on the judiciary are likely exacerbating the problem.
According to an investigation of several online social platforms by the nonprofit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, calls for impeachment and violence rose 54% in February from the previous month, with some commenters using slurs against certain judges and others calling for them to be executed over their court decisions.
Those threats, the group said, are “inspired in part by attacks on judges by President Trump, his close allies, including Elon Musk, and some in the GOP.”
Trump has been incredibly vocal about his disdain for judges who have made rulings unfavorable to his administration. He has gone so far as to call for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the White House to halt its haphazard effort to deport Venezuelan migrants.
Trump’s attack on Boasberg prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, but the president’s allies have nevertheless piled on.
Trump’s attack on Boasberg prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, but the president’s allies have nevertheless piled on. GOP members of Congress who expressed support for impeaching judges who rule against the administration have also reportedly received a boost in donations from Musk, Trump’s billionaire ally, who on Wednesday baselessly accused those judges of “extreme abuse of the legal system.”
Some of those threats have made their way offline. The New York Times reported that judges have received bomb threats, swatting calls and even anonymous pizza deliveries to their homes as a veiled intimidation tactic.
Judges’ family members have also been targeted. Earlier this month, the sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett — who has come under fire from MAGA supporters over her recent rulings against the administration — was the target of a pipe bomb threat at her home, according to police in Charleston, South Carolina. The threat was determined to be a false alarm, police said.