The U.S. Marshals Service has seen a sharp rise in serious threats to U.S. federal judges and prosecutors over the past three years, reflecting a growing wave of politically motivated violence, Reuters reported.
U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis told lawmakers on Wednesday that this development “constitutes a substantial risk to our democracy,” CNN reported. Davis told Reuters that in the past, federal judges mostly faced threats from people angry about a judge’s ruling in their own cases, but now he said many more are coming from people angry because of politics.
Reuters reviewed data from the U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for the protection of 2,700 federal judges and more than 30,000 federal prosecutors and other court personnel.
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Reuters said the U.S. Marshals Service declined to provide details on the threats. The news agency wrote:
Judges and prosecutors involved in the criminal and civil prosecutions of Trump have reported hundreds of threatening messages linked to those cases, according to court records and public statements by the targeted officials. Court officials also have reported threats from activists enraged by the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn the legal right to abortion.
On Wednesday, Davis sounded the alarm about the dramatic increase in threats aimed at federal judges and prosecutors in testimony at a House subcommittee oversight hearing. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, an ultra-Trump MAGA loyalist, currently serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
CNN quoted Davis as saying:
The Justice Department told Reuters that it does not track the data on the number of people charged or convicted for threatening judges. And remember that the data cited by Reuters covered a period ending on Sept. 30, 2023, only a month after Trump was indicted on federal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. That same month, Trump and 18 allies were indicted on racketeering charges brought by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis for allegedly trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.
NBC News analyzed more than 14,000 Trump posts and reposts on his Truth Social platform from April 2022 to Jan. 6, 2024. The NBC News review found:
According to CNN, judges involved in federal and state court cases against Trump in New York, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., have been threatened.
A Texas woman, Abigail Jo Shry, was charged last year for allegedly threatening to kill D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is handling Trump’s federal election subversion case. Shry was accused of allegedly phoning the judge’s chambers and leaving a menacing voicemail message with racist slurs.
Both Chutkan and Smith have been targeted in apparent “swatting” incidents after false reports of shootings at their homes were called in to police. Both the prosecutor and judge are receiving heightened security protection from the U.S. Marshals Service.
In New York, police responded to a bomb threat at the home of state Judge Arthur Engoron last month just hours before closing arguments were to begin in the $370 million civil fraud case brought by James against Trump, his two adult sons, and the Trump Organization. The data from the U.S. Marshal Service did not include threats against state court officials.
NBC News reported that Engoron is expected to issue his verdict in the trial on Friday, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Former federal appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig, a conservative, expressed concern about Trump’s social media attacks on the judiciary. He told NBC News:
And the worst is yet to come given all the criminal and civil cases pending against Trump in the midst of the presidential election campaign.
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U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis told lawmakers on Wednesday that this development “constitutes a substantial risk to our democracy,” CNN reported. Davis told Reuters that in the past, federal judges mostly faced threats from people angry about a judge’s ruling in their own cases, but now he said many more are coming from people angry because of politics.
Reuters reviewed data from the U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for the protection of 2,700 federal judges and more than 30,000 federal prosecutors and other court personnel.
RELATED STORY: Claims that Jan. 6 rioters are 'political prisoners' endure. Judges want to set the record straight
Reuters said the U.S. Marshals Service declined to provide details on the threats. The news agency wrote:
Judges and prosecutors involved in the criminal and civil prosecutions of Trump have reported hundreds of threatening messages linked to those cases, according to court records and public statements by the targeted officials. Court officials also have reported threats from activists enraged by the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn the legal right to abortion.
On Wednesday, Davis sounded the alarm about the dramatic increase in threats aimed at federal judges and prosecutors in testimony at a House subcommittee oversight hearing. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, an ultra-Trump MAGA loyalist, currently serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
CNN quoted Davis as saying:
The Justice Department told Reuters that it does not track the data on the number of people charged or convicted for threatening judges. And remember that the data cited by Reuters covered a period ending on Sept. 30, 2023, only a month after Trump was indicted on federal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. That same month, Trump and 18 allies were indicted on racketeering charges brought by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis for allegedly trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.
NBC News analyzed more than 14,000 Trump posts and reposts on his Truth Social platform from April 2022 to Jan. 6, 2024. The NBC News review found:
According to CNN, judges involved in federal and state court cases against Trump in New York, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., have been threatened.
A Texas woman, Abigail Jo Shry, was charged last year for allegedly threatening to kill D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is handling Trump’s federal election subversion case. Shry was accused of allegedly phoning the judge’s chambers and leaving a menacing voicemail message with racist slurs.
Both Chutkan and Smith have been targeted in apparent “swatting” incidents after false reports of shootings at their homes were called in to police. Both the prosecutor and judge are receiving heightened security protection from the U.S. Marshals Service.
In New York, police responded to a bomb threat at the home of state Judge Arthur Engoron last month just hours before closing arguments were to begin in the $370 million civil fraud case brought by James against Trump, his two adult sons, and the Trump Organization. The data from the U.S. Marshal Service did not include threats against state court officials.
NBC News reported that Engoron is expected to issue his verdict in the trial on Friday, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Former federal appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig, a conservative, expressed concern about Trump’s social media attacks on the judiciary. He told NBC News:
And the worst is yet to come given all the criminal and civil cases pending against Trump in the midst of the presidential election campaign.
RELATED STORY: Appeals Court cuts down every piece of Trump's immunity claim—with flair
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