‘It’s Just So Disgusting’: Judges Warn of Rising Threats As Trump Steps Up Attack on Courts

As President Donald Trump continues to rail against the judiciary, federal judges detailed in rare public remarks Thursday the barrage of violent threats they received after ruling against the Trump administration.

And they warned ominously that throughout history, autocrats have often gained power by first targeting judges’ legitimacy.

During the conference, which was hosted by nonpartisan judicial advocacy group Speak Up for Justice, judges warned that the White House’s ongoing broadsides undermine the rule of law and judicial independence and are emboldening bad actors.

“Now, it’s at a level that I have to honestly say is different. We’re seeing things coming out from the top down, from White House spokespeople, calling us crazy, leftist, unconstitutional judges,” said Esther Salas, a federal judge from New Jersey.

Salas’ 20-year-old son was murdered in 2020 by a disgruntled attorney posing as a delivery person. The lawyer had appeared before Salas months before the shooting.

Salas recounted the story while calling on national leaders to tone down their rhetoric.

“We’re used to being appealed, but keep it on the merits. Stop demonizing us. Stop villainizing us,” Salas said. “Because what they’re doing when they do that irresponsible rhetoric is they are inviting people to do us harm.”

The conference opened with a voicemail that John McConnell, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, received shortly after temporarily pausing the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal grants.

“Tell the son of a b**** we’re going to come for him. His a** is going to prison,” the caller, who left his name and phone number, threatened. “I double dare you to try to put charges on Donald J. Trump.”

“And I wish someone would f****** assassinate your a**.”

Around the time of the call, Elon Musk, a then-White House employee, called for McConnell’s impeachment, while Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), a staunch Trump ally, put McConnell’s face on a “wanted” poster outside his congressional office. McConnell and his daughter were also targeted by far-right activist Laura Loomer.

“I’ve been on the bench almost 15 years, and I must say it was the one time that actually shook my faith in the judicial system and the rule of law,” McConnell said.

McConnell said his court received over 400 “vile, threatening, horrible” voicemails, and six credible death threats were made against him, including one originating from someone searching for his address on the dark web because they wanted “Smith & Wesson” to pay the judge a visit. 

“I didn’t want to be here,” McConnell said. “I’ve never spoken about what’s happened to me personally because I’m not looking for pity. I’m not looking for sympathy. I want to be able to just do my job again. I want to be able to uphold the Constitution.”

McConnell said he was also among several judges who received unsolicited anonymous pizza deliveries. It’s a tactic known as “pizza doxxing,” and it indicates that those behind the deliveries know the judges’ addresses. 

Some of the deliveries, he said, were made in Judge Salas’ son’s name.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, who sits on a federal bench in Seattle, said he and his children also received pizza deliveries in Salas’ son’s name. He said the U.S. Marshals Service is investigating the deliveries, which have been made to around 50 judges so far.

John Coughenour, a U.S. district judge who also presides in Seattle, detailed how he and his family were targeted by a bomb threat and a “swatting” attack, in which the local sheriff’s office responded to his house after an anonymous caller said he had murdered his wife. 

“What kind of people do these things?” Coughenour asked. “It’s just so disgusting.” 

After warning that ongoing political attacks are undermining the judiciary’s reputation, Coughenour noted that, historically, autocrats came to power first by going after courts.

“The rise to power in 1930s Germany, 1970s Cambodia, Rwanda, the former Soviet Union, was all preceded by an attack upon the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary,” he said.

Days before the conference, Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a misconduct complaint against James Boasberg, the chief district judge in Washington, D.C., for raising concerns about the Trump administration possibly ignoring court rulings during a private judicial conference earlier this year.

Legal experts warn Bondi’s complaint is part of an effort to intimidate judges and damage public confidence in the judiciary.

“What we need is our political leaders, from the top down, to stop fanning these flames, to stop using irresponsible rhetoric, to stop referring to judges as corrupt and biased and monsters who hate America,” Salas said.