Judges Are Begging The Public To Take Trump’s Attacks On Them Seriously

Federal judges wonder if they can’t keep themselves or their families safe, how are they expected to uphold the rule of law?

Sitting federal judges targeted for impeachment or misconduct complaints by the Trump administration and its allies are speaking out publicly — some for the very first time — because the danger to judicial independence, they say, is now “unprecedented” and growing terrifyingly and intimately violent.

“I double dare you. Tell the judge. Give me a call back and tell that son of a bitch, we’re going to come for him and send his ass to prison… somebody should wipe him out. You damn white son of a trashy bitch,” a man said, his crackling over a voicemail for U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island.

One obscenity after another flowed amid promises to assassinate McConnell or harm his family if he dare cross the president. McConnell received the call after he had blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze roughly $3 trillion in federal funding to the states.

The voicemail was one of 400 similar messages McConnell received. Investigators also told him someone on the dark web searched for his home address and posted a message about wanting “Smith & Wesson to visit.” The judge received six confirmed credible death threats, and his family wasn’t spared either.

Laura Loomer, the far right propagandist and Trump ally, tweeted a photo of the judge’s daughter on social media after he was first assigned the federal funding case. McConnell said Elon Musk “picked up on it” and amplified Loomer’s post to his millions of followers. Things spiraled out of control from there, he said.