United States judges spoke out against the unprecedented surge in violence and disturbing threats made against members of the judicial branch Thursday morning.

Over 400 threats against judges have been documented in 2025 alone, ranging from alarming voicemails to doxing. This is taking place alongside a rise in political actors defaming and threatening judicial leaders. Many of the threats have followed rulings made against the Trump administration.

Speak Up for Justice held a forum, “Judges Break Their Silence: Attacks, Intimidation & Threats to Democracy,” that brought together five sitting federal judges from across party lines.

“We see something that is concerning us all and that is a real threat to democracy, judicial security and independence that has made this country what it is today,” said of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas.

For example, people have delivered pizzas to judges’ homes under the name Daniel Anderl in a “pizza doxing.” Anderl, the son of Salas and her husband, Mark, was murdered in a targeted attack on his birthday in 2020 at their New Jersey home.

“You have this personal threat to judges that is going on to get us to take our focus off the rule of law, to threaten us to violate our oath,” Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. said. “Then, you have these political threats being thrown at us that degrade the nonpartisan independent judiciary.”

Judge John Coughenour was swatted — police stormed his house following a false report — and received a mailbox bomb threat sent to the FBI that was found to be a hoax. This occurred after Coughenour issued a ruling upholding birthright citizenship.

“It’s just been stunning to me how much damage has been done to the reputation of our judiciary because some political actors think that they can gain some advantage by attacking the independence of the judiciary and threatening the rule of law,” said Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee.

Additionally, “wanted” posters, displaying judge’s faces, have been hung in federal buildings.

Unprecedented Lack of Political Support

Public outrage over court decisions is nothing new, but this level of attack on the judicial branch is unprecedented, several of the judges said.

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

One reason for this escalation is a lack of support and respect for rulings from political leaders.

“The people in power are using that power in a way that’s very destructive to the rule of law, very destructive to the independence of the judiciary,” Judge Robert Lasnik said.

In the past, presidents, such as President Kennedy and President Eisenhower during Brown v. Board of Education, stood behind and upheld judicial rulings. In contrast, President Trump and his allies describe judges who have ruled against his administration as “crooked” and “rogue.”

McConnell, who was at the center of a battle between blue states and Trump over a federal spending freeze, faced a surge in violent threats against him and his family.

This included a “pizza doxing” with this note: “You’re being watched. Do you want what happened to Judge Salas and Daniel to happen to you?”

At the time, U.S. Representative Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, posted on X that he was drafting articles of impeachment for McConnell. Another congressman put up a wanted poster with his face, Judge McConnel said.

Additionally, Elon Musk weighed in posting, “There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one.”

But this behavior is not isolated to one political party, according to judges.

Threat to Democracy

The uptick in threats and violence is seen across political lines with judges appointed by both Republicans and Democrats receiving threats.

“It’s stunning to me just how much damage has been done to the reputation of our judiciary, because some political actor can gain some advantage by attacking the independence of the judiciary and threatening the rule of law,” said Coughenour.

Last December, before Trump’s inauguration, Chief Justice Roberts addressed a rise in threats against federal judges, McConnell said.

The questioning of rulings and threat to judges from political leaders and the public has put the rule of law under siege.

“Historically, if you look around the world, the rise to power in 1930s Germany, 1970s Cambodia was all preceded by an attack upon the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary,” Coughenour said. “We need a call to action in this country from our lawyers and from our judges to say not in this country, not on our watch.”