Federal judges detail rise in threats, 'pizza doxings,' as Trump ramps
up criticism
[August 01, 2025]
By NICHOLAS RICCARDI
In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at
the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her
20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald
Trump steps up hiscriticism of federal judges who have blocked some of
his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to
their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name.
District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled
Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those
who received pizzas in Anderl's name. His courtroom also has been
flooded by threatening calls, including one profanity-laced one that
called for his assassination.
McConnell, Jr. played a recording of the call during an unusual
discussion Thursday where multiple federal judges discussed threats they
have received — a notable conversation because judges usually only speak
publicly from the bench and through their rulings, and rarely if ever,
about personal threats and attacks. Salas and others said the number of
attacks has escalated in recent months.
Without using his name, Salas called on Trump and his allies to tone
down the rhetoric and stop demonizing the judiciary, for fear of what
more could happen.
“We’re used to being appealed. But keep it on the merits, stop
demonizing us,” Salas said. “They’re inviting people to do us harm.”
Thursday’s event was sponsored by Speak up for Justice, a nonpartisan
group supporting an independent judiciary. District Judge John C.
Coughenour of Washington recalled having a police SWAT team called to
his home to respond to a false report of an attack after Coughenour in
January halted Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for
children of people in the country illegally.
District Judge Robert S. Lasnik of Washington also had pizzas delivered
in Anderl’s name to both his home and those of his two adult children,
each in different cities, after an article in which he was quoted as
being critical of attacks on judges was picked up by a television
station in the Pacific Northwest, where he hears cases.
“The message to me was ‘we know where you live, we know where your kids
live, and they could end up dead like Daniel Anderl did,’” Lasnik said
in an interview.
Salas says U.S. Marshals have told her of more than 100 cases of
so-called “pizza doxings,” unwanted deliveries to the homes of federal
judges and their families, since 2024, with most occurring this year.
Salas added that she’s heard of additional cases targeting state judges
in states ranging from Colorado to Florida, incidents that wouldn’t be
tracked by Marshals, who protect federal judges.
“This is not some random, silly act, this is a targeted, concentrated,
coordinated attack on judges,” Salas said in an interview, “and yet we
don’t hear any condemnation from Washington.”
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This image provided by Esther Salas shows U.S. District Judge Esther
Salas, in her courtroom in Newark, N.J., March 20, 2025. (Esther
Salas via AP)
Salas, nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, in 2022 was
critical of protests at the homes of Republican-nominated Supreme
Court justices who revoked women’s right to have an abortion, which
were followed by the arrest of a man at the home of Justice Brett
Kavanaugh who said he was there to assassinate the justice. Salas
said both sides of the political aisle have used worrying rhetoric
about judges, but it’s reached a new peak since Trump took office.
“I’ve often referred to it as a bonfire that I believe the current
administration is throwing accelerants on,” Salas said.
Trump himself has led the charge against judges, often going after
them by name on social media. He’s said judges who’ve ruled against
his administration are “sick,” “very dangerous” and “lunatic.”
Trump’s allies have amplified his rhetoric and called for impeaching
judges who rule against the president or simply disobeying their
rulings. Earlier this year, several judges at the panel noted, Rep.
Andy Ogles of Tennessee had a “wanted” poster of judges who’d
crossed the president hanging outside his congressional office.
Lasnik said many judges appointed by presidents of both parties have
told him of concerns but are nervous about discussing the issue
openly.
“A lot of them don’t know how to speak up and are afraid of crossing
a line somewhere where they would get a judicial complaint like
judge Boasberg did,” Lasnik said, referring to District Judge James
E. Boasberg of D.C., who infuriated the Trump administration by
finding they likely committed criminal contempt by disobeying his
order to turn around a deportation flight to El Salvador.
Though Chief Justice John Roberts has come to Boasberg's defense,
Trump’s Department of Justice this week filed a complaint against
Boasberg over comments he made at a judicial conference that other
judges worry the Trump administration won't obey their orders. Last
month, Trump’s Justice Department took the extraordinary step of
suing every federal judge in Maryland over rules governing how they
handle immigration cases.
More than five dozen judges who've ruled against Trump are receiving
enhanced online protection, including scrubbing their identifying
information from websites, according to two Trump-appointed judges
who wrote Congress urging more funding for judicial security. In
2022, Congress passed a law named after Daniel Anderl allowing
judges to sue internet sites to take down identifying information.
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