- The court ruled 4-3 on Tuesday to disqualify Trump from the ballot
- Following the ruling, a flood of online threats based on the 14th Amendment case emerged, with one nonpartisan group calling the threat a “significant concern”
- Now the FBI is working with local law enforcement to investigate the threats
The FBI is investigating death threats against Colorado Supreme Court justices who ruled this week that Trump could not appear in the state's primary.
The judges have been the target of vicious online threats since the election, with law enforcement officials saying they are investigating aggressive phone and social media messages.
Messages posted online have been violent, with one reading: “This ends when we kill these motherfuckers.” Another read: “What do you call seven Colorado Supreme Court justices at the bottom of the ocean?” with the answer: 'A good start.'
The threats follow the court's 4-3 ruling to ban Trump from the state's primaries under a law banning “insurrectionists” from holding high office after Trump was found to have participated in an “insurrection” on 6 January.
Now the FBI “is aware of the situation and is working with local law enforcement,” said Vikki Migoya, public affairs officer for the FBI's Denver field office.
A nonpartisan group has collected online threats that have poured in against justices of the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled that Trump is disqualified from the state's primary ballot under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution
Migoya told the Washington Post: “We will vigorously pursue the investigation into any threat or use of force made by anyone who uses extremist views to justify their actions, regardless of motivation.”
Officers even went to one of the Justice Department's homes Thursday evening after what appears to have been a “hoax report,” according to Denver police.
They added that everything appeared normal at the home, but they are now investigating the incident.
The angry online threats were collected by the nonpartisan group Advance Democracy, which has been monitoring the sudden outburst of threats against the normally obscure lawyers. NBC News reported.
It came after dissenting judges warned it could cause “chaos” and the Republican Party vowed to try to switch to a caucus system if Trump is ultimately barred from voting. Trump's campaign is rushing to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, which is already being asked to consider a separate criminal prosecution of Trump on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.
“We are seeing significant violent language and threats against the Colorado judges and others believed to be behind yesterday's Colorado Supreme Court ruling,” said Daniel J. Jones, president of the group, calling the normalization such rhetoric has raised 'significant concern'. .'
Trump himself spoke out against the ruling in a written statement, reposting a quote from his lawyer Alina Habba saying rivals are using “corrupt methods” to “cheat and steal,” with plans to have the ruling in courthouse to challenge.
He also reposted a message on his Truth Social site with images of the four justices who ruled in the majority. The post called them “Communist thugs, Democrats dressed as judges in Colorado.”
Trump also “refuted” a post about a “SMALL GROUP OF TRAITORY TRAITORS PLUS SOROS,” then asked, “HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE THERE!!”
Former President Donald Trump has overturned the ruling and is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court
President Joe Biden declined to comment on the court's ruling but called it “self-evident” that Trump engaged in an insurrection, a key factor in Tuesday's ruling
It included a list of Trump's alleged enemies, including special counsel Jack Smith, along with prosecutors, judges and other figures.
The online threats against Colorado judges are just the latest in a season that has typically seen relatively obscure figures in the legal system bombarded with threats as the courts weigh high-stakes legal issues involving Trump.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversaw the Jan. 6 case, has received racist threats.
After Trump attacked New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's top law clerk, she received hundreds of “serious and credible” threats, according to a New York court official. That included calling her “treacherous” and a “snake” and saying she “should be killed.”
Trump himself has withdrawn the attacks on the clerk after receiving a silence order and a fine. However, he has come under scrutiny for some of his public rhetoric, after calling political enemies “vermin” and saying illegal migrants are “poisoning the blood of the nation,” prompting the Joe Biden campaign to compare the statements to the fascist rhetoric of the past.