MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing reported on Thursday about the disturbing flood of death threats directed at the four judges on Colorado’s Supreme Court following their decision to remove Donald Trump from the state’s ballot. Jansing shared excerpts from posts on pro-Trump forums, including threats such as “Kill judges, behead judges. Roundhouse kick a judge into the concrete” and “This ends when we kill these F-ers.” Some posts even included the judges’ phone numbers and office addresses.
Jansing highlighted that Trump is expected to appeal the decision after Christmas, shifting the focus to the Supreme Court. The potential involvement of the Supreme Court justices in this political controversy raises concerns, particularly in a country currently more divided than ever. The court has faced accusations of being influenced by politics rather than the law on issues ranging from abortion to affirmative action.
To discuss the threats facing the judges, Jansing brought in NBC’s Ryan Reilly, who noted that such threats have become almost expected whenever Donald Trump faces a legal setback. Reilly mentioned previous instances of physical attacks and threats against individuals investigating the January 6th rioters. He highlighted that these threats create a challenging environment for justices making decisions, as they must consider potential backlash and intimidation while focusing on their legal responsibilities. The ruling itself acknowledged the external pressures, emphasizing the judges’ commitment to making decisions regardless of these challenges.
Another said, “This ends when we kill these F-ers.” particularly disturbing some posts, including the judges, phone numbers, and office addresses. But with new word into NBC News that Trump is expected to appeal the decision sometime after Christmas, the focus shifts to the Supreme Court, where justices may be forced to step more directly into the political arena than at any time since Bush v. Gore.
In a country even more bitterly divided now than it was then, and it comes at a particularly fraught time for the court itself, struggling against accusations that on issues from abortion to affirmative action, it’s guided more by politics than the law.
Jansing then brought in NBC’s Ryan Reilly, who wrote the NBC report, to further discuss the threats facing the judges.
“Yeah, it’s almost to be expected at this point, right?” Reilly began, adding:
Because every time that Donald Trump has faced a legal setback, we’ve seen this pattern and where these the threats really come in. We saw physical attacks even after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago. We saw actual physical attack on an FBI field office. We’ve seen time and time again threats against against individuals who are investigating January 6th rioters, for example. And when Trump was indicted and then when Trump was indicted again, this flood of threats really come in. And what it ends up happening is we’re in a scenario where these justices who are deciding these issues have that in the back of their mind.
In fact, the ruling itself sort of spoke to this, that they had to make they felt that they had to make this decision regardless of sort of the other factors that could be weighing on their mind. Right. The threats that you might see, because they probably knew going into this what they are going to face because it’s happened time and time again.
