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Washington — The 15 comments came crossed a bid of 8 days successful July, posted nether pseudonyms alluding to the perpetrators of immoderate of the astir infamous wide shootings successful U.S. history, including Sandy Hook Elementary School and Aurora, Colorado.
"That POS Judge … MUST person her beingness ENDED Immediately! Get it done, Patriots!!" work one post, referring to a national justice successful California.
Another named members of Congress: "This is GREAT! Now I tin usage a, high-powered firearm to instrumentality attraction of [four members of Congress], and the Squad members … for starters! Wish maine Luck."
The posts targeted a Supreme Court justice, 7 national judges and 11 lawmakers, and included what prosecutors said were "thinly veiled radical epithets."
The comments, posted successful effect to quality articles, were traced backmost to a Minnesota man, Jeffrey Petersen, who admitted to the FBI that helium was down immoderate of the postings and acknowledged they "got retired of hand," according to prosecutors' filings. Petersen was archetypal indicted past October connected 20 counts and pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer is seeking to person the charges dismissed, arguing that Petersen was engaging successful code protected by the First Amendment. While the comments whitethorn person expressed wishes of death, they didn't bespeak Petersen had immoderate plans to termination the officials, his defence lawyer said.
Petersen is 1 of 126 radical charged past twelvemonth for making threats to national and apical authorities officials, according to a CBS News investigation of tribunal records from each 94 national judicial districts. CBS News examined cases brought nether national statutes that marque it a transgression to endanger to termination oregon harm the president and successors to the presidency, and to transmit threatening communications.
The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center astatine the University of Nebraska astatine Omaha and the Prosecution Project besides contributed data.
The threats that person resulted successful charges bash not discriminate successful their targets. They were leveled against officials moving successful each 3 branches of authorities — from judges to members of Congress to instrumentality enforcement officers to President Trump and erstwhile President Joe Biden — and directed astatine those successful the highest levels of authorities government.
The measurement of cases marks a much than three-fold summation successful the fig of national prosecutions arising retired of threats to nationalist officials implicit the past decade. 2025 surpassed 2024 successful threats-related cases, according to NCITE.
The emergence underscores the existent scenery for national officials who were elected to office, appointed to their roles oregon hired to enforce the law. In today's environment, they look a barrage of threats connected societal media and successful voicemails and emails, and person been swatted oregon doxxed.
"If I were successful my 30s oregon 40s with young children astatine location and reasoning astir going connected the national bench, 1 of the factors [to consider] is that we whitethorn beryllium exposing ourselves to imaginable violence," U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who sits connected the tribunal successful Seattle, told CBS News.
Coughenour was appointed to the seat by President Ronald Reagan successful 1981 and has had information details successful effect to threats a fistful of times successful his 45 years arsenic a judge, helium said, including erstwhile helium presided implicit the trial of leaders of an anti-government radical successful the precocious 1990s.
But Coughenour said the threats helium has received successful caller months are much explicit and much predominant than what he's experienced before.
The justice said helium was swatted, an amerciable strategy successful which radical marque fake exigency calls to gully SWAT teams to the homes of nationalist figures. The FBI besides told him determination was a weaponry successful his house, Coughenour recalled. He said he's besides received hundreds of threatening voicemails and different communications.
Last year, Coughenour blocked an enforcement order from Mr. Trump that sought to extremity birthright citizenship, saying it was "blatantly unconstitutional." Mr. Trump had referenced Coughenour's determination successful the Oval Office, saying "there's nary surprises with that judge." Coughenour's representation besides appeared connected a "wanted" poster displayed extracurricular the office of Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, which described him and different judges arsenic "known get-Trump judicial activists."
"The anterior 40 years that I've spent connected the bench, from clip to time, radical would beryllium captious of decisions we make, and that's to beryllium expected," Coughenour said. "Half the radical that travel earlier america for proceedings are going to beryllium unhappy with the result. But it had ne'er earlier reached the level wherever the president and the lawyer wide and the president's unit were making hypercritical comments and calling judges monsters and referring to a judicial coup. Things similar that, that's each new. I've ne'er experienced that before."
A "marked diminution successful civility"
In the past fiscal year, determination were 564 threats against judges, up from 509 successful fiscal twelvemonth 2024, according to data from the U.S. Marshals Service, which is liable for providing extortion to members of the national judiciary. From the opening of October to the extremity of January, the bureau said determination were 176 threats to judges.
Chief Justice John Roberts said successful his 2024 year-end report connected the national judiciary that the fig of threats and communications targeting judges had tripled implicit the anterior decade.
"There has been a precise marked diminution successful civility and the respect for the regularisation of instrumentality successful our nine implicit the past fig of years," 1 Trump-appointed national judge, who asked not to beryllium identified, told CBS News. "When an idiosyncratic oregon a radical of individuals disagrees with a determination — successful this case, a determination by a tribunal — they past statesman to onslaught the instauration of the tribunal done the individuals who whitethorn beryllium making the decision. That inclination didn't beryllium erstwhile I started."
The justice said that implicit the past year, determination person been emailed decease threats directed against his spouse and societal media posts that accused him of being corrupt.
"When you telephone a decisionmaker corrupt for nary morganatic reason, erstwhile you onslaught them personally, that past causes the nationalist to, astatine a minimum, question whether their institutions are successful information beardown and honorable and serving the Constitution and the radical arsenic they're designed to do," the justice said.
CBS News recovered that of the 126 prosecutions from past year, 12 included threats against judges. Forty-one progressive threats made against Mr. Trump and erstwhile Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama; and 29 of the prosecutions progressive defendants accused of targeting national instrumentality enforcement, including agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Threatening messages directed astatine members of Congress were cited successful 21 cases.
Other authorities officials — including Cabinet members, elder Trump medication officials, national employees and unnamed governmental figures — were cited successful 50 cases.
Seamus Hughes, an adept connected counterterrorism and extremism astatine NCITE, said implicit the past year, determination has been a melodramatic displacement successful the measurement of threats to instrumentality enforcement agents, who person progressively go a people for radical with grievances against the government. The fig of prosecutions stemming from threats to those agents apt reflects accrued quality sum of Mr. Trump's wide deportation run and the medication prioritizing protecting officers, helium said.
"The national prosecutions archer you, 'This is wherever we person tegument successful the game, wherever we're really going to enactment our digit connected the standard and effort to tamp down connected this,'" Hughes said.
At the tallness of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, determination were much prosecutions involving threats to acquisition and public-health officials. In 2020, cases were brought against those who sought to intimidate predetermination officials, Hughes said.
While the fig of threats-related prosecutions marked a caller high, the beingness of concerning statements directed astatine radical successful nationalist work — galore of them vile, disturbing and convulsive — is acold broader.
The U.S. Capitol Police reported past period that it investigated 14,923 "concerning statements, behaviors and communications" directed against lawmakers, their families, unit and the Capitol analyzable itself past year. That fig was up from 9,474 successful 2024 and conscionable implicit 8,000 successful 2023.
During a caller proceeding from the House Judiciary Committee, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California appealed to Attorney General Pam Bondi to guarantee radical menacing lawmakers are held accountable. He recalled respective instances of obscene and convulsive messages directed astatine him past year, and lamented that prosecutors declined to bring charges. On 1 occasion, a caller near 11 voicemails with Swalwell's territory office, including 1 successful which helium said, "I'm going to hunt him down, that motherf***er, and flip his ass implicit the Golden Gate Bridge by my f***ing self," according to Swalwell.
"The president tin travel aft me, it's fine. I'm successful the arena. So are these folks," helium said, referring to his chap lawmakers. "But we ne'er expected that the Department of Justice would not question to prosecute and analyse those who are making threats against us, and that would see those connected that broadside of the aisle. I'm asking for your assistance to support beingness due to the fact that beingness is astatine hazard with the situation we're successful close now."
Rep. Eric Swalwell of California questions Attorney General Pam Bondi during a House Judiciary Committee proceeding successful the Rayburn House Office Building successful Washington, D.C., connected Feb. 11, 2026.
Getty Images
Bondi agreed that "none of you should beryllium threatened" and said the Justice Department is engaged successful ongoing investigations.
"We person a work to prosecute these cases and to support victims who are the unfortunate recipient of these threats," Gregory Kehoe, the U.S. lawyer for the Middle District of Florida, told CBS News. "When the idiosyncratic communicating it does it recklessly, and helium does it successful specified a mode that helium recklessly believes that what helium does volition beryllium viewed arsenic a threat, past that's a crime. Then we person to instrumentality that rather seriously. So let's abstracted the workout of escaped code from threats implicit the wires oregon implicit the mails, etc., due to the fact that we get some of them, and threats to injure different quality being implicit the wires oregon successful the mails."
The portion Kehoe oversees stretches from Jacksonville, successful Florida's northeast corner, down to Orlando, westbound to Ocala and Tampa, and southbound to Fort Myers. CBS News identified astatine slightest 17 cases involving threats to authorities officials and instrumentality enforcement that were prosecuted by his bureau past year, the astir from immoderate of the 94 judicial districts.
Kehoe, who served arsenic a authoritative for much than 20 years and was tapped arsenic U.S. lawyer past March, said threats and the transgression cases arising from them person accrued dramatically.
"It's our occupation to elevate the consciousness and say, this is not going to beryllium tolerated, and radical that bash this are going to beryllium prosecuted," helium said. "If radical bash this and they're not prosecuted, radical are going to travel beryllium of the content that it's OK, and it's not."
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, said members of Congress and their families are facing expanding levels of toxicity and convulsive rhetoric.
In an interrogation with CBS News, she rattled disconnected defendants who had been convicted for threatening her. One antheral from New York pleaded guilty successful 2023 and was sentenced to 3 months successful situation for making threatening calls to her office. Another antheral from Georgia claimed helium would sprout her successful the head. Greene besides recalled 1 incidental wherever a syringe was placed successful her mailbox with a decease threat.
"It's excessively much," she said. "This isn't what radical tally for bureau for. And nary substance whether you hold with a subordinate of Congress oregon disagree with a subordinate of Congress, they're representing their district, and their territory voted for them. So to immoderate Americans, their views whitethorn beryllium extreme, but to that district, they support getting reelected implicit and implicit again. To that district, that's not extreme."
In July, a Maryland antheral who made 8 telephone calls to Greene's territory bureau betwixt October 2023 and January 2025 was charged with threatening to battle and execution Greene and her family. The threats escalated implicit that 15-month span, according to prosecutors, and culminated with a voicemail that warned she and her unit "were arsenic bully arsenic dead."
Then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during a quality league extracurricular the Capitol connected Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.
Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg via Getty Images
The caller, Seth Jason, told Greene to "make your past volition ready, due to the fact that we are coming aft you, and the lone happening you're going to perceive is bang … I'm yearning to perceive you outcry for your past breath." He pleaded blameworthy successful December and volition beryllium sentenced successful June.
Greene said the clip betwixt a blameworthy plea oregon condemnation to erstwhile a suspect yet reports to situation to statesman serving a condemnation tin beryllium frightening and frustrating.
"Not lone the menace is scary, it's the information that this idiosyncratic admits guilt, pleads blameworthy and past is sent location earlier they're ever sent to prison. You wonder, well, they've already pleaded blameworthy to it, are they consenting to travel done connected it earlier they spell to prison?" she said. "That's shocking to me. So you can't fto your defender down. You can't consciousness harmless adjacent though that idiosyncratic has been convicted."
Members of Congress person taken steps to support themselves, specified arsenic by installing information systems astatine their homes, arming themselves oregon hiring idiosyncratic security. Last November, Congress approved legislation that provided $203.5 cardinal to boost information for lawmakers. Each senators' bureau received an further $750,000 to wage for enhanced information measures, including astatine their residences. About $100 cardinal went toward bolstering information for House members and their families.
Greene, who served 5 years successful the House and resigned Jan. 5, said she carries a weapon and practices shooting.
From threats to action
Shannon Hiller, enforcement manager of the Bridging Divides Initiative astatine Princeton University, attributed the existent menace situation to the emergence of societal media and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, section officials reported changes successful the code and measurement of vitriolic messages, and that hasn't subsided successful the years since, she said.
Additionally, determination has been a clime of dehumanizing rhetoric by the nation's leaders, arsenic good arsenic a normalization of the usage of threats and harassment against those connected the different broadside of an issue, Hiller said.
"You person threats and harassment being utilized and normalized successful authorities and you person leaders each the mode astatine the apical and down being consenting to usage it," she told CBS News. "So adjacent for officials who whitethorn privation to talk up against it, they're disquieted astir threats themselves. That creates this continual antagonistic feedback. If there's nary authorisation from wrong either party, wrong assemblage members, to say, 'This is unacceptable successful our politics,' past that behaviour volition continue."
Hiller warned that a effect of today's scenery is less radical consenting to service successful nationalist bureau and, for those who are serving, a fearfulness that engaging with constituencies successful nationalist settings could enactment them successful danger.
"When we spot each of these dynamics twelvemonth aft twelvemonth and proceed to worsen, that's what gets america person to immoderate incidental oregon escalation creating broader struggle and hazard of violence," she said. "Part of what this clime of hostility successful our authorities does is make the tinder for much struggle alternatively than having our civic spaces beryllium a spot wherever we tin consciousness confident, we tin peacefully and constructively resoluteness our differences."
That hazard became world precocious past month, erstwhile a antheral assaulted Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, during a municipality hallway successful Minneapolis. The alleged perpetrator, 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, charged astatine Omar with a syringe successful his manus and sprayed her with a liquid. Police aboriginal determined it to beryllium pome cider vinegar and water.
Kazmierczak faces a national battle charge arsenic good arsenic authorities charges. He has not yet entered a plea.
Omar said aft the onslaught that she sees decease threats against her "skyrocket" aft Mr. Trump uses "hateful rhetoric" to speech astir her.
A antheral is tackled aft spraying a substance astatine Rep. Ilhan Omar during a municipality hallway successful Minneapolis connected Jan. 27, 2026.
Octavio JONES /AFP via Getty Images
The president has repeatedly demonized Omar successful the 7 years since she began serving successful the House. Mr. Trump has called her a "fake sleazebag" and "garbage," and suggested connected numerous occasions that she should "go back" to her location country, Somalia.
"It could beryllium anybody successful Congress," Greene said astir the Omar attack. "I deliberation astir Americans are truly getting fed up with conscionable the changeless fueling of toxic authorities that travel from some sides. And I conscionable deliberation it's unfortunate that it's fearfulness and choler that is utilized by governmental campaigns and authorities to thrust radical to ballot and donate."
Threats targeted astatine jurists and the president person besides materialized into governmental violence.
Mr. Trump was the unfortunate of 2 attempted assassinations successful 2024, including the shooting astatine a run rally successful Butler, Pennsylvania, that near 1 dormant and the president and 2 others injured.
Two years prior, aft the leak of a draught Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade successful 2022, an idiosyncratic from California was detained extracurricular Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Maryland location equipped with a handgun, weapon and myriad tools. The defendant, who was arrested and charged arsenic Nicholas Roske but present goes by Sophie Roske, pleaded blameworthy past April to attempting to termination oregon kidnap a Supreme Court justice.
Prosecutors said Roske aimed to termination 3 members of the precocious tribunal and researched their location addresses. Roske was sentenced to 97 months successful situation past October.
Two years earlier, Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old lad of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas was shot and killed astatine their New Jersey home. Her husband, Mark, was changeable 3 times. The gunman, a disgruntled lawyer, had been stalking the household and had accusation connected their regular movements, including the routes Salas took to enactment and wherever they attended church, according to the FBI.
"I deliberation of threats similar the temper music," Hughes said. "They ever play successful the background, they origin a level of concern. And determination volition beryllium a subset of radical from that who spot these images and announcements and accidental it's clip to instrumentality action."
The sanction of Salas' lad has been invoked by perpetrators of hoaxes known arsenic "pizza doxxing," which involves sending pizza to a target's location successful an effort to scare them. Roughly 2 twelve national judges person reported receiving unsolicited deliveries for Anderl.
In an interview with CBS News past year, Salas called the attempted pizza deliveries "psychological warfare" against judges.
To combat the emergence successful governmental violence, Hiller said determination are short-term steps that tin beryllium taken, similar improving information astatine nationalist meetings and ensuring determination are capable idiosyncratic information protections, arsenic good arsenic semipermanent solutions, specified arsenic countering a normalization of hostility and holding perpetrators accountable.
"It sounds basic, but radical truly person to judge it doesn't person to beryllium this way," she said.
Coughenour, the justice from Washington, too, said things indispensable change.
"We can't spell connected the mode that we are today," helium said. "I've often said that I interest that this state is person to civilian warfare than it's ever been successful my lifetime, but surely this, too, volition pass."
Callie Teitelbaum contributed to this report.
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