Federal judges want to build a force of armed private security under wild plan to take on Trump

Daily Mail​

25-05-2025

Federal judges are considering hiring armed private security forces amid fears that US Marshals will not protect them because they work for Donald Trump.
The judiciary has been dealing with rising number of threats against magistrates who have ruled against the Trump administration's agenda.
Data from the agency show threat investigations against federal judges and prosecutors nearly tripled from 2019 to 2023.
Some judges are concerned the security provided by the Marshals Service will not be enough to protect them, or that the White House will revoke their services as retaliation for their rulings.
The idea for private security came up in a series of closed-door meetings in March, when a group of roughly 50 judges met in Washington for a semiannual meeting of the Judicial Conference, a policymaking body for the federal judiciary, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Even Chief Justice John Roberts heard concerns from judges over a breakfast in a meeting room in the Supreme Court.
While the Supreme Court has its own police force, other federal judges are protected by the Marshals Service, which reports to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats introduce legislation to transfer control of the Marshals Service to the judiciary, reported CBS News.
'Since 1789, the U.S. Marshals have valiantly protected our nation's judges and enforced court orders. But their dual accountability to the executive branch and the judicial branch paves the way toward a constitutional crisis,' said Sen. Cory Booker.
Judge John Coughenour of the Western District of Washington, who had the SWAT team called on him, called it 'wonderful idea.'
'There's never been any reason in the 43 years that I've been on the bench to worry that the Marshals Service would do whatever was appropriate—until recent years,' Coughenour said.
Members of the federal judiciary asked lawmakers to increase security funding up to $892 million, up 19 percent from the current fiscal year, to enable the court system to respond to rising threats directed at judges and to ensure their safety and that of their families.
The Trump administration has not said it has any intentions of weaken protections for judges saying in a statement to WSJ that marshals 'will continue to protect the safety and security of federal judges.'
'Any suggestion to the contrary is not only absurd but wrong,' the official said.
A spokesperson for the Marshals Service said that the 'security of our federal judiciary is a cornerstone of our nation's democracy, and the marshals take that responsibility very seriously. Federal judges make hard decisions based on the rule of law in large part because the marshals ensure they can make these decisions without fear, intimidation, or retaliation.'
Reuters identified at least a dozen judges who, after ruling against the White House, have had pizzas delivered to their homes by anonymous senders.
'They want to let you know that they know where you live, and they want to let you know they're capable of violence and harm,' said one judge who received the pizza delivery.
In recent weeks, the pizza deliveries have taken a more sinister turn. At least 10 judges have received anonymous pizza deliveries that were ordered using the name 'Daniel Anderl,' the late son of Judge Salas, according to the judge, who shared with Reuters information she received from other judges and the Marshals.
In 2020, Daniel Anderl was killed by a disgruntled lawyer from a case heard by Salas. Posing as a delivery driver, the assailant shot Anderl, 20, when he answered the door at the judge's home. The attacker also wounded Salas' husband before killing himself.
Reuters found more than 600 posts on social media and right-leaning message boards since February targeting family members of judges who ruled against the Trump administration.
Other threats or menacing messages were made directly in calls and emails to the courts or the homes of judges and their relatives, according to court records.