A 300% increase in threats against judges since January
U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas is still reliving the July night in 2020 when her doorbell rang and a gunman shot and killed her son, Daniel Anderl, and grievously wounded her husband. Salas herself was the target.
The threat she faced has only escalated to touch other judges in the Trump era, Salas warned MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Friday.
“Just this week I was contacted by a judge, and I was told that the second pizza that arrived at this judge’s house – he had already received one before – the second pizza that arrived at this judge’s house was sent by my son, Daniel Anderl,” Salas said in an interview on MSNBC. “The name that they used on the pizza was Daniel Anderl. My baby boy, who we lost on July 19, 2020.”
“And if it would have stopped there, it would have been bad enough,” she added. “But it’s not stopping. Just last night, another pizza, there’s four now, four pizzas that are being sent to judges as threats. And who’s the sender? Daniel Anderl.”
Salas told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that the significance in the ominous deliveries is the message that it sends.
“You send a pizza to a judge’s house – that’s the message – I know where you live. You send a pizza to a judge’s child’s house – I know where your child lives,” she said.
Salas has a plea to the kind of people motivated by hatred of the judicial system and judges. “For the love of God, stop all this hatred and all this anger because it is going to get someone killed.”
It is a powerful interview. Both women struggled to maintain their composure in the face of the judge’s tragedy and the sick hatred behind these escalating, Mafia-like threats. Trump-fueled threats, let’s not mince words. The administration and members of Congress are throwing fuel onto the fire with rhetoric about corrupt judges, and “giving license” to people who would do them harm.
Salas looked into the camera and begged people to respect the law, respect the process, and stop the downward spiral. May we all heed her plea.
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