Last Tuesday, a majority of the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump – the current frontrunner to be the 2024 GOP presidential candidate – would not be able to appear on Republican primary ballots in the state.
Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating threats against those justices, per a CNN report.
“The FBI is aware of the situation and working with local law enforcement,” said FBI Public Affairs Officer Vikki Migoya, according to the outlet. “We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation.”
CNN said the Denver Police Department confirmed that law enforcement responded to at least one justice’s home last Thursday for an apparent hoax report.
“Everything checked clear and we are continuing to investigate this report. Due to security and privacy considerations, and the ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide any additional information at this time,” said the DPD in a statement.
According to CNN, authorities have also been monitoring rhetoric on extremist online forums. They hope this surveillance might help identify tangible threats against public officials.
“The names of the four Colorado Supreme Court justices who ruled to disqualify Trump from the ballot have appeared frequently in ‘incendiary’ posts on such forums with calls to expose the judges’ personal data,” said CNN, citing an analysis of the posts.
This analysis found no indication of specific threats against the judges. However, the outlet said a user on a far-right, pro-Trump website posted that all “robed rats must “hang” in an apparent reference to the Colorado justices.
In Colorado, the justices ruled that Trump would not be able to appear on the primary ballots since they ruled he is disqualified from holding office under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. That section bars anyone who swore an oath to the Constitution and then participated in an insurrection against it from holding office, which Trump has been accused of doing due to his unfounded claims of election fraud related to the 2020 election and his connection to the deadly 2021 Capitol riot.
While those justices ruled that Trump would be disqualified from holding office, the Michigan Supreme Court came to a different conclusion this week. Justices there refused to hear a case regarding whether Trump would appear on primary ballots in the state.
There are dozens of other cases seeking to bar Trump from appearing on ballots in addition to those in Colorado and Michigan, said the Associated Press. Trump also faces legal battles connected to the Capitol riot and other issues, spread across four indictments over the course of this year.
In a Wednesday Truth Social post, Trump said that the Colorado decision has been “ridiculed and mocked all over the World,” and he continued to make unfounded claims about election fraud.