In his almost 45 years as a federal judge, John Coughenour has seen it all, including high-profile criminal trials that put his own safety at risk.
But this year, the 84-year-old senior district judge did something he hadn't considered for a long time: He retrieved a gun he had stored at the federal courthouse in Seattle years ago and brought it back to his home in case he needed it to defend himself.
Coughenour is one of dozens of federal judges who have found themselves at the center of a political maelstrom as they have ruled against President Donald Trump or spoken up in defense of the judiciary. With Trump administration officialsvilifying judgeswhorule against the government,a wave ofviolent threats and harassmenthas often followed.
On Jan 23, just three days after Trump took office, Coughenour blocked an executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, calling the proposal "blatantly unconstitutional." He was the first of several judges to rule against the administration on the issue, which is now beforethe Supreme Court.
"They put it before a certain judge in Seattle I guess, right? And there's no surprises with that judge,"Trump said in the Oval Officelater that same day. Coughenour was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
The negative reaction soon followed.
Within days, Coughenour was "swatted," which is when someone calls police with a false claim about a purportedly serious ongoing situation, sometimes withdangerous consequences when armed police arrive.In this instance, an anonymous person told the local sheriff's department that the judge was barricaded into his house and had murdered his wife.
Then, another caller told law enforcement there was a bomb in Coughenour's mailbox.
In both instances, local law enforcement went to his house and swiftly realized there was no genuine threat.
"I'm not a gun nut," Coughenour said in an interview. But in light of these threats, "I have armed myself."
Other judges have been targets of anonymous pizza deliveries that judges see as a form of intimidation. The U.S. Marshals Service, which has the job of protecting judges, suspects some of the deliveries could be tied to foreign actors, three sources told NBC News.
As a result of the various threats and intimidation, judges have had to adapt their daily lives, according to NBC News interviews with six sitting judges, as well as former judges and others familiar with the current threat landscape.
One judge moved house. Another had to freeze her credit cards after a security breach.
Other judges have taken actions to adapt to the changing landscape by upgrading home security systems, changing the route they drive to work and ensuring family members limit personal information they post online, according to the current and former judges.
Coughenour pointed to the Trump administration'sharsh criticism of judges, whom it has portrayed as biased and out of control. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has described rulings against the president as a "judicial coup" and Attorney General Pam Bondi has talked about "low-level leftist judges." Some MAGA influencers have called for judges who stymie the administration's agenda to be impeached and removed from office.
"The things they say and descriptions they use — I blame them for stirring this stuff up," Coughenour said.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the administration's criticisms of judges, pointing out in a statement last week that the Supreme Court hasregularly blockedthe same rulings the White House has taken issue with.
"Any implication, by NBC, that sharing the truth is akin to making threats is deeply unserious and should be dismissed by anyone with half a brain," she added. "The Trump Administration cares deeply for the safety of all members of the Judicial Branch and will continue enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to fulfill."
'You alter your lifestyle'
Kansas City-based U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough, a Democratic appointee who in Aprilruled againstthe Trump administration over its attempt to deport five Missouri college students, then received unsolicited pizzas at 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. His daughter, who lives 800 miles away in Atlanta, also received a pizza.
The deliveries to their home addresses are "a new way of intimidating judges," Bough said in an interview.
Bough notified the U.S. Marshals, which worked with local police to increase patrols. He also worked with his homeowners association to improve his own security.
"You alter your lifestyle and try to encourage your family to do the same. It feels like things are different now," he said, referring to family members being targeted.
A Trump-appointed judge who faced death threats after a high-profile ruling against the Trump administration also told NBC News he was worried more about his family than himself. His wife was overseas at the time of the threats, which added to his unease, he said in an interview given on condition of anonymity given his safety concerns.
"She felt vulnerable, exposed, frightened," he said. "That's what struck me."
In the aftermath, the family enhanced security at home.
"This is a world none of us thought we would be living in," the judge said.
The judge who moved did so in the aftermath of a high-profile ruling against the Trump administration because of concerns his location was not secure, according to one serving federal judge and one retired judge who both have direct knowledge of the situation. They both declined to name the judge in question over concerns about his safety.
New Jersey-based U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, a Democratic appointee, had to cancel her credit cards when she was notified of a security breach connected to her professional role soon after she spoke out in defense of fellow judges, she told NBC News.
There have also been unsuccessful attempts to deliver pizzas to her this year, she added, with orders sent to her former addresses, not her current one.
Salas has been thepublic face of the judiciarythis year in raising concerns about security threats. In 2020, her son,Daniel Anderl, was murderedby a disgruntled lawyer who came to her home. Her husband was also shot. The incident prompted her to take a more visible role in pushing for greater protections for judges.
"I do think it's important for us now, at this time in our country's history, to really speak out against all of this intimidation, this violence, these threats to the judiciary and its independence," she said.
A foreign connection
One prominent trend this year has been the pizza deliveries, some of which may be tied to foreign actors, three sources said.
Like Bough, senior U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, a Democratic appointee who serves in the Western District of Washington, said in an interview that he and two of his adult children received pizza deliveries.
"The message was, we know where you live, we know where your kids live, and one of them could end up dead, like Judge Salas' son," he said.
It's a twist on other forms of harassment, such as "doxing," when personal information is publicly released, as well as "swatting."
The Marshals Service told Salas in May that there had been 103 pizza deliveries to judges who ruled against the Trump administration or spoke out about threats against the judiciary, 20 of which were sent to others in the name of her late son, she told NBC News. The Marshals Service has since told Salas there have been more, but she declined to give an exact number.
"These bad actors continue to use my murdered son's name as an attempt to inflict fear on my colleagues all throughout this country," Salas said.
Two federal judges said in interviews that they were told by the Marshals Service that it suspected foreign involvement. There was no mention of a specific country in those conversations, the judges added.
Ron Zayas, a cybersecurity expert who contracts with federal courts, said in an interview that his own company's investigation also found signs of foreign intervention, adding that it had the hallmarks of Russia-allied activity. The investigation found that while the initial wave of pizza deliveries may have started organically, it was quickly seized upon by foreign actors.
"The groups that were having the conversations, and in the rooms where we saw the conversations, they tend to be related to the Russian government, or were known to be affiliated and be sympathetic to Russian causes," he added, referring to, for example, the online forums where the conversations take place. "It's just a way to destabilize."
Zayas added that his investigation did not dig deep enough to definitively tie the activity to Russia.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Zayas' company, Ironwall, helps judges scrub their personal information from the internet. Federal judges are already protectedunder a federal lawpassed in the aftermath of Anderl's murder that allows their personal information to be redacted or removed from easily accessible websites that might, for example, show where they live. But Zayas says information can still be available on the dark web.
A Marshals Service spokesperson declined to comment on any potential foreign involvement, saying only that the investigation is ongoing.
Threats rising over the last decade
The Marshals Service has an increasingly large number of threats against judges to investigate. According tothe agency's own data, there were 564 threats against judges in fiscal year 2025 and there have already been 131 since October. A spokesman declined to comment on the current state of any of the investigations.
The number of threats against judges has tripled over the last decade, not just when Trump has been in office, Chief Justice John Roberts said in hisannual report on the judiciarylast year. NBC Newsreported in Septemberthat some federal judges were upset that Roberts and his colleagues on the Supreme Court had not done enough to stick up for them in the face of the hostile criticism and rise in threats.
Judges who spoke to NBC News for this story do not fault the Marshals Service, which has a tight budget despite theincreased burden on its limited resources. While courthouses are secure, judges feel more vulnerable when at home. The Marshals Servicehelps set up home security, but it does not provide round-the-clock protection at home unless the judge is subject to a specific threat.
As judges wrestle with the additional burdens associated with the job, some of them worry about the longer-term impacts, including on people who might be deterred from seeking judgeships in the future.
"Judges signed up to try their best to be neutral arbiters of the law and to follow precedent, and for it now to be at a point where I have to worry about the safety of my spouse and my children, that changes the entire dynamic," Bough said.
While Coughenour has found himself a target this year, his main concern is not for his own safety, but that of his younger colleagues who may have children at home, and more broadly the nation as a whole.
"I'm 84 years old. Threats against my life expectancy are kind of hollow. I don't have much time anyway," he said. "I'm more concerned that our democracy is at risk because of the trends against the rule of law."