Chief Justice Takes Aim At Politicians Who Use Heated Rhetoric, Raises ‘Threats Of Violence And Murder’ Against Judges

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a warning Sunday to politicians using heated rhetoric against judges.

“I’ve been compelled over the past few years to make statements about people on one side of the aisle – their views on judges – and on the other side,” Roberts said Sunday at the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It becomes wrapped up in the political dispute that a judge who’s doing his or her job is part of the problem.”

“And the danger, of course, is somebody might pick up on that. And we have had, of course, serious threats of violence and murder of judges just simply for doing their work,” he continued. “So, I think the political people on both sides of the aisle need to keep that in mind.”

Roberts did not name anyone in particular for using such rhetoric. (RELATED: Vance Calls Chief Justice Roberts ‘Profoundly Wrong’ For Checking Trump While Letting Lower Courts Run Amok)

WATCH: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts sounds the alarm on heated rhetoric aimed at judges from politicians on “both sides.” pic.twitter.com/Aqt3NZg8Af

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In the past, President Donald Trump has publicly criticized judges, such as calling for the impeachment of Judge James E. Boasberg after he tried to block deportation flights to El Salvador, Fox News reported.

Trump referred to Boasberg as a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and a “troublemaker and agitator” in a Truth Social post calling for his impeachment on March 18.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Roberts said in response to Trump’s comments, per Fox News.

Roberts’ condemned Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer in 2020 for saying Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who were appointed by Trump, would “pay the price” after a case dealing with a Louisiana abortion law, according to CNN. Schumer later said he “should not have used the words [he] used.”

Roberts’ remarks come after a California man pleaded guilty in April over trying to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh in 2022. Nicholas Roske, was spotted by two deputy U.S. Marshals who were guarding the justice’s house, the New York Post reported, citing court documents. The 29-year-old reportedly showed up to Kavanaugh’s home carrying a gun, hammer, knife, pepper spray, duct tape and zip ties.

Court docs allege that Roske admitted to wanting to kill the justice and that he was outraged over the report that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, the outlet noted.

In 2024, Congress voted to spend $25 million to increase security at the home of the nine U.S. justices, according to Reuters.