An online barrage of calls for impeachment, threats, and ridicule aimed at judges blocking Donald Trump’s recent executive orders, such as the administration’s freeze on federal funding and refusal to fulfil contracts from USAID, is quickly growing on mainstream and fringe platforms filled with white supremacists and neo-Nazis. This violent online vitriol has exploded, inspired in part by attacks on judges by Trump and his close allies, including Elon Musk, and some in the GOP.
As the United States experiences an unprecedented level of attacks on the judiciary in recent years, including shootings, escalating rhetoric by the Trump administration and their online followers serves as a worrying indicator for more violence and democratic backsliding.
A key hallmark of authoritarianism is the dismantling of systems of checks and balances, particularly the judiciary. This pattern has been evident in multiple countries. In Poland, the far-right PiS government systematically targeted the courts. In Hungary, Viktor Orbán forced nearly 300 independent judges into immediate retirement because they could not be relied upon to rule in favor of his party. In Bolivia, the government stripped judges of their tenure in a covert attack on judicial independence, creating an environment where judges were incentivized to rule in favor of the ruling party to secure their positions.
And just last month, Argentine President Javier Milei appointed two supreme court justices by executive decree after the senate refused to confirm his nominations. Countering attacks on the judiciary here in the U.S. will be an imperative step in preventing the executive branch from abusing its power, and further pulling our country into authoritarianism.
Legal experts are clearly troubled by these attacks on the judiciary spread by political and influential figures such as J.D. Vance and Elon Musk, because targeting the judiciary comes right out of the authoritarian playbook and adds fuel to violence already shown to be escalating against judges. Trump spent much of February targeting judges who denied his executive orders as “activist judge[s],” while Musk has been on a Twitter tirade aimed at the judiciary, including calls for impeachment and slandering judges as “pseudo-jurist[s],” “corrupt,” “radical,” and even “evil.” Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN), formally introduced articles to impeach U.S. District Judge John Bates on February 24 after he issued a temporary order for the CDC and FDA to reinstate deleted webpages after they complied with Trump’s order to remove all gender-inclusive language from their websites.
To determine how these attacks are motivating extremists, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) examined threats against the judiciary online, particularly on fringe platforms, where many celebrate Trump’s agenda as a means to push white supremacy and authoritarian policy measures. GPAHE’s investigation examined posts between January 1, 2025 and February 28, 2025. The platforms analyzed for this report were Truth Social, TikTok, Gab, 4chan, Mewe, Minds, Rumble, and Telegram. As federal judges across the country block Trump’s executive orders, comments reflected a new growing authoritarian and violent consensus against judicial independence as guaranteed in the Constitution from Trump’s followers, including beliefs that judges defying Trump’s executive orders are “activist judges” who deserve to be impeached, executed, or even extrajudicially murdered. Across these platforms, there was a 54 percent increase in calls for impeachment and violence against the judiciary between January and February 2025.
GPAHE’s analysis reveals a stark upward trend in violent rhetoric against judges that mirrors attacks from Trump and his allies. These platforms are rife with retaliatory language against judges who oppose Trump’s executive orders, and most platforms also show a spike in instances during the week of February 10, when a federal judge found the Trump administration was continuing to freeze federal funds despite a previous court order.
Violent content that usually resides on fringe platforms is going viral on Elon Musk’s Twitter, especially tweets that explicitly call for violence against judges ruling against Trump’s executive orders. Accounts with tens of thousands of followers are calling for the “death penalty” against judges such as Brendan Hurson, who blocked Trump’s ban on youth gender-affirming care. Others are targeting Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who blocked Trump’s order directing federal agencies to pause grants, loans, and federal assistance programs, calling for McConnell Jr., along with every other judge defying Trump, to be arrested and charged with treason. Both posts received over 20,000 views, 1,000 “likes,” and over 100 retweets each.
Musk’s own derogatory tweets, such as one calling for the impeachment of Judge Paul Engelmayer, who blocked DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system, amassed over 20 million views, 190,000 likes, and 41,000 retweets. His tweet calling the judicial system an example of “tyranny” gathered over 77 million views, 456,000 likes, and 98,000 retweets. Several of his other tweets targeting the judiciary as “activists” or calling for their impeachment have received millions of views.
Two screenshots from Twitter with users calling for treason charges and the death penalty against judges blocking Trump’s executive orders (Source: Twitter)
On Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, there were 1,192 instances of calls for impeachment and violent language directed at judges in January 2025, compared to 2,307 instances during February, representing a 94 percent increase. Users said “let’s fucking impeach them all,” “clear the bench for an honest judge,” “impeach this treasonous judge,” and, worryingly, one user hoped that someone would “[go] on a rampage and kill hundreds of democrat voters including the judge…as they would all deserve it for being ignorant brainwashed democrat voters.”
Attacks on the judiciary, including calls for impeachment, almost doubled from January to February 2025 on Truth Social (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
On TikTok there were ten instances of violent language and impeachment calls directed at the judiciary in January, compared to 19 in February, representing a 90 percent increase. Commenters called to “impeach this treasonous judge and then throw her crooked ass in prison,” expressing their support for the current administration, saying “America is with you Trump and Elon.” Others kept using the “activist” language to describe judges, calling members of the judiciary “activist joke[s]” and saying they “need to be investigated.”
On TikTok, violent comments and impeachment calls targeting the judiciary rose 90 percent from January to February 2025 (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
On Gab, a platform similar to Twitter, there were 1,391 violent threats and instances of impeachment calls against judges over the course of January. There was a 15 percent growth of such instances to 1,608 posts in February. Gab users justified their rhetoric by citing recent decisions, such as one user who referenced US District Judge Amir Ali’s order to lift the 90-day pause on all foreign aid, responding with “Impeach and deport this terrorist supporting, immigrant ‘judge.’” Another violent call came from a user, citing an article about the foreign aid ruling, which claimed judges are staging a “judicial coup,” saying “this judge is committing treason!! Hang him.” Another specific target of Gab users was Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who was named in an article about her ruling that extends a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that would keep Hampton Dellinger in his role at the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency responsible for investigating whistleblower claims, after Trump attempted to fire him. As a response, users called for “every activist judge” to be fired. “Activist judge” is a term Trump uses when targeting the judiciary.
On Gab, violent language and calls for impeachment targeting the judiciary increased in February, particularly during the week of February 10 (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
User “Paul666” on Gab says, based on Judge Amir Ali’s ruling, that he is “committing treason” and should be “hang[ed]” (Source: Gab)
On 4chan, an unmoderated series of forum boards with anonymous users, there were 369 instances of violent threats and impeachment calls in January 2025.That number rose six percent in February, with 392 instances recorded. Users targeted different judges in their violent posts, and described rulings against Trump as “tyrannical,”proposing a “solution” that involves “hang[ing] the judge for treason.” Like many of the users calling for violence against “tyrannical” judges, Elon Musk has been labeling decisions against the Trump administration as “judicial tyranny.” Others with fantasies about overthrowing the rule of law called for the Trump administration to “tell the judge to fuck off or throw him out of a helicopter” and to “hang the judge and anyone who has a problem with it.” The helicopter threat is a reference to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s method of murdering his political enemies, The white supremacist Proud Boys, many of whom were pardoned by Trump for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection, are fond of Pinochet’s helicopter usage.
On 4chan, violent language and calls for impeachment directed at the judiciary increased six percent in February, with 392 instances, compared to 369 the month before (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
On Mewe, a de-centralized social networking service, there were 32 violent and impeachment messages targeting the judiciary over the course of January 2025. In February, that number rose 47 percent to 47 instances. Many comments invoked Trump’s “activist judge” terminology, especially in the case of District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, who blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive personnel information in the Department of Education on February 24. Users called for the Trump administration to “impeach all of those judges obstructing executive orders,” “impeach and fire this political activist disguised as a judge,” and further escalated the rhetoric to call for judges to be “hang[ed]” and “kill[ed].”
Violent language and calls for impeachment targeting the judiciary rose throughout early 2025, with instances in February being 47 percent higher than in January (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
On Minds, another de-centralized social media network, there were 106 violent and impeachment messages targeting the judiciary throughout January 2025. In February, that number rose 100 percent to 212 instances. Users were galvanized by Rep. Andy Ogles’ (R-TN) efforts to impeach Judge John Bates, who issued a TRO on the CDC and FDA to reinstate deleted webpages after they complied with Trump’s order to remove all gender-inclusive and LGBTQ+ language from their websites.
Ogles’ articles of impeachment used worryingly similar language to that of online users: saying Judge Bates is “so utterly lacking in intellectual honesty and basic integrity that he is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.” The term “high crimes” can include charges of treason, something which posters have used as justification for killing judges. Commenters called Ogles’ comments a “gangster warning to every judge fighting President Trump’s agenda” and called for “these rogue, corrupt judges” to be impeached.
Around the same time, Elon Musk, in a tweet referring to Judge Bates, said “this evil judge must be fired!” Additionally, responding to a Daily Signal article, a publication associated with the Heritage Foundation, discussing 14-day TROs issued by District Judge Brendan Hurson and District Judge Lauren King blocking Trump’s order to “[condition] or [withhold] funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender affirming medical care to a patient under the age of nineteen,” one user called to “hang every evil and treasonous communist-democrat judge like this outside of their courtrooms!”
On Minds, violent speech and impeachment calls targeting the judiciary doubled from January to February (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
In the comment sections of videos on Rumble, a video-hosting platform that J.D. Vance invested in in 2021, the same year that Trump Media Group announced a technology-sharing agreement with the platform to provide logistical support to Truth Social; there were 165 violent messages and impeachment calls targeting the judiciary throughout January 2025. That number rose 175 percent to 453 instances over the course of February.
One Rumble user commented that Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s hush money trial, for which Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts, is a “marxist activist gangster judge” who should be sent “back to communist Cuba, Venezuela or Haiti as last resort.” Other commenters called for impeachment processes against judges defying Trump, along with “seizing [their] social media accounts…bank records and so on.” Some took it even further, claiming that judges appointed by the Biden administration were “overwhelming the free world with fascism” and should be granted “no forgiveness,” “no amnesty,” and “no quarter,” the latter phrase representing an order to take no prisoners during an armed conflict, instead executing every enemy combatant, which is a war crime.
On Rumble, February saw a 175 percent increase in violent messaging and calls for impeachment of American judges (Data collected using OpenMeasures)
On Telegram, a social media platform favored by far-right and white supremacist extremists, there were 112 violent messages and calls for impeachment targeting the judiciary throughout January 2025. That number rose 39 percent to 156 instances over the course of February. Several messages slandered judges as “activists” and called for them to be “fired,” “removed,” and “impeach[ed].”
