CHICAGO (WLS) — Federal court officials are speaking out about the rising number of threats against district judges in the wake of several high-profile cases heard and rulings issued by the Northern District Court of Illinois.
In a rare interview about what she views as an existential threat to the integrity of democratic institutions, Chief U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall told the ABC7 Chicago I-Team the number of threats directed toward federal judges has increased year-by-year.
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“I’ve personally seen with my own judges on the bench, that number of threats increased significantly,” Judge Kendall told the I-Team. “The whole concept of our entire democracy is based on the three branches of government, and one branch has to be independent of each other branch. Judges have to be able to not be swayed by public opinion, be swayed by money, be swayed by reputation, they have to be able to do the job and apply the laws.”
The number of threats to judges nationwide has increased by 40% in the last four years, according to data from the U.S. Marshals Service.
In Chicago, federal judges for the Northern District of Illinois are also seeing an acute rise in threats over many cases related to recent immigration enforcement operations.
Sources confirmed with the I-Team that at least five federal judges representing high-profile cases have received some form of threats, including District Judge April Perry, who is overseeing a case about the National Guard’s deployment in Illinois; District Judge Sara Ellis, who is presiding over a case involving federal immigration agents’ use of force; District Judge LaShonda Hunt, who issued a ruling on fencing outside of the Broadview U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility; District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who is presiding over litigation involving a warrantless arrest consent decree; and Magistrate Judge Laura McNally, who is overseeing litigation over conditions inside the Broadview ICE facility.
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When asked about these threats, Kendall told the I-Team, “No question. I don’t think it matters which side they would have ruled. That’s the climate that we’re in.”
“If you rule for or against a particular issue, it seems to be fair game for this kind of reactive behavior on the part of the public. And mind you, it’s not all of the public. We have tremendous support. … But it doesn’t matter when it’s pitted up against this group of individuals that choose to use this language, choose to use these attacks to spread derogatory information about individual human beings,” Kendall said.
Chief U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall told the I-Team the number of threats against local judges has “increased significantly.”
The Federal Bar Association’s Chicago chapter recently condemned the rise in threats to judges in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country.
“Expressions of public sentiment-whether criticism or praise-are not threats to judicial independence,” the FBA Chicago chapter statement reads. “Recent threats of violence directed at Chicago federal judges for simply doing their job, however, are unacceptable and have no place in our discourse.”
In response to rulings in several local immigration-related cases, officials with the Trump administration have called out “activist judges” as responsible for rulings it deems not in the administration’s favor.
Judge Kendall said the entire bench rules impartially.
“Each of the judges on this bench, they don’t go out to be political,” Judge Kendall said. “They go out saying, ‘I’ve got my law degree, I’ve got my oath from the President. It’s now time for me to listen to evidence, listen to facts, apply the law and come to a fair and impartial decision.'”
But with the rise of social media, and access to personal information online, Judge Kendall says intimidation has increased, especially in recent months.
Clerk of Court for the Northern District of Illinois Thomas Bruton said he has seen this first-hand.
“We have seen threats significantly increase,” Bruton said. “We’ve seen threats increase both online, through email communication, through phone communication, and it’s concerning.”
Bruton added, “It’s a difficult job when you look at the statistics and the number of judges that have been threatened, you look at the number of staff that have received inappropriate communications. But it’s our job to keep everyone safe.”
Geoffrey Deas is the assistant director of judicial security for the U.S. Marshals Service. Deas told the I-Team he is particularly concerned with “silent hunters,” or people who may not have made any active threat but are triggered to action by violent rhetoric.
Deas explained the U.S. Marshals Service evaluates any communications sent to district judges, and if the communication goes beyond “First Amendment Protected Speech,” the U.S. Marshals, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, has statutory power to investigate further.
In 2025, Deas said 364 different judges out of approximately 2,500 active judges nationwide were named as threatened on a protective investigation.
Deas said he expects to see an uptick in threats to judges locally because of the intensity surrounding recent immigration-related rulings.
Judge Kendall worries the threats could have long-term consequences.
“It’s really critical that you can seek redress in the federal court,” Judge Kendall said. “The public really needs to understand how serious it is for the independence of the judiciary because judges just need to be able to do their job. … If they’re disagreed with, then there’s a higher court. But in order to do that, well, we have to be able to just honestly do our jobs without that nervousness of threats.”
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