WASHINGTON – A senior Trump administration official is using his government social media account to name and attack sitting federal judges whose rulings he doesn’t like, sparking accusations that he’s putting their safety at risk at a time when judges are facing increasing threats of violence.

James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, posted a series of messages on social media last week dubbed “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition.” Borrowing the phrase “worst of the worst” from his department’s description of undocumented criminal immigrants it wants to deport, Percival names four U.S. district judges, identifies the Democratic presidents who appointed them and condemns their decisions on immigration-related cases as if they’ve gone beyond the bounds of the law.

The DHS counsel’s decision to name-check judges who make decisions not in favor of the administration — with promises to keep doing this — comes amid a horrifying spike in threats against sitting judges, and just two weeks after conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett testified to Congress about the “really high” level of threats against judges.

“This is so dangerous,” U.S. District Judge Esther Salas told HuffPost in a Tuesday interview. “I’m living proof of the danger. My son isn’t here because someone disagreed with the way I was handling a case in court.”

Salas, who has been a judge in New Jersey since 2011, lost her 20-year-old son and nearly lost her husband in July 2020, when an assailant showed up at her house and opened fire. The shooter, later identified as 72-year-old Roy Den Hollander, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Den Hollander, who had previously appeared before Salas in court, left a paper trail of misogynistic and racist insults toward Salas, and support for Trump.

“There was no difference with what Roy Den Hollander did,” Salas said, comparing her assailant’s motive to what Percival’s posts could lead to. “It was, ‘I’m a judge, on a case he was in, and he disagreed with the way I was handling it.’ So he chose to take matters into his own hands and come to my house on a Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock, ring the doorbell, and take my only child and almost take the life of my partner.”

“All because he disagreed with me,” the judge added. “Those are the dangers that loom out there for judicial officers. DHS’ counsel is, in essence, putting a bullseye on them.”

There have been 534 federal investigations into 383 threats against 286 judges since October, according to data managed by the U.S. Marshals Service.

During her testimony, Barrett recalled having to tell her children why she brought a bulletproof vest home in 2022, as she faced death threats after a draft Supreme Court opinion that reversed Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press. She was also the victim of a swatting incident in May, when someone made a false report to 911 of gunshots and prompted a massive law enforcement response at her house.

Percival’s posts target the credibility of judges, not the merits of their decisions, in rulings he’s not happy about. “Judge Matthew Kennelly, of the Northern District of Illinois, appointed by Bill Clinton,” he says in one post, ripping Kennelly for his ruling in a case involving immigrants from Burma who have Temporary Protected Status. “This is judicial sabotage.”

In another post, the DHS counsel goes after Judge Hernan Vera, a U.S. district judge in California who he notes was appointed by former President Joe Biden. He accuses Vera of “judicial micromanagement” in a case about DHS’ use-of-force policy, and claims his decision “puts our officers at risk.”

Percival similarly attacks U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts, whom he accuses of intentionally delaying the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, and U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, whose decision in a case involving Salvadorian national Kilmar Abrego Garcia he calls “crazy.” He points out both of these judges were appointed by former President Barack Obama.

“For the first time, we have a senior U.S. government official, a general counsel for the DHS, a member of the Florida Bar that has published a public ‘target list’ of the ‘worst of the worst’ judges,” U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom told HuffPost. “These are not violent criminals. These are public servants, members of our judiciary that are doing the very best they can in the midst of threats, intimidation, disinformation. And that’s where it is very concerning.”

Bloom, who has been a judge in Florida since 2014, has received thousands of threats. After ruling in one 2021 case relating to the constitutionality of sanctuary cities, people were threatening to “rape me” and “kill me,” she said, and when someone posted her address on a far-right website, U.S. Marshals were stationed outside her house 24/7 for three weeks. The person threatening to kill her was ultimately arrested and sentenced.

“I hope people will recognize this is an intimidation tactic,” Bloom, who chairs the Federal Judges’ Association committee on judicial independence, said of Percival’s social media posts. “Criticism of the justice system is healthy. But this is not criticism. This goes beyond criticism. This is an attack, a distortion of the work of our judges.”

She warned, “They’re sitting ducks.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over judicial nominations and court matters, condemned Percival’s posts.

“This kind of personal targeting of judges is unacceptable – from Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives,” Durbin told HuffPost in a statement.

”But it is unfortunately not surprising given that President Trump and Administration officials have repeatedly attacked judges in unprecedented ways,” he said. “Trump’s nominee to serve as Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has said that judges who ruled against the Administration are ‘rogue activist judges’ and repeatedly claimed the Administration is ‘at war’ with the federal judiciary. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this dangerous rhetoric.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the judicial panel, did not respond to a request for comment.

“They’re essentially saying these judges are ‘wanted, dead or alive.'”

The DHS counsel’s posts drew strong condemnation from the American Bar Association. The national legal organization didn’t name him, but called on “all public officials, lawyers and citizens to reject rhetoric that targets judges or seeks to delegitimize the judiciary because of disagreement with a particular decision.”

“Recent social media posts by an administration official criticizing judges by name are part of the growing pattern of threats, intimidation and personal attacks directed at our judiciary,” the ABA said in a Tuesday statement. “Personal attacks, inflammatory rhetoric, baseless accusations and calls to remove judges because of their rulings cross a dangerous line. They undermine public confidence in the judiciary, threaten judicial independence and erode the rule of law.”

Paul Kiesel, an attorney and the founder of Speak Up for Justice, a legal advocacy group that defends judicial independence, was more blunt in his warnings about Percival’s posts.

“These sorts of tweets are directed not to the legal community, but are directed to the public,” Kiesel told HuffPost. “When you tell someone who might not be the most emotionally stable human being, ‘these judges are the worst of the worst,’ … they’re essentially saying these judges are ‘wanted, dead or alive.’”

Kiesel said the rhetoric being used in some of the replies to the DHS counsel’s posts “taps directly into that dangerous undercurrent of ‘let’s kill all the judges,’” a phrase he was comparing to the famous “let’s kill all the lawyers” line from William Shakespeare’s play, Henry VI.

“That quote is about, ‘How do we create a dictatorship? How do we remove the power from the people?’” he said. “The answer is the first thing you do is ‘kill all the lawyers,’ and that’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to attack the judicial community, to delegitimize the judicial independence that’s the hallmark of our democracy. That’s what this is all about.”

A DHS spokesperson initially directed HuffPost to a Tuesday post by Percival complaining about the “absolute absurdity of the liberal media response” to his posts. “Legitimate fact based critiques of judges and their rulings is fair game in a free society,” the DHS counsel said in his post, falsely claiming, “Also, the media has no issue with it if the judge is conservative.”

Asked again about Percival’s posts putting judges at a higher risk of threats or even violence, DHS spokesperson Micah Bock replied via email, “Dear Jennifer, let me be a bit more clear. See our comment below,” and shared the same message from Percival’s post.

When HuffPost pointed out this isn’t a partisan issue, as conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has warned that personal attacks on judges have to stop, as has Barrett, Bock responded, “Thanks for making your opinion on the matter clear Jennifer! Can’t wait to read your opinion piece on the topic. Appreciate your time, and God bless!”

Kiesel said judges generally don’t have the ability to respond to direct attacks on them, so it’s up to lawyers and the public to “really speak out” against people inciting threats against them.

“We can’t normalize this. The goal is to hopefully embarrass them, and to have them take this shit down,” he said. “That doesn’t solve the problem, but they need to recognize the public will come down on them.”

Salas said she remains shocked at how freely Trump administration officials, including the president, continue to personally attack judges they disagree with. Trump has gone after Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in addition to personally attacking numerous U.S. appeals court and district judges.

“We’re called monsters. We are told we hate America. We are called legal insurrectionists,” said the New Jersey judge. “We are villainized time and time again, and it’s as if there’s no cessation to this conduct. It’s getting worse.”

“At the end of the day, all judges want to do is do their jobs.”

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