100 DAYS: How Donald Trump Will Destroy America

DAY TWELVE

"Judge Merchan just ruled that I, the Republican candidate for President, and leading in the Polls, am still under a Gag Order CONCERNING VERY IMPORTANT THINGS WHICH MUST BE BROUGHT TO LIGHT... This is the real Fascist "stuff," the old Soviet Union!"

TRUMP ON TRUTH-SOCIAL, AUGUST 2024

Saturday, February 1st 2025

Around the world more mass marches take place. A lot has happened in the week since the largest protest in human history, and, at least in the U.S., early estimates are that the turnout will be even greater – by the end of the day numbers compiled from police data, organiser estimates, crowd scientists' research and journalists, are in the region of 50-60 million.

Law enforcement are also out in even greater numbers. Governors, in mainly red states – Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky – have put their respective National Guard units on standby.

America is a tinderbox. Incredibly, despite the use of tear-gas, kettling, mounted divisions, water cannons, baton charges, severe injuries inflicted by overzealous arrest methods and hundreds more detentions, the evening is a largely peaceful one. Yet again, there are pockets where things get out of hand, in Portland, Chicago, St Louis, Atlanta, and various other towns and cities. But the prevailing sense is that in the face of provocation, demonstrations must be non-violent.

On Truth-Social Trump pushes his rhetoric against judges into serious territory again as he targets the judge who has granted a TRO preventing further executions in America. In a blitz of posts he repeats the smear he used on California governor Gavin Newsom saying the judge is "On the side of murderers and rapists" and calls him "an enemy of America."

The response from MAGA supporters is predictable. In many cases they repeat word-for-word the vitriol with which they bombarded Judge Juan Merchan and the jurists in Trump's trial concerning hush money paid to porn-star Stormy Daniels:

"Needs to be executed!"

"Needs to be strangled with piano wire before he makes it to the hangman"

"Gallows!!! For Traitors!!!"

"Judge needs a hatchet to the face."

"A rope and a tree would fit this guy."

"Put a target on this puke."

Memes quickly flood the right-wing online ecosystem showing the judges face with a variety of text over the top:

"The face of a corpse."

"There was a time when vermin like this would be exterminated"

"A face only a fist could love."

His social media accounts are targeted and despite him not be of Jewish heritage, many of the slurs are anti-Semitic. Comments below his posts are direct:

"We know where you live and are coming to get you."

"One more sleep til you're dead."

"Dox this judge and let's kill him."

Those below pictures of him at his daughter's graduation containing vile threats of rape and murder. Messages with more threats are left on the judge's cell voicemail and on his chambers' answering service, his home number is found and 20 calls get through before he disconnects the line.

The U.S. Marshals Service are responsible for the protection of 2,700 federal judges. Jon Trainum, who headed the U.S. Marshals' unit that investigated judicial threats for five years, repeats a comment he made to Reuters in 2024: "It's like drinking through a fire hose, and you know we only have so much bandwidth," he said. "We have to go through all of the ones that we receive and triage them to some degree. All of that takes time. All of that takes resources. All of that takes personnel."

As the threats to the life of the judge increase, local police and Marshals are stationed outside his house. Threats against judges can be prosecuted under multiple federal statutes, some punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. However, Director of the FBI Kash Patel comes out and downplays the severity of the threats, and says no investigation will take place. This is typical of government responses to these types of threats. Few people face charges for threatening judges, according to a Reuters analysis of legal databases and other public records.

In the early hours of the morning, a suspicious car drives slowly up to the judge's house but speeds away when his protection unit, stationed on his lawn, is seen. The rest of the night is quiet. Still, the Marshals Service decide to move the judge and his family to a safe house for their protection.