‘Escalating threats’: Judges are getting ominous messages — delivered on pizza boxes
A federal judge whose son was shot and killed by a gunman posing as a FedEx delivery driver in a 2020 attack meant for the judge revealed a shocking new escalation to the hostility targeting the judiciary.
U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas on Friday said that not only are pizzas being delivered to the homes of judges, but they are also being sent to the homes of their children.
But now, she is sounding the alarm on an even darker twist to the threats after learning this week that pizzas are now being sent to judges and their families under the name of her slain son.
“Just this week I was contacted by a judge, and I was told that the second pizza that arrived at this judge's house – he had already received one before – the second pizza that arrived at this judge's house was sent by my son, Daniel Anderl,” Salas said in an interview on MSNBC. “The name that they used on the pizza was Daniel Anderl. My baby boy, who we lost on July 19, 2020.”
“And if it would have stopped there, it would have been bad enough,” she added. “But it's not stopping. Just last night, another pizza, there's four now, four pizzas that are being sent to judges as threats. And who's the sender? Daniel Anderl.”
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Salas told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that the significance in the ominous deliveries is the message that it sends.
“You send a pizza to a judge's house – that’s the message – I know where you live. You send a pizza to a judge's child's house – I know where your child lives,” she said.
But the judge made clear that the new escalation of sending pizzas in the name of her deceased child as the sender “says ‘you want to end up like Judge Salas’ child, you want to end up like Judge Salas.’ These escalating threats are a problem.”
Salas delivered a message of her own on Friday: “For the love of God, stop all this hatred and all this anger because it is going to get someone killed” as she implored the Trump administration, members of Congress, and anyone with a social media megaphone “to tone down the rhetoric.”
“We have to stop calling us rogue judges, calling us ‘wanted,’ we have to stop impeaching judges for doing their jobs. We have to stop calling us corrupt and crazy, leftist, unconstitutional judges.”
‘Different’: Wall Street execs warn ‘we’ve never seen’ anything like Trump’s tariff chaos
Top Wall Street executives are still reeling from the chaos caused by President Donald Trump's tariffs — and they're warning that we're about to see economic instability of a type that hasn't occurred in living memory, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
"Financiers came into the year excited for President Trump’s tenure, expecting corporate tax cuts and lower regulation to lift stocks, dealmaking and corporate confidence," reported Alexander Saeedy, AnnaMaria Andriotis, and Gina Heeb. "One quarter in, the tone is entirely different and executives are worried about tariffs and their impact, especially after the market gyrations of this month. Some economists are predicting a recession by the second half of 2025."
Trump initially announced so-called "reciprocal" tariffs of 10 to 49 percent on imports from virtually every country in the world based mainly on the U.S. trade deficit with each country, regardless of whether those countries actually have legal trade barriers and, in some cases, regardless of whether the region in question has trade at all or even people.
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After days of Republican infighting and plunging stock indices, Trump announced a 90-day period in which all countries will have their import tariffs reduced to the minimum of 10 percent, except for China, which will see even larger tariff hikes.
The announcement caused a stock rally, but markets remain wildly volatile and fluctuating — and still far lower than they were when Trump took office.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, had a grim assessment: “This is different,” he said, comparing it to previous market shocks and recessions. “It’s a significant change we’ve never seen in our lives.”
Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock, agreed, saying, “In the short run, we have an economy that is at risk.”
The unveiling of the tariffs "surprised executives across the country, sent stock markets reeling and pushed down the price of supersafe Treasury bonds. Bankers said Friday that they are expecting businesses to pull back from big moves like deals and investments and worries are spreading about how much companies will earn this year," the report continued. Meanwhile, Fink, "whose firm BlackRock now oversees $11.6 trillion in assets, said the market downturn affects millions of people by hitting their retirement accounts and college-savings plans."
