'Violent rhetoric' targeting Colorado Supreme Court justices prompts FBI investigation

Officials are investigating threats on Colorado Supreme Court justices after their decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential primary election, according to reports from multiple outlets.

Online posts about violence toward the justices spread rapidly in the 24 hours after the decision was announced, according to an analysis by Advance Democracy and reported by NBC News.

The state Supreme Court decided Dec. 19 that Trump's actions leading up to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, meant that he "engaged in insurrection," disqualifying him from holding office because under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“The FBI is aware of the situation and working with local law enforcement,” FBI spokesperson Vikki Migoya said in a statement emailed to multiple outlets. “We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation.”

Migoya did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

According to CNN, the Denver Police Department responded to a justice's home Thursday after an apparent hoax report. A police spokesperson told Axios that the department is increasing patrols near justices' residences. Denver police did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

More:Supreme Court may want to avoid Trump. Colorado's ballot ruling won't let them

Report finds 'significant violent rhetoric' against justices after ruling

As first reported by NBC, public interest research nonprofit Advance Democracy found social media users posted "significant violent rhetoric" against justices and Democrats after the ruling.

"We are seeing significant violent language and threats being made against the Colorado justices and others perceived to be behind yesterday’s Colorado Supreme Court ruling," Advance Democracy president Daniel J. Jones told NBC. "The normalization of this type of violent rhetoric − and lack of remedial action by social media entities − is cause for significant concern."

A report issued by the organization and obtained by NBC outlined several messages posted on pro-Trump forums, extremist websites and Truth Social.

"What do you call 7 justices from the Colorado Supreme Court at the bottom of the ocean? A good start," one post in the report stated, according to NBC.

"Kill judges. Behead judges. Roundhouse kick a judge into the concrete," read another post.

The Colorado Judicial Branch did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Colorado Supreme Court ruled to remove Trump from ballot over Jan. 6 actions

The Colorado high court's decision rests on justices' determination that Trump incited an insurrection when fomenting the crowd that caused a riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

"President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president," Colorado's high court wrote in an unsigned opinion. "Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the election code for the secretary to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot."

The state Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling, which ruled that the 14th Amendment does not apply to the president. The 14th Amendment was passed in the post-Civil War era and bans anyone who "engaged in insurrection" from holding office.