Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversees the Capitol case involving former President Donald Trump, faced a frightening ordeal when pranksters rang in a false emergency that drew police to her home. NBC reported the unsettling incident.
The events unfolded on Sunday evening as fire crews and police units converged on the judge’s residence after perpetrators claimed there was a shooting at the property. The drama disrupted a quiet night and alarmed neighbors, shortly after which investigators began piecing together what had happened.
Law enforcement quickly clarified that there was no shooting. Instead, they labeled the episode a hoax call, where anonymous individuals pretended to relay a serious threat to emergency services to provoke a response. Authorities emphasized that the attempt was intended to mislead, and noted that threats against judges have occurred in the past, underscoring ongoing safety concerns for judicial figures in high-profile cases.
In another reminder of the pressures faced by public officials, reports indicate a Texas woman previously left a threatening voicemail at Chutkan’s office last year, signaling a pattern in some cases where rhetoric or intimidation crosses legal boundaries.
Accounts from people close to the investigation suggested that discussions around the events involved figures connected to Trump’s orbit. One person claimed that the former president did not actively intervene, describing him as staying in place and reacting with a tense stance while observing coverage of the situation on television. The same account claimed the former president believed the election outcome had been unfairly altered, fueling heightened emotions about the process and its results.