Federal judge in Minnesota reacts to attempted ambush of fellow judge

Seeing video of a quiet, New Jersey suburb covered in crime scene tape and crawling with police and federal investigators was a sobering image for U.S. District Court of Minnesota Chief Judge John Tunheim.

"It’s a horrific thing," he said during an interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "It’s scary for everybody."

The FBI says Roy Den Hollander, a self-described "men’s rights" attorney, was the "primary subject in the attack" Sunday at the home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick, New Jersey, where 20-year-old Daniel Anderl was killed and his father, Mark Anderl, 63, was wounded.

Salas, 51, was in another part of the house and was unharmed. Den Hollander was found dead Monday in Sullivan County, New York.

Man found dead may be linked to shooting at NJ judge’s house

"Judge Salas is obviously a federal judge colleague of ours," Tunheim said. "Some of our judges know her."

Investigators in New York now believe Den Hollander may have been targeting others, including prominent New York State Chief Judge Janet Difiore.

"It’s a grim reminder of the kind of threat that faces public officials throughout our country and indeed throughout the world," Tunheim said. "It made us make sure that we’re following as many safety precautions as we can."

The attempted ambush of Judge Salas comes amid growing threats to public officials. In June, the U.S. Marshal Service, which provides security and protection of federal judges, released data that shows threats have dramatically increased: from 926 in 2015 to 4,449 in 2019.

"It tells us we need to be very careful," Tunheim said. "There are angry people out there and there are people that might want to lash out against someone in a position of authority."

Tunheim said often threats against judges are connected to cases. The majority are determined to be unfounded, but some do rise to a more serious level.

"People get angry about rulings, they get angry about cases," he said.

It’s not uncommon to see a threat rise to the level of criminal prosecution, Tunheim added.

In 2018, Robert Ivers, of West Fargo, was convicted of threatening to kill U.S. District Court Judge Wilhelmina Wright, after she ruled against him in a civil lawsuit.

"Judges are convenient targets," Tunheim said.