Colorado, FBI investigate 'incidents' directed at Justices in Trump ballot ruling

Former President Donald Trump is shown on Dec 19, 2023. Police said Dec. 26, 2023, they are investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices following the court's decision to remove Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot. [AP Photo]

Police said Tuesday they are investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and providing extra patrols around their homes in Denver following the court's decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot.

The Denver Police Department declined in an email to provide details about its investigations, citing safety and privacy considerations and because they are ongoing.

The department "is currently investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and will continue working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to thoroughly investigate any reports of threats or harassment," the email said.

Officers responded to the home of one justice on Thursday evening, but police said it appeared to be a hoax report. That case is also being investigated, police said.

The FBI said it is working with local law enforcement on the matter.

"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," a spokesperson for the Denver's FBI office, Vikki Migoya, said in a statement.

In a 4-3 decision last week, Colorado's highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection in his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but had said he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that U.S. Constitution's insurrection clause was intended to cover the presidency.

The state's highest court didn't agree, siding with attorneys for six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters who argued that it was nonsensical to imagine that the framers of the amendment, fearful of former confederates returning to power, would bar them from low-level offices but not the highest one in the land.

The court stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case. Colorado officials say the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots.