By Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Virginia home was targeted Wednesday night in an apparent swatting call, while a San Antonio man was arrested the next morning for allegedly threatening to bomb a conservative women’s leadership summit, marking the latest incidents in a broader pattern of threats against high-profile conservative figures.
Fairfax County, Virginia, police confirmed that Barrett’s residence was the subject of a false report shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday. A caller who claimed to be a neighbor reported “gunshots heard” at Barrett’s address through the department’s nonemergency line, according to NBC News.
A dispatcher noted that the address “has 24-hour security coverage for a high-priority resident of the county” and raised the possibility that the call could be a swatting attempt after police were unable to reach the caller again.
Police responded to a call for the sound of gunshots at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett last night, but quickly realized it was a swatting call and cleared after meeting with her security detail. This is partial police audio, redacted pursuant to media… pic.twitter.com/fKKSTAVR6F
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) May 28, 2026
Officers coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel already stationed at the residence and quickly determined that the report was false.
“Officers immediately coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel assigned to the residence and quickly determined that the report was fictitious,” Fairfax County police said in a statement. “No additional police resources were utilized.”
Barrett, appointed to the Supreme Court by President Donald Trump in 2020, appeared on the bench Thursday morning for scheduled decisions. The Supreme Court’s public information office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident was not the first time someone connected to Barrett had been targeted. In March 2025, her sister, Amanda Coney Williams, was the subject of a bomb threat at her home in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Virginia incident came as authorities in Texas arrested 26-year-old Jacob Wenske in connection with threats directed at Erika Kirk, CEO of Turning Point USA, ahead of the organization’s Women’s Leadership Summit in San Antonio.
The three-day conference is scheduled for June 5–7 at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter. Wenske faces two felony counts of making a terroristic threat causing public fear, according to charging paperwork obtained by KSAT Investigates.
Police said Wenske responded to an April social media post about the summit by writing, “I know exactly where to bomb.” Another post in the same thread read, “I can’t wait to be the valet for her escort.”
Authorities also cited an email from an account registered to Wenske, which stated, “Death to Erika Kirk and every single speaker there!! America will live on without those scum on this earth. Every Christian nationalist shall perish in the bombing that will take place at every single Turning Point rally and event.”
His bond was set at a combined $120,000.
The threats against Kirk followed earlier security concerns. In April, she withdrew from a scheduled appearance with Vice President JD Vance at the University of Georgia after organizers said they received “very serious threats” directed at her.
Vance addressed the issue from the stage, saying he had consulted with the Secret Service before deciding to proceed.
“Well, first of all, I love Erika and I know that she did get some threats… about two hours ago, I was a little worried we were going to have to cancel the event because Erika was not going to come and she was very worried about it,” Vance said, according to multiple reports.
Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet confirmed the threats were “very serious,” leading Kirk to stay away from the event.
Kirk became CEO of Turning Point USA in September 2025 after the fatal shooting of her husband, Charlie Kirk, at a Utah Valley University event in Orem, Utah. Authorities identified the suspect as 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson, who was arrested the following day. Prosecutors have described the attack as a targeted political assassination and are pursuing the death penalty.
The response to Kirk’s killing also exposed sharp political divisions. When the House considered a resolution condemning the assassination, it passed with unanimous Republican support but drew significant Democratic opposition.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, who voted no, tied her opposition to Kirk’s public record.
“Because the rhetoric that Charlie Kirk continuously put out there was rhetoric that specifically targeted people of color… and so it is unfortunate that even our colleagues could not see how harmful his rhetoric was, specifically to us,” Crockett said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also opposed the measure, telling colleagues on the House floor, “His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans far from ‘working tirelessly to promote unity’ asserted by the majority in this resolution.”
The contrast was notable after the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat. Following the politically motivated murder of Hortman and her husband, every Republican and Democrat voted in favor of a House resolution condemning the shootings.
“Today, every House Republican and Democrat stood united in condemning the horrific, politically motivated shootings in Minnesota,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at the time.
The swatting call against Barrett and the alleged bomb threats in San Antonio fit into a larger pattern of threats and intimidation aimed at conservative officials, activists, judges, and political appointees.
In November 2024, several of then-President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees were targeted with bomb threats and swatting calls. Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt condemned the incidents as “violent, un-American threats” and thanked law enforcement for its response.
Among those targeted was Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador, who was notified of a bomb threat against her Saratoga County, New York, home while traveling with her husband and young son for Thanksgiving. Lee Zeldin, selected to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, also said his family’s home had been threatened alongside a pro-Palestinian message.
The FBI said at the time that it was “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees” and was working with law enforcement partners.
Judges have faced similar threats. A woman was sentenced in October to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She was found near his home in 2022 armed with a handgun, knife, pepper spray, and burglary tools.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his 2024 annual report that threats against federal judges had tripled over the previous decade, while the U.S. Marshals Service recorded 564 threats against judges in fiscal year 2025.
Federal judges have also reported anonymous pizza deliveries to their homes, a tactic that has become a form of intimidation in cases involving rulings against the Trump administration.
I’m grateful that Erika Kirk just gave us one of the finest moments in American public life by invoking Christ’s own Passion and publicly forgiving her husband’s murderer. It was such a powerful witness of faith. Our country needed that grace.
pic.twitter.com/0HX96TUrRw— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) September 21, 2025
For Kirk, the threats have continued even as she has pressed ahead with Turning Point USA’s work. At her husband’s memorial service, attended by an estimated 300,000 people, she answered the hatred directed at her family with a message of Christian forgiveness.
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