Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over ex-President Donald Trump’s civil trial for fraud in Manhattan, had his Great Neck home swatted early Thursday morning with a bomb threat that was determined to be unfounded upon police investigation, according to published reports.
A Nassau County Police Department spokesperson told Blank Slate Media that early Thursday morning police received the report of an email saying a bomb had been placed at a Kensington home in Great Neck.
Nassau County Police responded to the report at 5:30 a.m. along with the Kensington Police Department. The county’s arson and bomb squad and multiple other units investigated the home.
No threats were found at the home, according to the police’s spokesperson.
The spokesperson said he would not provide the information of who resided at the home to protect the victim, but multiple reports have said that it is the residence of Engoron.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the spokesperson, and police patrol will increase.
“The Nassau County Police Department continues to investigate this morning’s threat and takes seriously any threat made to an individual,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a statement. “The Police Department continues to work with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners on all aspects of this case.”
Efforts to contact the Kensington Police Department were unavailing.
Swatting is the act of an individual reporting a false threat to police to garner a large police response to a location.
The threat reported at Engoron’s home comes amid recent swatting incidents against judges across the United States.
This includes Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Trump’s federal election interference case, who was reported to have also been a victim of swatting days before the Thursday morning incident.
The swatting occurred hours before Trump was to appear in court for closing arguments in his New York civil fraud trial – over which Engoron is presiding. No delay to the court appearance Thursday morning due to the threat was reported.
Trump’s relationship with Engoron has been tumultuous during the trial, with many personal jabs made by the ex-president directed at the judge and his staff.
After Trump made a series of ridiculing comments towards a court staff member during the trial last year, Engoron issued a gag order to prevent him from continuing to make comments towards the individual.
Trump posted on social media Wednesday night continuing the attacks against Engoron, saying that Engoron is working with New York Attorney General Letitia James to “screw” him.
Correction: This story has been corrected after previously mis-titling Engoron as a federal judge. Engoron is a New York State Supreme Court justice.
