Over the weekend, a bomb threat targeting the sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in Charleston, South Carolina was reported by local police. The Charleston Police Department investigated a politically motivated email concerning Justice Barrett’s sister, Amanda Coney Williams, on Monday. The email, sent anonymously, claimed that a pipe bomb had been placed in Williams’ mailbox and would detonate upon opening, as stated in a police report obtained by USA TODAY. The email was received by an employee at the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office just before 11 p.m. on Saturday, but Williams did not personally receive the message.
Authorities later determined the threat to be a false alarm, with no arrests made as of yet, though an investigation is ongoing. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was pictured before a luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on the inauguration day of President Donald Trump in 2025.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and is attempting to contact the U.S. Supreme Court for comment.
The threatening letter claimed that the bomb was assembled with various materials including a kitchen timer, wires, metal clips, and homemade black powder, enclosed in a 1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipe. It specified the location of Williams’ residence in Charleston, SC, indicating the bomb would be triggered upon opening the mailbox, with a note at the end stating “Free Palestine!”
Williams’ husband, David, informed police that he had no knowledge of who may have sent the email, although he mentioned a pizza delivery person from Saturday evening as a potential connection to the sender. Authorities cautioned that federal judges have recently received pizzas at their residences, potentially as a form of intimidation, as reported by Reuters last week.
This news originally appeared on USA TODAY regarding the bomb threat directed at Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s sister.
