An Alaska man was arrested Wednesday for threatening to murder six Supreme Court justices, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Panos Anastasio sent over 465 messages intended for the justices through the Supreme Court’s website between March 2023 and July 2024, which allegedly became threatening after Jan. 4 and included “violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric coupled with threats of assassination via torture, hanging, and firearms,” according to the indictment. Anastasio, who will come before Judge Kyle Reardon Thursday for a detention hearing, has been temporarily detained, according to court records.
Some of Anastasio’s threats were intended to intimidate the justices and “retaliate against them for official actions,” the indictment alleges.
“We allege that the defendant made repeated, heinous threats to murder and torture Supreme Court Justices and their families to retaliate against them for decisions he disagreed with,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement Thursday. “Our justice system depends on the ability of judges to make their decisions based on the law, and not on fear. Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families.”
His messages allegedly included calls for “mass assassinations” and “torture,” according to court records. In one message, he stated he would have “no reservations” walking up to one Supreme Court justice and putting a bullet in his head.
“I’d like to see [Former President 1 and Supreme Court Justice 1] hanging together from an Oak tree,” one message stated.
Anastasio’s messages included threats against justices’ family members, according to the indictment.
“The defendant has a history of threatening public officials, similar threats sent to the governor of another state,” the government wrote in the filing. “It is notable that the defendant increased his violent rhetoric even after the FBI visited him at his home.”
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