Alaska man charged with sending graphic threats to kill Supreme Court justices
WASHINGTON — A Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six people Supreme Court Authorities said Thursday that the judges and several of their family members have been indicted on federal charges.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages via a public court website, including explicit threats of murder and torture, combined with racist and homophobic rhetoric.
The indictment does not specify which judges Anastasiou targeted, but the attorney general Merrick Garland said he made the gross threats in retaliation for decisions he disagreed with.
“Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fear for their lives or the safety of their families,” he said.
Anastasiou is charged on 22 counts, including nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.
He was released from jail Thursday night by a federal magistrate in Anchorage, but was given a number of conditions, including that he not have any direct or indirect contact with the six Supreme Court justices he allegedly threatened, or with their family members.
During the hearing, which lasted more than an hour, Magistrate Kyle Reardon heard several messages Anastasiou allegedly sent between March 2023 and mid-July 2024. Among other things, he called for the assassination of two Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices so that the current Democratic president could appoint their successors.
Rather than toning down his rhetoric after receiving a visit from FBI agents last year, Anastasiou increased the frequency of his messages and the virulent language he used in them, Reardon said.
Gray-haired and shackled at the ankles above salmon-colored plastic slippers, Anastasiou wore a yellow prison jumpsuit with ACC in black on the back, the initials of the Anchorage Correctional Facility, to the hearing. Born in Greece, he moved to Anchorage 67 years ago. Reardon allowed him to contact his elected officials about other issues, such as global warming, but said the messages would have to be reviewed by his lawyers.
Defense attorney Jane Imholte noted that Anastasiou is a Vietnam veteran undergoing treatment for throat cancer and has no financial resources other than his Social Security benefits.
She told the judge that Anastaiou, who had put his own name on the emails, was worried about his pets while he was in custody. She said he just wanted to go home and take care of his dogs, Freddie, Buddy and Cutie Pie.
He faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge, and up to 5 years for each count of making threats in interstate commerce if convicted.
Threats targeting federal judges in general are more than doubled in recent years, amid an increase in similar violent messages targeting government officials across the country, the U.S. Marshals Service previously said.
In 2022, shortly after a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked, a man was arrested near Judge Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and cable ties.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.