Alaska man charged with making numerous graphic and violent threats towards Supreme Court justices

By CNN Newsource

Published September 19, 2024 10:14 AM

By Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — An Alaska man was charged and arrested Wednesday for sending numerous graphic and violent messages through a public Supreme Court communications portal that threatened to injure and kill six justices, according to court filings and the Justice Department.

Some of the messages, according to court filings, used the N-word in threats to “lynch” a justice – identified in the filings as “Supreme Court Justice 1” – while also threatening the justice’s “insurrectionist wife.” Other messages refer to shooting another justice – identified “Supreme Court Justice 2” – and killing his wife, and another alleged message threatened six justices total, saying that they should “be AFRAID very AFRAID to leave their home and fear for their lives everyday.”

A grand jury handed up a 22-count indictment against the man, Panos Anastasiou, 76, on Tuesday, charging him with making threats against a federal judge and making threats in interstate commerce.

“WE NEED MASS ASSASSINATIONS. If you’re corrupt you’re corrupt,” said one of the messages, one of more than 465 that Anastasiou allegedly sent to the Supreme Court.

Anastasiou pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Alaska’s federal court on Wednesday. His attorney, a public defender, declined to comment to CNN.

Anastasiou’s threatening messages started in March 2023, according to prosecutors, and continued through mid-July. The references to Justice 1’s wife and the racial slurs in those messages suggest that justice is Justice Clarence Thomas. The messages directed toward a justice identified in court filings as “Justice 2” were sent not long after a New York Times story revealed that an upside-down American flag flew outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home in early January 2021. Those messages also refer to the wife of that justice.

“I would have had NO reservations about walking up to [Supreme Court Justice 2] and not asking him to take it down but to put a BULLET in this m*therf**ker’s head,” one of the alleged messages, sent on May 16, said.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “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.”

Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon ordered that Anastasiou be held in custody ahead of a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

As part of the federal investigation into the threats, FBI agents contacted Anastasiou to discuss the messages, according to the court filings.

“After this contact, the defendant sent a message to the Supreme Court referencing the FBI interview and ‘daring’ the Justices to personally visit his house,” prosecutors said in a court filing that sought a hearing for pretrial detention for Anastasiou.

“The defendant’s threats are extreme and repeated,” the filing said. “His racist, homophobic, vile rhetoric is meant to intimidate high level government officials from carrying out their official duties. He threatens their family members as well, and continued and escalated his behavior even after he was visited by the FBI.”

CNN’s John Fritze contributed to this report.