An Alaska man has been accused of making a barrage of threats against six Supreme Court justices and at least two of their family members.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, of Anchorage, was arrested Wednesday on a federal indictment charging him with nine counts of threatening a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce. He was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon for a hearing on prosecutors’ request to hold him pending trial.
Law enforcement officials have reported a recent spate of violent threats against judges and other public figures involved in high-profile cases. Over the past year, prosecutors have charged defendants with making death threats against three of the judges overseeing cases involving Donald Trump.
The case against Anastasiou is notable for the sheer volume of messages allegedly sent: more than 465 messages were sent via the Supreme Court’s website between March 2023 and July 2024.
Many of the alleged threats were crude and racist, repeatedly using variations of the word “n—-r” and making references to lynchings. The individual judges and their family members who were targeted were not named in the indictment. The court has two black judges, Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“The messages contained violent, racist and homophobic rhetoric, coupled with threats of murder through torture, hanging and firearms, and encouraged others to participate in the violent acts,” the complaint said.
In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the threats undermine democracy by trying to instill fear in judges.
“Our justice system depends on the ability of judges to base their decisions on the law, not fear,” Garland said. “Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fear for their lives or the safety of their families.”
In the messages, Anastasiou described himself as a Vietnam veteran and referenced a previous negative experience with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a court filing, prosecutors said Anastasiou had a history of making similar threats “to the governor of another state.” Neither the state nor the governor were publicly identified.
