An individual from Alaska has been indicted for issuing numerous explicit and aggressive threats against esteemed judges of the Supreme Court.
Some of the communications, as per court records, incorporated the racial slur "N-word" in threats to supposedly hang a judge, identified in the documents as "Supreme Court Justice 1." The spouse of this justice, labeled as an "insurrectionist wife" in the threats, was also targeted. Other communications discussed shooting another judge, identified as "Supreme Court Justice 2," and murdering his wife. Moreover, an alleged message threatened six justices in total, suggesting they should live in fear of their lives every day and avoid leaving their homes.
A 22-count indictment was given to the man, Panos Anastasiou, 76, on Tuesday, charging him with threatening a federal judge and communicating threats across state lines.
"WE NEED MASS ASSASSINATIONS. If you're corrupt, you're corrupt," said one of the messages, part of over 465 allegedly sent by Anastasiou to the Supreme Court.
Anastasiou pleaded not guilty during a hearing in Alaska's federal court on Wednesday. His lawyer, a public defender, declined to comment to CNN.
The threatening messages started in March 2023, according to legal documents, and went on through mid-July. The mentions of Justice 1's wife and the racial slurs in those messages seem to imply Justice Clarence Thomas. The messages aimed at a justice identified as "Justice 2" were sent shortly after a New York Times piece reported an upside-down American flag flying outside Justice Samuel Alito's home in early January 2021, with references to that justice's wife as well.
"I would've had NO second thoughts about approaching [Supreme Court Justice 2] and not asking him to remove it but to put a BULLET in this SOB's head," one of the purported messages, sent on May 16, stated.
A Supreme Court spokesperson did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
"We allege that the suspect made continued, vile threats to murder and torture Supreme Court Justices and their family members to avenge decisions he disagreed with," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "Our legal system depends on judges being able to make decisions based on the law, not fear. Our democracy depends on public officials being able to do their jobs without fear for their lives or the safety of their families."
Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon ordered that Anastasiou stay in custody ahead of a detention hearing set for Thursday afternoon.
As part of the federal investigation into the threats, FBI agents contacted Anastasiou regarding the communications, according to the court records.
"Following this contact, the suspect sent a message to the Supreme Court referencing the FBI interview and 'daring' the Justices to personally visit his house," the court filing claiming a hearing for Anastasiou's pretrial detention stated.
"The suspect's threats are intense and repeated," the filing continued. "His hateful, racist, repugnant language is intended to intimidate high-level government officials from performing their 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.
The threatening messages towards Supreme Court Justice 1 and his wife, as seen in the communications, show a distressing politicized atmosphere filled with hate speech and racial slurs. The federal investigation into the threats revealed that Anastasiou continued to make intense and repeated threats, even after being contacted by the FBI.
