OAN Staff James Meyers
10:15 AM – Thursday, September 19, 2024
An Alaska man has been indicted for allegedly making serious threats against six members of the Supreme Court, according to the Justice Department (DOJ), which included threats of assassinating the justices.
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Prosecutors allege that Panos Anastasiou, 76, sent an estimated 450 messages in March 2023 intended for six justices and two of their family members. The messages were sent through an online portal, which included racist, violent, and homophobic rhetoric, according to court filings.
According to the Justice Department, the 76-year-old threatened to assassinate, kidnap, torture, behead and execute the justices, as well as encouraging others to join him in the acts.
The Alaskan faces nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce. Meanwhile, Anastasiou appeared before a federal magistrate judge Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.
“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, a former federal appeals court judge, 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.”
The specific justices are not named in the indictment and identified only as “Supreme Court justices 1-6.” Charging documents stated that some of the threats allegedly made by Anastaiou “were intended to intimidate” the justices and “retaliate against them for official actions” they had taken in their capacity as judges.
Additionally, the messages were sent between January and July, when the Supreme Court ended its term, the court documents revealed.
In one message sent on January 4th, Anastasiou allegedly threatened to murder one of the justices by “providing the rope” to “hang… from an Oak tree.”
Meanwhile, security of federal judges has become a major issue in recent years as the Supreme Court has experienced an increased number of threats. In 2022, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske was arrested after he admitted he was attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He pleaded not guilty.
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