It’s another case of Trump Derangement Syndrome: An indictment Wednesday by the Department of Justice says an Alaska man threatened to torture and kill six Supreme Court justices and their family members in messages sent through the court’s website in 2023 and 2024.
Prosecutors say Panos Anastasiou, 76, a registered nonpartisan voter in Alaska, made the threats over a six-month period. Many threats were made after the Supreme Court’s decision agreeing with broad criminal immunity decisions of the lower court for former President Trump.
Between March 10, 2023, and July 16, 2024, defendant, Anastasiou sent over 465 messages to the Supreme Court via an online portal, the Department of Justice says.
Beginning on or about Jan. 4, 2024, the Anchorage man began sending messages “intended to threaten harm and convey threats of harm towards Supreme Court Justices 1- 6 and Family Members 1 and 2. The messages contained violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric coupled with threats of assassination via torture, hanging, and firearms, and encouraged others to participate in the acts of violence,” the indictment reads. “Some of these threats were intended to intimidate Supreme Court Justices 1-6 and retaliate against them for official actions Supreme Court Justices 1-6 had taken in their official capacity as federal judges.”
One threat was that he would provide rope to hang a justice from a tree, known as “lynching.” Another threat was that he would put a bullet in a justice’s head. In another message, he said he would “spray” the justice’s house with bullets in hopes of killing him and his family. There were also threats of kidnap and beheading the justices.
“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,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “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.”
Anastasiou is a frequent donor to Democrats, including Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska.
Beginning on Jan. 4, Anastasiou’s messages allegedly escalated to messages intending to threaten harm toward the victims. The messages contained violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric coupled with threats of assassination by torture, hanging, and firearms, the Justice Department said.
Anastasiou is charged by indictment with nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce. The defendant made his initial court appearance yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle F. Reardon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
The threats continued through July of 2024. The indictment is embedded below:
