Panos Anastasiou, Alaska Man Charged With Threatening to Assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justices

An Alaska man was charged and arrested Wednesday for sending numerous graphic and violent messages through a Supreme Court public communications portal threatening to harm and kill six justices, according to court documents and the Justice Department.

Some messages, according to court documents, used the “N” word to threaten to “lynch” a judge — identified in the documents as “Supreme Court Justice 1” — while also threatening the judge’s “insurrectionist wife.” Other messages referred to another judge — identified as “Supreme Court Justice 2” — and the murder of his wife, and another alleged message threatened six judges in total, saying they should “be SCARED, VERY SCARED to leave their homes and fear for their lives every day.”

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

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

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

Anastasiou’s threatening messages began in March 2023, prosecutors said, and continued through mid-July. References to Justice 1’s wife and racial slurs in the messages suggest that the justice is Justice Clarence Thomas. The messages to a judge identified in court documents as “Judge 2” were sent shortly after a New York Times report revealed that an upside-down American flag was flying outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home in early January 2021. The messages also reference the justice’s wife.

“I would have had NO reservations about walking to (Supreme Court Justice 2) and I’m not asking him to take it down but to put a BULLET in that bastard’s head,” said one of the alleged messages, sent on May 16.

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

“We allege that the defendant has made repeated and heinous threats of murder and torture against Supreme Court justices and their families in retaliation for decisions he disagreed with,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “Our justice system depends on judges making 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 Anastasiou remanded 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 court documents.

“Following this contact, the defendant sent a message to the Supreme Court referencing the FBI interview and ‘daring’ the judges to personally visit his home,” prosecutors said in a court filing requesting a pretrial detention hearing for Anastasiou.

“The defendant’s threats are extreme and repeated,” the filing states. “His racist, homophobic, and vile rhetoric is designed to intimidate senior government officials and prevent them from performing their official duties. He also threatens their family members and has continued and escalated his behavior even after receiving a visit from the FBI.”