An Alaskan man, Panos Anastasiou, aged 76, has been arrested on multiple counts of making threats against six justices of the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). The arrest, which took place on Wednesday, included nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.
An indictment filed by the Department of Justice revealed that Anastasiou began sending threatening messages towards the Supreme Court Justices and their family members starting from January 4, 2024. The messages contained violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric, along with threats of harm such as assassination via torture, hanging, and firearms. Additionally, Anastasiou encouraged others to participate in these violent acts.
Court documents detailed specific threats made by Anastasiou, including allusions to providing the rope to hang a justice from an Oak tree, sending 'fellow veterans' to spray their homes with gunfire, confronting them directly to put a bullet in their head, and outlining schemes to kidnap them. The threats also included mentions of drowning, strangling, lynching, and beheading the justices.
The Department of Justice stated that the alleged threats continued for over a year, with Anastasiou sending more than 465 threatening messages through the contact form of the Supreme Court's public website until July 16 of this year.
The severity and nature of the threats have raised concerns about the safety and security of the justices and their families. The arrest of Anastasiou highlights the importance of addressing threats made against public officials and the legal consequences that follow such actions.
