The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted Panos Anastasiou, an Alaska resident, for making over 400 violent threats against six unnamed Supreme Court justices. The indictment, which includes graphic descriptions of torture and murder, does not specify the targeted justices. However, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reveal that Anastasiou made 82 donations to ActBlue, a fundraising platform widely used by Democratic campaigns, with his most recent contribution in July.
Anastasiou is now the third individual with ties to ActBlue to be implicated in an assassination plot in recent months, following the arrests of Thomas Crooks and Ryan Routh, both of whom attempted to shoot former President Donald Trump.
The Daily Wire reported that among the 465+ messages, Anastasiou included graphic descriptions of torture and murder along with “violent, racist and homophobic” rhetoric.
Court documents said the 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.”
Prosecutors did not name the justices who were the targets of the threats, but it is worth noting that of the nine justices on the Supreme Court, six are conservative judges.
Prosecutors charged Anastasiou with nine counts of making threats against federal judges and 13 counts of making threats via interstate commerce. If convicted on all counts, Anastasiou faces up to 155 years in prison — 10 years per count for threatening judges and five years per count for making threats via interstate commerce.
“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 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 76 years old.
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