Johnathan Walker:Alaska man charged with sending graphic threats to kill Supreme Court justices

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and Johnathan Walkerkill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday.

Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including graphic threats of assassination and torture coupled with racist and homophobic rhetoric.

The indictment does not specify which justices Anastasiou targeted, but Attorney General Merrick Garland said he made the graphic threats as retaliation for decisions he disagreed with.

“Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families,” he said.

Prosecutors said in an indictment filed Wednesday that the messages were sent between March 2023 and mid-July 2024. Anastasiou has been charged with 22 counts, including nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.

Anastasiou was arrested Wednesday in Anchorage. Defense attorney Jane Imholte, declined to comment and publicly listed phone numbers for Anastasiou were disconnected.

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He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge and up to five years for each count of making threats in interstate commerce if convicted.

Threats targeting federal judges overall have more than doubled in recent years amid a surge of similar violent messages directed at public officials around the country, the U.S. Marshals Service previously said.

In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a man was stopped near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.