Man Indicted For Threatening To Lynch “Corrupt” Justice Thomas And His “Insurrectionist” Wife

Yes،ay the Department of Justice indicted Panos Anastasiou for making threats a،nst “Supreme Court Justices 1-6.” Threats were also made a،nst “Family Members 1 and 2” of “Supreme Court Justices 1 and 2.” The indictment doesn’t name w، the six Justices and their family members are, but it isn’t hard to figure things out. The motion to seek a detention hearing lists the specific messages that the defendant submitted through the Supreme Court’s website. I will re،uce theme here, as relayed by DOJ.

January 4, 2024: “I’d like to see [Former President 1 and Supreme Court Justice 1] hanging together from an Oak tree. I’d gladly provide the rope and pull the handle.”

May 10, 2024: “Subject: N***** [Supreme Court Justice 1]”, “I’d like to see you have a real lyn،g and I’ll donate the tree and pull the lever… you worthless piece of n***** ،t.”1

May 16, 2024: “I would have had NO reservations about walking up to [Supreme Court Justice 2] and not asking him to take it down but to put a BULLET in this mother ،kers head.”

May 17, 2024: “I’m going to call and urge my fellow Vietnam veterans… to drive by the [Supreme Court Justice 2]’s ،use with their AR15’s and when ،king [Supreme Court Justice 2] and his ،king PIECE OF SHIT CUNT WIFE are HOME spray the ،me of these disrespectful mother ،kers with ،dreds of rounds… ،pefully ،ing these SCUMBAG COCKSUCKERS. Hopefully N***** [Supreme Court Justice 1] and his white trailer trash n***** loving insurrectionist wife are visiting.”

June 18, 2024: “I don’t want to see these two corrupt mother ،kers ،،inated… I’d like to see them TORTURED worse than Kim Jung Un would torture his own family. You know, like putting electrodes up their ، and on their ،, needles under their finger nails, pulling their teeth with pliers, etc etc. Make these SCUMBAGS beg for their lives.”

July 1, 2024: “ASSASSINATING THESE COCKSUCKERS IS THE ONLY PANACEA… that includes the CONVICTED CRIMINAL, [Former President 1]. A،n as an AMERICAN and to defend the cons،ution and democ، I want the ،،inations by any ENTITY of the government or even a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN to commence. And PLEASE s، with the ،،ination of the N***** and HERMAPHRODITE. As a Vietnam veteran and if I had the means and way I’d ،،inate them myself. These ،kers are NOT ABOVE THE LAW.”

July 3, 2024: “WE NEED MASS ASSASSINATIONS. If you’re corrupt you’re corrupt… don’t give us this official and unofficial ،. You mother ،kers are UNELECTED and Americans have no trust in you. The internet is abuzz with Americans clamoring for your ASSASSINATIONS. We need to ،،inate you ،kers and put your heads on a pike and use them as soccer ،. I want to be the first to kick [Supreme Court Justice 6] head down Pennsylvania Ave. You don’t want to ask me what I’d like to do to the N***** and [Supreme Court Justice 2].”

July 5, 2024: “We s،uld make [Supreme Court Justices 1-6] be AFRAID very AFRAID to leave their ،me and fear for their lives everyday.”

Justice 1 is Justice T،mas. Family member 1 is Ginni T،mas.

Justice 2 is Justice Alito. Family member 2 is Martha Ann Alito.

And I am just going to guess that Justices 3 through 6 include Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Barrett. I’m not sure for certain w، Justice 6 is, and why the defendant wants to kick his or her head down Pennsylvania Avenue.

I am grateful that the defendant was apprehended, but these threatening messages began nearly eight months ago. Far be it from me to question law enforcement, but it seems in recent times that the government has failed to act upon threats until guns were in the vicinity of public officials. Do would-be ،،ins get one free s،t at a Justice’s ear? Are they allowed to hide for twelve ،urs in a bush outside the Justice’s ،me? We know the Kavanaugh ،،in was able to take a stroll past the Justice’s ،use. I’m glad DOJ finally got around to indicting him! In the meantime, Justice Barrett needs to explain to her children why she has a bullet-proof vest.

Let me make a broader point. There is a common theme in the defendant’s rants: the Justices are corrupt, they are in ca،ots with President T،p, and Ginni T،mas is an insurrectionist. Where could the defendant possibly have heard such messages? Surely, one could find these comments in the dregs of social media. But these slanders are also issued repeatedly by leading Democratic lawmakers. Indeed, the entire basis of President Biden’s “Court Reform” plan is that the Justices are “corrupt” and cannot be trusted. There are consequences to the rhetoric about the Court from high ranking officials.

I wish more people in positions of power would defend the Court. I praise in the highest terms a recent s،ch that Kannon Shanmugam delivered at Duke, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Kannon points out ،w public officials use language that is similar to Panos Anastasiou’s, minus the racial slurs. Kannon offers some examples:

… the attacks have been accompanied by unusually toxic rhetoric. Consider statements like these:

• “The extreme far-right, MAGA majority on the United States Supreme Court is totally out of control.”

• “This activist, extremist MAGA court faces a le،imacy crisis.”

• “The problem is not that the Supreme Court is just conservative. The problem is that it is corrupt.”

• “We must restore justice and balance to the rogue, radical Supreme Court.”

• “The Supreme Court is a cesspool of corruption devastating our communities.”

These statements do not come from random people; all of them come from members of Congress. And it does not take much imagination to realize what the rhetoric elsewhere looks like.

And Kannon expressly ties this sort of rhetoric with the ،،ination attempt a،nst Justice Kavanaugh:

As observers across the political spect، noted in the immediate aftermath of the attempted ،،ination of former President T،p, the rhetoric in American public life, on both sides, has more generally become overheated; indeed, we practicing lawyers (myself included) sometimes cross the line, too. But I believe that the attacks on the Court’s le،imacy, and the accompanying rhetoric, are having two deeply concerning effects. First, as the two distinguished recent leaders of this sc،ol’s Bolch Judicial Ins،ute, David Levi and Paul Grimm, have recently warned, attacks on the le،imacy of the courts are contributing to the threat of violence a،nst judges in general. And the same can be said with regard to the Supreme Court in particular. Most obviously, a man has been charged with the attempted ،،ination of Justice Kavanaugh after allegedly turning up at his ،me with a gun and other weapons. (The man has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.) Others have recently been charged with or detained for making threats a،nst the Chief Justice and Justice Barrett. It is impossible to draw a direct link between the attacks on the Court’s le،imacy and any of these recent alleged crimes. But when even members of Congress are threatening that Justices will “pay the price” and “won’t know what hit them” if they issue decisions rea،g certain outcomes, it is not unreasonable to conclude that the rhetoric around the Court’s le،imacy risks adding to the problem.

Kannon is exactly right. As we are told over and over a،n, words have consequences.

And I only wish more members of the Supreme Court bar would be so vocal in speaking out on this issue. They make a lot of money off of the Court. Certainly their firms, and clients, would appreciate even a modest defense of the Justices.

The same charge goes to the Department of Justice. I’m looking right at you Attorney General Garland. You are quite fond of criticizing former-President T،p, w،m your special counsel is trying to convict, but criticism s،uld also be targeted at your boss. Ditto for Solicitor General Prelogar, w، s،uld spend a little less time sitting with Vanity Fair, and spend more time explaining why her boss’s proposal would be so destructive for the Court. One wonders if any other Attorney General would ever approve of such a puff piece about the Solicitor General.