A Democrat donor was recently arrested after they allegedly threatened to murder six United States Supreme Court justices and some of their family members.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 76-year-old Panos Anastasiou sent approximately 465 messages to the Supreme Court through a public website between March of last year and this July.

The Department of Justice claimed Anastasiou “escalated to messages intending to threaten harm toward the victims.  The messages contained violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric coupled with threats of assassination by torture, hanging, and firearms.”  The DOJ further noted that the 76-year-old is “charged by indictment with nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce. The defendant made his initial court appearance yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle F. Reardon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.”

If convicted, Anastasiou could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of making a threat against a federal judge.  Additionally, he could face a maximum of 5 years in prison for each count of making threats in interstate commerce.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated, “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.  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.”

The hostility toward the conservative-majority bench on the nation’s highest court comes after major rulings from the judges, such as overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 or ruling in favor of presidential immunity more recently.  The American Tribune reported earlier in the summer on the bombshell determination from the Supreme Court that Trump has “absolute immunity.”

“In dividing official from unofficial conduct, courts may not inquire into the President’s motives,” the Court determined. “Whenever the President and Vice President discuss their official responsibilities, they engage in official conduct.”  Experts have determined that the ruling could uphend the legal battled former President Donald Trump has faced ahead of the 2024 Presidential election.

“The indictment’s allegations that Trump attempted to pressure the Vice President to take particular acts in connection with his role at the certification proceeding thus involve official conduct, and Trump is at least presumptively immune from prosecution for such conduct,” the Court added.  Commentators have also pointed out that if a president does not have immunity for his actions it could lead to an unraveling where all presidents are legally targeted by political opponents.

“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But under our system of separated powers, the President may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for his official acts,” the Supreme Court concluded. “That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office.”