A man from Alaska has been arrested for allegedly threatening six US Supreme Court justices and two of their family members.

The US Justice Department said Panos Anastasiou, 76, sent hundreds of messages including threats to hang and shoot justices.

He was charged with 22 counts of making threats and appeared in court in Anchorage on Wednesday.

The public defender representing Mr Anastasiou declined to comment on Thursday.

According to a criminal complaint, the messages “contained violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric coupled with threats of assassination via torture, hanging, and firearms, and encouraged others to participate in the acts of violence”.

The indictment did not name which six of nine Supreme Court justices the threats were directed towards, nor did it name the two family members targeted. The court is split 6-3 between conservative and liberal justices.

“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,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

“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.”

Mr Anastasiou has been charged with nine counts of making threats against a federal judge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted, and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce, which carries a maximum of five years in prison.

Prosecutors said in court documents that the messages included threats to “hang” justices “from an Oak tree”, to “lynching” and talk of “putting a bullet” in the head of a justice.

They also included a threat to send “fellow veterans” to “spray” homes of the justices with bullets, “hopefully killing” them.

Several of the messages in court documents included graphic depictions of violence and racial slurs, and one included a clear reference to Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas, a prominent Republican Party fundraiser.

Mr Anastasiou is due to face court for a detention hearing in Anchorage on Thursday.