A Minnesota man was charged with threatening to assault and kill a federal judge, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday.
Robert Phillip Ivers, 72, was first arrested on Sept. 3 after police received reports that Ivers allegedly was printing copies of a 236-page manifesto titled “How to Kill a Federal Judge” at a local library.
Ivers showed copies of his manifesto to library staff, pointing specifically to a page that talked about killing children, according to prosecutors. He also allegedly distributed a three-page “flyer” touting the manifesto as “designed to teach extremists on how to plan, train, hunt, stalk and kill anyone including judges, their family members, politicians and more!”
The flyer also said the “harsh reality is that judges are going to die.”
Police arrested Ivers that evening after discovering that he had also been reported on Aug. 28 for “concerning behavior” at a nearby church.
Prosecutors said they would not take chances after recent instances of violence in the state, including the assassination of the state’s top Democratic lawmaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband in June, as well as the recent school shooting in Minneapolis.
“At a time when Minnesota is reeling from acts of violence, the last thing we need is someone spreading fear into our churches, libraries, and courts,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said in a statement. “Ivers’s threats are bone chilling.”
“After the past few months, we are not taking chances,” he continued. “When someone threatens our community, we believe them, and we will act swiftly to protect Minnesotans.”
Law enforcement discovered numerous objects in Ivers’s possession, including copies of his manifesto, copies of the flyers, lists of federal judges, a photo of the former Pope with crosshairs over his face, a box of fireworks, a copy of the “Anarchist Cookbook,” and a toy replica of a firearm, among other things.
Ivers was previously convicted of threatening to kill a federal judge. The manifesto includes multiple names of federal judges—including the judge he threatened and the judge who presided over that trial. Ivers, in the manifesto, threatens to kill the judge who presided over the first trial, according to prosecutors.
In the manifesto, Ivers focuses on what he perceives as wrongs done to him by the judicial system and talks about his anticipated revenge, the Justice Department said. The manifesto allegedly contains handwritten threats to kill judges, along with their pets and children.
Prosecutors say Ivers makes clear his aim to inspire fear by writing, “If this book doesn’t instill fear in you then your already dead.”
When Ivers was arrested on Sept. 3, he said he was having a heart attack during his transport and was instead taken to the hospital, to be released later that night. Police arrested him again on Sept. 5.
When he was interviewed, Ivers admitted to showing his manifesto to library staff, DOJ said. He was asked whether he thought his book would have scared anybody, and he allegedly replied, shouting, “It was supposed to!”
