A 72-year-old man has been indicted in federal court after authorities said he threatened to attack and kill a federal judge and a Supreme Court Justice.
Robert Ivers was indicted Thursday and had previously been convicted in federal court of threatening to kill a judge.
Prosecutors said Friday that law enforcement agents were sent to Wayzata Library in Minnesota on Sept. 3 after receiving a report that Ivers was printing copies of a manifesto entitled, “How to Kill a Federal Judge.”
Ivers showed the manifesto to library staff, including a page that discussed killing children and contained a picture of a gun, prosecutors said. Ivers also gave staff a flyer advertising his manifesto before leaving the building, which said his manifesto was "designed to teach extremists on how to plan, train, hunt, stalk and kill anyone including judges, their family members, politicians and more!” It also advertised that the “harsh reality is that judges are going to die.”
Investigators later learned that on Aug. 28, Ivers had been reported for bizarre behavior at an Episcopal church in Minnetonka. Ivers attended multiple services and told churchgoers he planned to attend upcoming church events on Sept. 7, Sept. 11, and Sept. 14. Church staff called law enforcement after discovering he had a history of threatening violence, a felony conviction, and racist comments.
He was arrested Sept. 3.
A search of Ivers’s vehicle uncovered, among other things, a photo of the former Pope with crosshairs centered on his head; 20 copies of a spiral bound printed book titled, "How to Kill a Federal Judge," copies of flyers promoting the book; lists of federal judges; a copy of the "Anarchist Cookbook"; a foam box containing a replica gun, a box of carbon-dioxide cartridges, and a container of pellets; and a box of fireworks.
On Sept. 5, Wayzata police re-arrested him, and he admitted to showing his manifesto to library staff. When asked if he thought the book would scare people, Ivers shouted: “It was supposed to!”
The 236-page manifesto features a photo of a man holding a rifle and focuses on perceived wrongs against him by the judicial system. The manifesto contains disturbing sketches, prosecutors said, and handwritten threats to kill, including threats to kill judges, as well as their children and pets.
He wrote, “If this book doesn’t instill fear in you then your (sic) already dead.”
Multiple judges were named in the manifest, including one who presided over his federal trial, and another whom he was previously convicted of threatening to kill.
