Trump supporter found guilty of threatening to murder elected officials

NEW YORK • Free speech may be sacred in the United States but calling for the killing of US lawmakers on social media is unlawful, a New York jury has ruled after a weeklong trial that revisited the Jan 6 riot at the Capitol.

Wednesday's federal trial, the first related to the storming of Congress by supporters of former president Donald Trump, had been viewed as a test case for the limits of freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

After just three hours of jury deliberations, Brendan Hunt, a 37-year-old court employee who uses the alias "X-Ray Ultra", was found guilty of threatening to murder elected officials including Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

He was convicted of an "intent to impede, intimidate and interfere" with the performing of their official duties, specifically the Congress' Jan 6 vote that confirmed Mr Joe Biden had won November's election over Mr Trump.

Hunt was also charged with "intent to retaliate" over the electoral college vote count, which affirmed Mr Trump would have to leave the White House after one term.

The charges related to several of Hunt's social media posts. The first dated back to Dec 6 when, on Facebook, he called on Mr Trump to "hold a public execution of pelosi aoc schumer etc".

"And if you dont do it, the citizenry will," he wrote. "Start up the firing squads, mow down these commies, lets take america back!"

On Jan 8, two days after Mr Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol, Hunt posted an 88-second clip on the video-sharing platform BitChute, titled "KILL YOUR SENATORS".

"We need to go back to the US Capitol when all of the Senators and a lot of the Representatives are back there, and this time we have to show up with our guns," he said into the camera.

It was because of the video message that the jury found Hunt guilty, a spokesman for prosecutors said after the verdict. The FBI arrested more than 400 people in relation to the violence at the Capitol. Among the thousands of calls they received was one alerting them to Hunt's video.

Hunt, the son of a retired judge, calls himself an actor, musician and journalist. He was arrested at his home in Queens, New York on Jan 19, a day before Mr Biden's inauguration. Officers did not find any weapons or evidence of involvement with any extremist groups.

Prosecutors did not claim that Hunt, who read Mein Kampf and called on Mr Trump to seize power "like Hitler", was in Washington on Jan 6 or that he intended to go.

The trial focused on whether Hunt's threats were serious and whether he really intended to attack elected officials.

Hunt's court-appointed lawyer Leticia Olivera said the messages were just "a nonsense rant" that came under constitutionally protected free speech. She argued they should not have been taken seriously, given Hunt had admitted to alcohol problems and his video channel only had 99 subscribers.

Wearing a grey suit, blue tie and a clear-plastic face shield in court, Hunt seemed relaxed when he testified in his own defence.

"The idea that I would somehow borrow somebody's gun, waltz into Biden's inauguration ceremony like some Looney Tunes character and somehow line up all senators and execute a firing squad on them, I think is a pretty ridiculous idea," he said.

"I'm sort of just a YouTube guy who makes controversial content and clickbait videos."

Prosecutor David Kessler said in closing arguments on Wednesday that "the First Amendment does not protect" against such threats.

"The government does not need to prove that the defendant attempted to kill. Making the threat is the crime, even if made on social networks and not addressed directly to the people targeted," Mr Kessler added.

Hunt faces up to 10 years in prison.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NY TIMES