The following was published on BuzzFeed News by Ryan Mac and Zoe Tillman.
Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative and adviser to President Donald Trump who was charged with lying to Congress, posted a photo Monday on Instagram of a judge presiding over his case in which she appears to be next to a crosshairs symbol.
The
post comes days after the judge, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson,
rejected Stone's effort to get his case reassigned to a new judge.
Jackson also previously ruled that Stone couldn’t talk to news outlets in front of her courthouse.
Click here for the full article.
From
The G-Man is publishing the following report for the benefit of Judge
Berman Jackson and judges at the federal, state and local level across
the country.
Blogger Hal Turner Convicted of Threatening Judges
Ah the joys of blogging -- the informal style gives bloggers the ability to comment on virtually anything. But virtually anything still means that the laws of the physical world apply to the cyber world. Case in point: right-wing blogger Hal Turner has recently been convicted of threatening judges based on some inflammatory blog posts he made on his blog.
The offensive post was in response to a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a gun ban in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois. Not happy with the ruling by federal judges Richard Bauer, Frank Easterbrook, and Richard Posner, Turner took to his blog, writing: "The tree of liberty must be replenished from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots. Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges must die. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty," reports MSNBC. Turner also posted the judges' personal phone numbers and addresses.
The self-proclaimed "Conservative Internet Shock Jock" faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his cyber threat. This case shows the tension between free speech and threats. Although Turner has a right to publically comment on the ruling, he took his first amendment privileges too far by commenting on the rulers themselves. More than just fighting words, the threat against federal judges coupled with providing contact information was enough to seal the conviction in this case.
Whether online or in person, threatening language is not a form of protected speech. Unlike a verbal threat, comments made online are much easier to prove in a case like this because of the physical evidence of the statements. More alarming in this case were the number of comments posted by Turner's readers agreeing with his call for violence. Turner claims that his comments were part of a mission he was doing for the FBI. MSNBC adds the details behind his failed defense: Turner was acting as a paid informant by the FBI to find dangerous neo-Nazi and white-supremacist members of his audience for the government.
From The G-Man suspects Roger Stone was fully-aware of what he was doing when he published the judge's photo and crosshairs symbol on Instagram. It's called intent, and just because he decided to delete it means absolutely nothing. The fact that he issued a public apology is a clear indication that he knew what he did was wrong. Given the level of anger, bitterness and division in the country, incidents like the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, and his legion of rabid supporters, Stone's post must not and should not be taken lightly. Actions have consequences, and it's high time that Roger Stone, a man who acts as though he's untouchable, be taught a serious lesson on the dangerous and irresponsible use of social media.
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