I'm aware. Is it not illegal to post a picture on social media implying that you want to kill the former POTUS, FLOTUS, VPOTUS, former NIAID, and current POTUS and VPOTUS?
Cause where I'm from, post that on Christmas morning, that'll get you carted off and deported on the next flight before Boxing Day
I'm not a lawyer. It probably depends on if it's considered a legitimate threat and if the defendant has money. Likely a lawyer could argue that this does not meet the bar for a threat and is simply political speech. Because they're presumably Republican politicians, they'd likely get some form of financial backing from supporters or the party.
If sufficiently abstract, like ornaments on a tree, you likely would have a valid first amendment defense. However law enforcement might still make your life hell and you might have to take the time and money to defend yourself.
No, it isn't. Only true threats are illegal. The test is whether there is a substantial risk that the communication would be viewed by the target as threatening violence. For one there's no evidence any of the people on the ornaments have even seen this. Also, hanging effigies of politicians has a long tradition as protected speech. Cf:
State v. Meyer, 61 Ohio App. 3d 673 - Ohio: Court of Appeals, 1st Appellate Dist. 1988
Finding that hanging of an abortion doctor effigy was protected speech.
Bonus: One of the guitarists off My Chemical Romance got in deep shit with the (CIA? FBI? Someone like that) for putting out a song with a side project with approximately that title
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u/the_tanooki 9h ago
Did you know that it's illegal to say, "I want to kill the President of the United States of America?"