NEW YORK: A social media agitator was convicted Wednesday on federal charges of threatening to kill members of Congress in a verdict that rejected his claims it was harmless rhetoric.
A jury found Brendan Hunt guilty at the close of a weeklong trial in federal court in Brooklyn.
Hunt, 37, did not deny creating a series of menacing-sounding posts. But he testified that they were often put together while impaired from smoking pot with a bong and drinking beer, and never thought they would be taken seriously.
I wrote a lot of things I didnt mean, Hunt said, calling himself immature and very irresponsible.
He added: I just feel terrible about how I expressed myself.
The verdict came in a case where prosecutors linked Hunt to the siege at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to his brand of extremism. He wasnt there, but admitted posting videos and other materials expressing support for the violent mob.
Hunt a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, avid comic book collector and an analyst for the New York court system had pleaded not guilty to charges alleging, in part, that he called for the public execution of Democratic U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. Prosecutors say it was part of a monthlong online campaign to urge violence against members of Congress that culminated with a Jan. 8 video titled: Kill your senators. Slaughter them all.
Defense attorneys had called the charges overblown. They argued Hunt’s posts were protected free speech and that there was no proof that he was a legitimate threat.
The trial featured testimony from a Capitol Police officer about the mayhem on Jan. 6.
A message was left with one of Hunt’s lawyers on Wednesday.
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