On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that a New York Trump supporter has been convicted in a case stemming from his threats to kill prominent Democrats in the days after the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol.
Brendan Hunt's conviction took place after the jury deliberated for just three hours, according to the report.
"It took the jury in his case about three hours to reach a verdict, finding that comments Hunt made in a disturbing video posted online two days after the U.S. Capitol riot amounted to a genuine threat to murder elected officials in Washington," wrote Shayna Jacobs. "Hunt, 37, was charged with one count of making a threat to assault and murder a United States official. He was arrested Jan. 19, a day before President Biden's inauguration, after the FBI received a tip about his video, titled 'KILL YOUR SENATORS: Slaughter them all.' The clip had been posted on BitChute, a hosting site popular with far-right conservatives, after the deadly riot in Washington."
A previous report indicated that Hunt is a neo-Nazi extremist who, in private messages, fantasized about Trump "overrid[ing] the democratic process and becom[ing] the absolute leader" just like Adolf Hitler did in Germany. The trial was seen by some experts as a new test on the limits of freedom of speech.
Hunt faces up to 10 years in prison.
