Defendant in pending SCOTUS case over Facebook threats is arrested in alleged domestic incident
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A defendant in a pending Supreme Court case involving Facebook threats has been arrested for allegedly throwing a pot at his girlfriend’s mother that struck her in the head.
Anthony Elonis, 31, was charged with simple assault and harassment, report the Allentown Morning Call and Lehigh Valley Live. How Appealing notes the stories.
Police say the girlfriend’s mother, Maureen Kipp, was trying to kick Elonis out of her home last Tuesday before he threw the pot at her.
Elonis spent 44 months in prison after he was convicted under a federal threats law for his Facebook rants. At issue is whether the law requires proof that the defendant intended to threaten others, or whether it’s enough to prove that the words would have been perceived as threatening by a reasonable person.
