4
ELONIS v. UNITED STATES
Opinion of the Court
The details about the home were accurate. Id., at 154. At
the bottom of the post, Elonis included a link to the video
of the original skit, and wrote, “Art is about pushing limits. I’m willing to go to jail for my Constitutional rights.
Are you?” Id., at 333.
After viewing some of Elonis’s posts, his wife felt “extremely afraid for [her] life.” Id., at 156. A state court
granted her a three-year protection-from-abuse order
against Elonis (essentially, a restraining order). Id., at
148–150. Elonis referred to the order in another post on
his “Tone Dougie” page, also included in Count Two of the
indictment:
“Fold up your [protection-from-abuse order] and put it
in your pocket
Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?
Try to enforce an Order
that was improperly granted in the first place
Me thinks the Judge needs an education
on true threat jurisprudence
And prison time’ll add zeros to my settlement . . .
And if worse comes to worse
I’ve got enough explosives
to take care of the State Police and the Sheriff ’s Department.” Id., at 334.
At the bottom of this post was a link to the Wikipedia
article on “Freedom of speech.” Ibid. Elonis’s reference to
the police was the basis for Count Three of his indictment,
threatening law enforcement officers.
That same month, interspersed with posts about a
movie Elonis liked and observations on a comedian’s social
commentary, id., at 356–358, Elonis posted an entry that
gave rise to Count Four of his indictment:
“That’s it, I’ve had about enough
I’m checking out and making a name for myself
Enough elementary schools in a ten mile radius
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