6 ELONIS v. UNITED STATES THOMAS, J., dissenting Courts applying this statute shortly after its enactment appeared to require proof of only general intent. In Ragansky v. United States, 253 F. 643 (CA7 1918), for in­ stance, a Court of Appeals held that “[a] threat is know­ ingly made, if the maker of it comprehends the meaning of the words uttered by him,” and “is willfully made, if in addition to comprehending the meaning of his words, the maker voluntarily and intentionally utters them as the declaration of an apparent determination to carry them into execution,” id., at 645. The court consequently rejected the defendant’s argument that he could not be convicted when his language “[c]oncededly . . . constituted such a threat” but was meant only “as a joke.” Id., at 644. Like­ wise, in United States v. Stobo, 251 F. 689 (Del. 1918), a District Court rejected the defendant’s objection that there was no allegation “of any facts . . . indicating any intention . . . on the part of the defendant . . . to menace the Presi­ dent of the United States,” id., at 693 (internal quotation marks omitted). As it explained, the defendant “is pun­ ishable under the act whether he uses the words lightly or with a set purpose to kill,” as “[t]he effect upon the minds of the hearers, who cannot read his inward thoughts, is precisely the same.” Ibid. At a minimum, there is no historical practice requiring more than general intent when a statute regulates speech. B Applying ordinary rules of statutory construction, I would read §875(c) to require proof of general intent. To “know the facts that make his conduct illegal” under §875(c), see Staples, 511 U. S., at 605, a defendant must know that he transmitted a communication in interstate or foreign commerce that contained a threat. Knowing that the communication contains a “threat”—a serious expression of an intention to engage in unlawful physical violence—does not, however, require knowing that a jury