Trump supporter argues alleged death threats against leading Democrats were fueled by pandemic bored

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Trump supporter argues alleged death threats against leading Democrats were fueled by pandemic boredom

By Shayna Jacobs
April 27, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. EDT

NEW YORK — A fervent supporter of former president Donald Trump on trial on charges of making death threats to prominent elected Democrats before and shortly after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol insisted Tuesday that his statements on social media and in private messages were not to be taken seriously.

Brendan Hunt blamed his comments on pandemic-induced boredom and depression when he took the witness stand to testify in his own defense in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn and was confronted by prosecutors with violent, racist and antisemitic statements that he argued did not reflect his beliefs.

Hunt’s case is seen as a test of how far violent speech can go before it is a crime and is no longer constitutionally protected as free speech. Hunt did not participate in the riot at the Capitol building, but he is one of hundreds of people charged by the Justice Department in response to the attack by Trump supporters.

Hunt was arrested Jan. 19 after a tipster called the FBI about one of his videos. He faces up to a decade in prison if convicted of making threats to assault and murder a United States official.

The 37-year-old Fordham University graduate, a onetime actor and amateur documentarian, said he was “lonely” and “isolated in my apartment” during quarantine and turned to frequent marijuana and alcohol use. Hunt, who had an administrative job in the New York state court system before his arrest, had been mostly working from home, according to his testimony.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/brendan-hunt-trial-death-threats-democrats/2021/04/27/3ba7bf94-a441-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html

[WhiteTara]

1. Damn. I've been lonely, bored,

been known to imbibe during this interminable shutdown and I have never even had a single thought cross my brain to threaten any federal official.

[Blue Owl]

2. Boredumb

[malaise]

15. Free the dumb!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. Shoulda stuck to ice cream like me. I may be fat but I'm not going to prison.

[gratuitous]

4. Le pauvre!

Fordham, huh? Maybe you could have taken those 13 months and learned to read. Take up knitting. Enjoy your time in prison, doofus.

[Coventina]

5. Only boring people get bored.

Good grief, what if this pandemic would have happened before the internet?

I suppose civilization would collapse.

[catrose]

6. He could have sewn masks

[rickyhall]

7. I get bored I watched Hulu, $6 a month. Never threaten anybody.

I do yell at corporate drug pushers, however.

[MrsCheaplaugh]

8. He's just an entertainer.

Well, that line is supposed to work for Fox news and Alec Jones.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Bored or not that's no excuse

Enjoy the food in prison Hunt. All the baloney you want.

[ms liberty]

10. I've been bored before. I've been stoned before too, but being stoned usually cures boredom

And neither state has made me make violent, hateful threats on rhe internet or in real life to anyone. Ever.

[Buns_of_Fire]

12. Imagine how bored and lonely he'll be after 10 years in a 5x8 cell.

Poor little trumpflake.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Marijuana Use?

Too much alcohol, yeah.
But, smoking pot contributed to making threats to kill public officials?
I don't think so.
This is probably why defense lawyers discourage people from testifying when they're the defendant.

[tavernier]

14. I filled bags of food at the high school to be delivered daily

to families with children in our community.

I made sure to walk at least two miles daily, especially if I felt depressed or bored. I read dozens of books on audible during my walks.

I took up watercolor painting, cooking classes on video, and assembled boxes and boxes of jigsaw puzzles.

I met with friends and/or family twice a week, always outdoors, always six feet apart at a local city park. We sat at picnic tables where we sipped a glass of wine from well disguised coffee mugs and talked about our plans to take a road trip together once “this” was over.

I got hooked on Succession, The Office, Mr. Robot, and Schitt’s Creek.

I did threaten the neighbor’s dog a couple of times when he started barking at 3 a.m. but since I was in bed, no one heard me.

[uponit7771]

16. +1, op worthy. This is text book what people should do to add to society

[tavernier]

17. Aw, thanks!

Who knew I could add something. Wish I could go back in time and tell those teachers they were wrong.

[Initech]

18. Death threats have existed long before COVID.