Deadline Legal Blog-Jury in Halligan's district acquits man of soliciting Trump's assassination on social media

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The not guilty verdict in the Eastern District of Virginia is another legal loss for the Justice Department in President Donald Trump’s second term.

Jury in Halligan’s district acquits man of soliciting Trump’s assassination on social media www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

— @jimrissmiller.bsky.social 2025-10-30T19:40:23.278Z

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-social-media-not-guilty-peter-stinson-rcna240778

The Justice Department has taken a series of legal losses in President Donald Trump’s second term, including a shocking streak of failures even to get indictments past grand juries in cases of alleged assaults on Trump-backed law enforcement officers. Yet another data point emerged this week in a case that made it to trial but ended in a not guilty verdict against the U.S. attorney’s office currently led by Trump-installed prosecutor Lindsey Halligan.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia accused Peter Stinson of soliciting a crime of violence with social media posts. Among those listed in the superseding indictment against him are posts that said “One well placed shot would open up a whole new reality” and “He needs to be luigied” — an apparent reference to Luigi Mangione’s alleged shooting of health care executive Brian Thompson. (Mangione pleaded not guilty in New York, where his federal and state cases are pending.).....

Stinton’s acquittal follows the not guilty verdict earlier this month in the Washington, D.C., case of Sidney Reid, whom prosecutors failed to get a felony indictment against an incredible three times for allegedly assaulting law enforcement. They proceeded to trial on a misdemeanor and lost. Like Stinson in Virginia, Reid was successfully represented by federal public defenders in her district.

Halligan didn’t initiate the Stinson case. It was brought during the tenure of Erik Siebert, a Republican whom the administration had appointed to lead the Virginia office and then forced out after he resisted bringing cases against James Comey and Letitia James (which the administration installed Halligan to bring).

There are significant issues in the Comey and James cases that could lead to their pretrial dismissal, including whether Halligan is even lawfully serving in her role. But if they get to juries, she might have just gotten a preview of the results.

[MichMan]

1. Making a death threat against anyone on social media shouldn't be considered acceptable.