Free speech or crime? North Texas man accused of threatening Nancy Pelosi heads to trial – The Dallas Morning News

The presidential election was still months away, but Gavin Weslee Perry apparently did not like what he saw from some Democrats in Congress, court records show.

The 29-year-old Wichita Falls man took his gripes to Facebook, typing out his frustrations in two posts that he would later claim to regret, including a threat against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to federal court records.

If youre a dem or a part of the establishment in the Democrats side, I view you as a criminal and a terrorist and I advise everyone to Go SOS [shoot on sight] and use live rounds, Perry allegedly wrote in March 2020 on Facebook. Shoot to kill. This is a revolution.

But when Perry was arrested, he told the FBI he didnt do anything wrong; he was just expressing his right to free speech.

Perry is headed to trial Monday in Wichita Falls on a single count of transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce. He joins several others in North Texas who were arrested on similar charges of threatening members of Congress in the months before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C.

A recent New York federal trial that involved a similar case ended last week in a guilty verdict. In that case, Brendan Hunt, 37, posted in a video online in January in which he called for the slaughter of members of Congress prior to Joe Bidens inauguration. Hunt added that hed shoot and kill them himself if he could find a gun.

Hunts lawyers had argued that their client wasnt caught with weapons or any plans to actually commit violence and was just ranting online, according to published reports. But the Brooklyn jury on Wednesday found him guilty.

Like Hunt, Perry is accused of singling out the Democratic House speaker in his online remarks.

Nancy Pelosi is a part of a satanic cult and so are the people who work closely with her. Dems of the establishment will be removed at any cost necessary and yes that means by death, Perry allegedly wrote in another Facebook post.

Perry was indicted on April 7. As of Friday evening, his trial was still scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection.

Civil unrest, racial strife, culture wars and political turmoil leading up to the November presidential election have led to multiple arrests for the posting of threatening words on social media, which has prompted questions about the limits of free speech. Many of those arrested have claimed they were merely expressing political opinion. But legal experts say freedom of speech is not absolute.

Courts have ruled, for example, that fraud, obscenity, incitement to violence, perjury, libel and threats are not entitled to constitutional protection. The Hunt verdict is good news for officials in Bidens Justice Department who are trying to find ways to crack down on the rising threat of domestic terrorism from violent extremist groups.

Dan Guthrie, a former federal and state prosecutor who is now in private practice in Dallas, said verdicts will depend on the specific facts of each case.

A guy having a couple of beers with his buddies who says hes going to go to D.C. to kick a senators behind isnt going to be in danger of prosecution, he said. A guy who makes the same statement on Facebook and is a member of a group that is known to promote violence may not fare so well.

Its not just Donald Trump supporters who are facing charges.

Guy Zachary Klossner, 33, of Denton, was charged in October with several counts of making threats against two Congressmen, in phone calls and via Facebook message. Klossners Facebook posts indicate he is a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont.

Klossner pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of threatening a federal official and remains in custody. His LinkedIn account says he earned a biochemistry degree from the University of North Texas and worked there as a lab technician.

Klossner also worked at UNT as a graduate research assistant in the biology department from 2012 to the end of January 2020, a university spokeswoman said.

Attorneys for Perry and Klossner did not respond to requests for comment.

Proposed jury instructions in the Perry case say prosecutors must prove that the defendant sent the message intending to communicate an actual threat or with the knowledge that it would be viewed as a true threat. That means a real threat and not a joke, idle talk or a careless remark, the filing said.

Despite that interpretation, there is no real litmus test for a true threat, Guthrie said. He added that a defendant must have a guilty mind to be convicted under the federal law used in the Perry case.

Such threats would also have to cause a reasonable person to fear being injured, according to prosecutors. The government says it does not have to prove, however, that Perry intended to carry out the threats.

The Perry investigation began in March 2020 when a concerned citizen reported Perrys social media comments to police, which included threats against Congress and law enforcement, according to court records.

John Coyle, an FBI agent, testified during a hearing last month that he went to a home where Perry was staying to ask him about the posts. Perry acknowledged he wrote the posts in question and told the agent that it was his right to do so, Coyle said during his testimony.

He [Perry] looked at me in the eye and said, You are violating my First Amendment rights and the punishment for that violation is death, Coyle said.

Perry also told the agent the U.S. government was tyrannical and that he did not recognize its authority, according to an FBI complaint. And Perry said he wanted to leave the country and never return, the complaint said.

Coyle testified that he later listened to Perrys jail phone calls to his grandfather, who told his grandson that he had warned him not to say stupid stuff like this. Perry agreed and said he should have listened, the agent said.

At his first court appearance, Perry repeatedly interrupted the prosecutor and the judge and said he was ready to plead guilty, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal Ray Jr. told Perry multiple times to stop talking and that he was going to appoint him an attorney.

You are holding me against my First Amendment right, Perry said, for saying that other people, people running this country, are terrorists to our constitution and to our freedom, to our (inaudible) values, to our quality of life. I said I think they are terrorists. And at which point when they do become terrorists of this country, we need to do something about it.

Mr. Perry, the judge said, banging his gavel, be quiet.

Later in the hearing, Perry told the judge several times he wanted to plead guilty right away because, I mean I clearly made the posts. Its clearly me, court records show.

Ray had to caution Perry not to make any incriminating statements. Following that court appearance, Perry was sent to a federal Fort Worth medical facility to be evaluated and treated so he could be deemed competent to stand trial, according to court records.

That process took a year due in part to the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said.

Perry appeared in court again on May 24 for a detention hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Boudreau told the judge during the hearing that Perry should remain behind bars until his trial, and he noted that the defendant has a criminal history including felonies, according to court records.

Ray agreed and ordered Perry to remain in custody, saying that he has a history of criminal activity and violence. The judge also cited Perrys lack of stable employment and residence.

Perry, who has also lived in Fort Worth, was convicted in 2012 of misdemeanor assault of a family member involving bodily injury, according to Tarrant County records.

Erin Nealy Cox said in a statement about Perrys case last year when she was the U.S. attorney that while the First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech, it does not permit the making of death threats against politicians and others.

We will not allow them to threaten our officials physical safety, she said.

Klossner wrote on Facebook in May 2020 that the only good cop is a dead cop. The post also said the only true officer of the law is a corpse wearing a badge.

And in July and September of that year, he threatened to murder two Congressmen, according to his indictment. Klossner did so with the intent to impede, intimidate, interfere with, or retaliate against the Congressmen while engaged in the performance of their official duties, the indictment says.

In plea documents filed on Thursday, Klossner admitted to threatening U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, a Republican from Florida, in an email sent in July 2020. Klossner used the name, Youre F. Dead, when he sent the threatening message, which said: I intend to kill your family. Youre [expletive] dead, Yoho, court records show.

Klossner sent the message from his work email in Denton, authorities said. He later admitted to sending the email because he was angry, court records show.

Another North Texas case involving threats has also resulted in a conviction.

Daniel Austin Dunn, 30, of Denton County pleaded guilty in December to making threats for encouraging violence against police in social media posts during the George Floyd protests in downtown Dallas last summer. He is currently awaiting sentencing.

Dunn, a former Marine from Bartonville, was a sympathizer of the antigovernment boogaloo boys or boogaloo bois extremist movement, according to prosecutors. Like some of those charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection, Dunn used violent rhetoric against law enforcement, saying in one post, They should all be lined up and shot, court records show.

Two alleged Capitol rioters from North Texas also have been charged with making threats.

Troy Anthony Smocks, 58, of Dallas, allegedly wrote on Parler that patriots like him should launch an armed hunt for Democrats, tech executives and other traitors at the Capitol.

And Garret Miller, 34, of Richardson, is accused of storming the Capitol building and making death threats against members of Congress and Capitol Police. Miller called for the assassination of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative from New York, and he threatened Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Instagram, saying we are coming for you, the FBI says.

Both men have pleaded not guilty and remain in custody awaiting trial.

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Free speech or crime? North Texas man accused of threatening Nancy Pelosi heads to trial - The Dallas Morning News