U.S. v. Santiago, decided Monday by Judge Chad Meredith (E.D. Ky.), involves this Instagram post:
Santiago is being prosecuted for making threatening interstate communications, in two counts, "one regarding the threat to the President, and one regarding the threat to law enforcement officers." The court allowed the prosecution to go forward:
[T]he question of whether Santiago's speech was a "true threat" or political hyperbole is one that must be determined by a jury, not the Court.
Of course, "courts retain the power to remove a true-threat question from the jury's consideration … if the evidence shows that the speech was protected as a matter of law." But the implication to be drawn from the evidence here is disputed and it is not so clear-cut that the Court can decide it as a matter of law. A reasonable jury could find Santiago's statements to be true threats, and so the matter must be presented to a jury. The First Amendment does not say otherwise because it does not even apply if a jury concludes that the statements were true threats….
For most context, see the FBI agent's affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint; an excerpt:
Between January 27, 2026, and March 27, 2026, kadi_skating [allegedly one of Santiago's user ids] sent the following messages to an unidentified user: …
• kadi_skating: "im filled with political violence now." [January 8, 2026]….
• kadi_skating: "death to trump." [March 2, 2026]
• kadi_skating: "death to the American nazi regime." [March 2, 2026].
• kadi_skating: "and the american people NEED to start shooting at the necks, legs, and arms of ICE agents." [March 2, 2026]
• kadi_skatlng: "STUFF A GRENADE IN THEIR AHH AND BLOW IT UP." [March 2, 2026]
• kadi_skating: "LETS GOOOO no one is spared all of ice is going to die by my hands [March 2, 2026]
• kadi_skating: "I wanna kill n*zis bad." [March 23, 2026]
Emily K. Greenfield and James T. Chapman represent the federal government.
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