Hal Turner Arrested By FBI For Threatening Chicago Judges

Hal Turner, a New Jersey talk show host, who has made threats against Connecticut politicians and was arrested a couple weeks back, has now been arrested again. This time, he's been threatening Chicago area judges.

An Internet radio host and blogger charged earlier this month with encouraging people to "take up arms" against three public officials in Connecticut was arrested again Wednesday on charges that he threatened to assault and murder three federal judges in retaliation for a ruling upholding handgun bans in the Chicago area.

FBI agents charged Hal Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., at his home on charges related to the appeals court judges. The federal charges in Chicago arise from Internet postings on June 2 and 3 in which Turner allegedly proclaimed his "outrage" over a June 2 decision by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer of the Chicago-based U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed," said the postings, which also included photographs, phone numbers, work addresses and room numbers of the judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location.

The Chicago arrest warrant affidavit suggests that the Internet postings were inspired by lawsuits in Chicago and suburban Oak Park that followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year upholding the right of citizens to keep handguns in their homes for protection. The lawsuits challenged handgun bans that remained in effect after the high court's ruling. The three judges dismissed the lawsuits in an opinion written for a unanimous court.

This guy is a crank, and the concern is that someone in his audience might go ahead and follow through on those threats.

Turner, of course, is claiming that this is all part of his 1st Amendment rights to free speech, but this goes beyond free speech when he is threatening the lives of people and inciting others to violence. That gets no constitutional protection.

Threatening federal officials carries serious penalties since this is likely to be charged under 18 USC 115, which carries a prison sentence of up to six years and a fine.