RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a North Carolina man who posted an anonymous threat on social media to lynch a Muslim-American political candidate from Virginia.
Friday's ruling by a three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Joseph Cecil Vandevere’s argument that a threatening tweet that he directed at former state Senate candidate Qasim Rashid contained constitutionally protected speech.
The March 2018 tweet included a picture of a lynching and read, “VIEW YOUR DESTINY.”
Vandevere was sentenced to 10 months in prison after a jury convicted him in December 2019 of interstate communication of a threat to injure a person.
