Jury Acquits Former Coast Guard Officer of Threatening Trump on Social Media

A jury found former Coast Guard Officer Peter Stinson not guilty Tuesday of soliciting murder against the president by posting threats against President Donald Trump on social media.

The trial only lasted a day, and jurors deliberated for a few hours before delivering the verdict.

Stinson, 63, confirmed with The Epoch Times that he was released Tuesday.

“I am thrilled and thankful that a jury of my peers here in the Eastern District of Virginia found that I was not guilty of the charges brought by the U.S. Attorney,” Stinson said in an email Wednesday.

He also thanked his public defenders in Alexandria, Virginia, who argued in court that their client’s posts were not to be taken seriously and were protected by the First Amendment.

“This case shows that the First Amendment still provides protection to those people who receive due process,” Stinson said.

Stinson said that after he left court Tuesday, his first stop would be Columbus Circle at Union Station in Washington, to support the protesters and organizations using that location as an operations base. Columbus Circle has been the site of a months-long anti-Trump demonstration.

“Impeachment and removal of the President is the only way forward for our nation to survive,” Stinson said in the statement.

Stinson, of Oakton, Virginia, was arrested on June 16 for posting a series of violent death threats against Trump.

According to FBI statements in Stinson’s case documents, his profile information on social media platform Bluesky was “Virginia Antifa,” and on X, his profile read “We are antifa. Together we can kill fascism.”

Authorities alleged in a criminal complaint that Stinson was a self-identified member of the designated domestic terrorist organization Antifa and used X, Bluesky, Instagram, and Reddit accounts to post threatening messages about the president from 2020 to 2025.

The criminal complaint against Stinson described multiple social media messages he wrote that said Trump should be killed. He suggested a gun, knife, and poison should be used to kill the president.

Stinson also stated that he would be willing to pay and help someone to kill the president. In statements Stinson posted after Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, he expressed regret that the shooter missed an opportunity to “complete the mission.”

Federal authorities also say Stinson used Instagram and Reddit to encourage violence against Trump.

On June 9, prosecutors said Stinson posted “8647” on his Instagram page.

That number started trending among Trump critics after former FBI Director James Comey posted on Instagram a photo of seashells formed into the numbers on a beach in May. Comey deleted the post after critics interpreted the numbers as a threat against Trump, with “86” commonly used by law enforcement to mean “get rid of” or “kill,” and “47” referring to Trump as the 47th president. Comey has denied having any intention to incite violence against the president.

Jen Golbeck, a social media expert and professor at the University of Maryland, testified as the defense’s expert witness about social media violence during the trial.

The evidence presented by prosecutors only included social media posts. None of the statements made by Stinson online rose to the level of soliciting murder, she said.

According to Golbeck, people on both sides made online posts about killing the president all the time.

“This is clearly protected speech under the First Amendment,” Golbeck told The Epoch Times. Stinson’s posts presented at the trial “are things people say online all the time. It’s sort of middle of the road, as far as violent speech,” she said.

Golbeck noted there has been an increase in aggressive political language on the right and left since 2020.

“If he was found guilty, there would be 100,000 additional people who could be charged on both sides of social media,” she said. “I don’t think people should be going to jail just for saying things we don’t like online.”

Stinson served 33 years in the U.S. Coast Guard through 2021, where he was trained on using firearms and awarded sharpshooter ribbons for pistol and rifle qualifications. He also received extensive training in operations planning, according to court records.

A federal magistrate judge released Stinson to home detention on June 18 after his attorneys provided an affidavit stating that there were no firearms in his home.

Stinson’s public defenders declined to comment on the verdict.