Is it a federal crime to threaten the lives of the president and others in the line of succession?
Under U.S. law it is a federal crime to “knowingly and willfully” threaten the president, president-elect, vice president or any person in “the order of succession to the office of the President.” Threatening to murder, kidnap or physically harm these individuals is considered a crime under this statute. A person found guilty of such a crime may be fined and/or imprisoned for a maximum of five years.
According to the Department of Justice, “a showing of general threat” is sufficient for this statute to apply, excluding “mere political hyperbole, idle talk, or jest.”
In a 2008 case, a federal appeals court declined to convict a California man who had threatened to kill then-presidential candidate Obama on an online message board, creating a narrower standard for what constitutes a “true threat” in the interest of protecting free speech.
