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CONCORD, N.H (AP) A self-proclaimed white nationalist who rose to prominence during a deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was found guilty Monday by a federal jury of threatening to rape the wife of a man who was part of a racist group he felt was harassing and bullying him.

Christopher Cantwell, a 39-year-old New Hampshire resident and radio host, was found guilty of extortion and threatening to injure property or reputation but not guilty of cyberstalking related to a series of threats he made toward a Missouri man over the Telegram messaging app.

The jury deliberated for a few hours following the four-day trial. Cantwell faces up to 22 years in prison and will be sentenced Jan. 4. He will remain in Strafford County jail.

Were pleased that justice has been done and were glad to have been vindicated, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Davis said after the verdict.

Davis said he hoped there would be a deterrent value in the conviction that might resonate among everyone on the internet and the white nationalist world and other worlds where really abhorrent things are said.

You do have a right to free speech and there is a First Amendment, he said. But when you violate the regulate norms that apply you cant threaten someone as part of an extortion attempt it isnt going to matter even if it is in the white nationalist internet world.

Cantwell, dressed in a shirt and tie and wearing a mask, did not appear to show any visible reaction to the verdict. His defense team declined to comment.

Authorities say Cantwell used the Telegram messaging app to convey a threat last year that he would rape the mans wife if he didnt give up information about the leader of a white supremacist group of which the man was a member, authorities said. The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the identify of his wife.

He was arrested in January on federal charges and had pleaded not guilty.

Cantwell is also accused of threatening to expose the mans identity and warning you will lose everything you have if he didnt provide the personal details about the leader of the Bowl Patrol. The groups name was inspired by the haircut of Dylann Roof, who was sentenced to death for fatally shooting nine Black church members during a Bible study session in Charleston, South Carolina.

Cantwell followed through on another threat to report the Missouri man, who has several children, to the states child division for drug use and racist views. But an agency official testified at the trial that it did not feel the complaint justified further investigation.

Cantwells attorney, Eric Wolpin, on Friday acknowledged in his closing remarks that his clients language was obscene and over the top. But he said it never rose to the level of an actual threat, nor was it tied to anything of value.

He portrayed Cantwell as angry over harassment and bullying from the Bowl Patrol. Members disrupted his radio show for months with pranks and defaced his website with pornography and violent content, Wolpin said.

Cantwell previously pleaded guilty to assault in 2018 after he was accused of using pepper spray during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017. He didnt serve additional jail time but was barred from Virginia for five years.

This was the second federal jury trial to be held in the District of New Hampshire, since proceedings were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. All participants wore masks and practiced social distancing and microphones were disinfected between witnesses.

Cantwell, who has hosted self-produced radio shows, also has history of posting threatening messages over social media.

Last year, attorneys who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in connection with the Charlottesville rally asked a judge to order Cantwell to stop making unlawful threats against the plaintiffs and their lead attorney.

Cantwell is one two dozen groups and individual defendants in that case that is expected to go to trial in April.

Today marks an important step toward accountability for Cantwells long history of violence and bigotry, said Amy Spitalnick, the executive director of the civil rights group Integrity First for America which is funding the lawsuit.

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Jury finds white nationalist guilty of rape threat - Associated Press

State lawmakers across the country have struggled to square ballot secrecy with the advent of smartphones and social media.

Early voting has begun in Illinois. But taking a picture of your ballot could come with a felony charge.

Snapping a photo of your filled-in ballot and posting it on Facebook or Instagram is technically a Class 4 felony in Illinois, which comes with a prison sentence of one to three years and a maximum fine of $25,000. According to the Illinois Election Code, anyone who knowingly casts his or her ballot in a way thatcan be observed by another person is breaking the law.

It appears the state has never charged an Illinois voter for taking a photo of their ballot and sharing it on social media. So why is this law still on the books?

The intent behind the law is straightforward. Its meant to deter vote-buying: showing the photo in exchange for cash. But there are other laws in Illinois that explicitly outlaw vote-buying.

And there can be First Amendment issues with outlawing this kind of political speech.

In 2016, a federal judge struck down New Hampshires ballot selfie ban, deciding in response to vote-buying concerns that the ban was burning down the house to roast the pig.

From 2015 to 2016, Utah, Nebraska, Hawaii and California all passed legislation allowing voters to photograph their ballots.

Illinois came close to overturning its ban in 2017. State Rep. Emanuel Welch, D-Hillside, filed a bill that allowed voters to take photos of their ballot as long as they didnt accept any money in exchange. The House passed it overwhelmingly. But the Senate never took a vote.

Until the law changes, Illinoisans who want to express their civic pride are better off sporting an I Voted sticker or taking a photo outside their polling place.

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Taking a photo of your filled-in ballot is a felony in Illinois - Illinois Policy

WeChat, the Chinese messaging app that was set to get effectively switched off for American users Sunday night, for now will still be available and operational in the U.S.

A federal judge in San Francisco issued a ruling early Sunday issuing a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administrations order to ban the WeChat app, which is owned by China internet giant Tencent.

Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California, said in her ruling that the plaintiffs in the case successfully argued the merits of their claim that the Commerce Departments Sept. 18 order forcing Apple and Google to remove WeChat as of Sunday night violates their First Amendment rights.

The WeChat users who filed the request for an emergency injunction have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim, Beeler said in the decision, and therefore the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs favor.

The Trump administration has cited national-security concerns, postulating that Chinese government agents could demand access to data from WeChat on U.S. users. Beeler wrote that while the general evidence about the threat to national security related to China (regarding technology and mobile technology) is considerable, the specific evidence about WeChat is modest.

Beeler added that the U.S. government had other options at its disposal to achieve its stated national security objectives, such as banning WeChat from use on government devices, which is a step that Australia has taken.

Meanwhile, with respect to TikTok, the Commerce Department late Saturday deferred the Sept. 20 ban on downloads of the social video app until next Sunday, Sept. 27, citing President Trumps provisional approval of ByteDances deal to sell majority control of TikTok to U.S.-based owners including Oracle and Walmart.

The WeChat case was brought by American users of the app who are not affiliated with the Chinese company. At a court conference in the WeChat case Friday, Serena Orloff, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department, argued that the order does not violate the First Amendment because WeChat users can switch to other messaging apps like Facebooks Messenger or Line. Attorney Michael Bien, representing the plaintiffs, disputed that argument. That is a deprivation of their fundamental rights, he said. Its a prior restraint.

The Commerce Department rule would have prohibited the provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the U.S. as of Sept. 20.

Specifically relating to WeChat, as of Sunday, the now-stayed order prohibits any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S.

The ACLU last week blasted the Trump app bans as abridging First Amendment rights of U.S. users. Millions of people in the United States watch or post videos to TikTok and rely on WeChat for connections to family, friends, and work relationships. They are all engaging in First Amendment-protected speech, association, and expression, the civil-rights advocacy organization said in a blog post.

In the U.S., WeChat is far smaller than TikTok. For the week ended Aug. 15, TikTok had 52.1 million weekly active users in the U.S., according to analytics firm App Annie. By comparison, WeChat had 3.3 million monthly active users in August, per App Annie.

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Judge Blocks Trumps WeChat U.S. App Ban, Citing First Amendment - Variety

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Editor:

I memorized the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence as a grade school student: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The Preamble has always been a part of my belief in this country and in our democracy.

Therefore, the recent disruption of the Black New Mexico Movement rally in our community by counter-protesters greatly disturbed me. Not because they showed up, because all of us are protected by First Amendment freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and protest.

What disturb and frightens me is the abusive and confrontational manner in which the counter-protestors treated peaceful folks talking about Black Lives Matter and the importance of registering to vote and filling out the Census forms. They accused them of being Antifa rioters, and some counter-protesters openly showed their guns in holsters.

The counter-protesters shouted, Im fighting for my f city and You guys are not f welcome here.

I am disturbed and frightened by the hate that is being shown all across the nation and right here in Rio Rancho. Hate fuels violence, and violence never has a good ending.

................................................................

What happened to love thy neighbor, the Golden Rule, civility, fairness and discussion? Why is it acceptable in Rio Rancho to scream and shout and make as much noise as possible so that the rally speakers could not be heard? Where is the statement by our mayor and other elected officials about the incivility, inappropriateness and undemocratic behavior from the counter-protestors?

What is happening in a city I have lived in and loved for many years? It breaks my heart.

Pat Stover

Rio Rancho

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Letters to the Editor: The First Amendment in Rio Rancho - Albuquerque Journal

Texas A&M University published a new First Amendment website this month as part of an ongoing effort to emphasize the importance of First Amendment rights on campus under the U.S. Constitution.

Highlights include:

We created this resource primarily for Texas A&M students to learn more about their First Amendment rights and resources on campus and to serve and involve our faculty and staff, said Vice President for Student Affairs Daniel J. Pugh Sr. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate. It is our responsibility as a public institution of higher education to safeguard these rights for all students, faculty and staff.

Expressive Activity SpotlightThe new website spotlights expressive activity on campus. The free expression of ideas and the right to associate are American values fiercely protected by the Supreme Court. The First Amendment right to free expression and association at public universities such as Texas A&M has been explored in classic case law as a result of court cases related to the student unrest of the 1960s. These constitutional issues are sometimes difficult for the general public to comprehend because there is often an expectation that university administrators can control student speech and control or prevent student association.

This public perception is often grounded in the false belief that students do not have constitutional rights or that they do not enjoy these rights in their roles as college students. Nothing could be further from the truth at public institutions.

Free expression rights are not absolute on campus: Reasonable time, place and manner restrictions apply to free speech and student protest issues when there is a compelling government interest to support their strategies to balance these student rights against the right of others to attend class, move about campus and to avoid disruptions.

Content on the new website will be managed by Texas A&Ms Expressive Activity Committee, a group of 22 staff members that represents several units across the university including the Office of General Counsel, University Police, the College of Medicine, the Office for Diversity, the Division of Marketing and Communications, and the Division of Student Affairs.

Texas A&Ms FIRE Green Light RatingTexas A&M is the first and only university in the state to earn the highest rating for free speech from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). In cooperation with FIRE, Texas A&M revised a number of speech codes last year to join an elite group of only 45 universities nationwide that have written policies fully in line with the First Amendment. It was then that Texas A&M University President Michael Young said, As one of the nations premier institutions of higher learning, it is critical that Texas A&M affirms our commitment to free speech. A free exchange of ideas is not only a cornerstone of our democracy, it is the surest path to truth, discovery and scholarly advancement.

More here:
Texas A&M University Introduces First Amendment Website - Texas A&M University Today