A Lehigh County man who allegedly threatened to harm his estranged wife, Dorney Park goers, an FBI agent and a Kindergarten class in his Facebook posts faces federal charges of “interstate communication of threats.”
The self-proclaimed “aspiring rapper” has claimed that his Facebook posts were “fictitious lyrics” and he was only exercising his “constitutional right to free speech,” reports the Morning Call.
Anthony Douglas Elonis, 27, of Lower Saucon, Pa., who has been in custody since December, was charged by a federal grand jury with five counts of interstate communication threats Jan. 5. The accusations against Elonis influenced U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin to call the former Dorney Park employee a flight risk and a “danger to society,” reports the Morning Call.
In October and November Elonis allegedly posted threatening messages about Dorney Park after he lost his job.
On Nov. 15, Elonis allegedly wrote, “Fold up your (order of protection) and put it in your pocket/Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?... And if worse comes to worse, I've got enough explosives to take care of the state police and the sheriff's department." Authorities say this was directed at his estranged wife.
On Nov. 16, the Lehigh County man allegedly wrote, "That's it, I've had about enough. I'm checking out and making a name for myself. Enough elementary schools in a 10-mile radius to initiate the most heinous school shooting ever imagined. And hell hath no fury like a crazy man in a Kindergarten class. The only question is ... which one?" reports the Morning Call.
Authorities have not said whether Elonis had tried to follow through on any of these alleged threats.
If convicted the 27-year-old faces as much as 25 years in prison.
