Do people not realize that threatening the President is a felony?

[mjr]

Numerous people threatened President Obama. And it's starting with President-Elect Trump.

Do people not realize that threatening the President is a Class E Felony?

18 U.S.C. § 879 : US CODE - SECTION 879: THREATS AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENTS AND CERTAIN OTHER PERSONS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat..._United_States

Although there are cases (and this is puzzling, a bit) of it being protected by "free speech" laws, provided it's on Social Media, it appears:

http://silha.umn.edu/news/Summer2011...onviction.html

http://gizmodo.com/these-people-were...f-a-1788726527

It's dumb. PLEASE, even if you disagree with the President, and regardless of your political stripe, DO NOT threaten the President!

[XCashier]

To say that I don't like Trump at all is an understatement. I would never threaten him in any way, however. I agree, that is completely wrong, and rightly a felony.

But when he finally self-destructs, I'll be

[Food Lady]

What XCashier said. I respect the office but I don't have to respect (in feeling) the man in it. I don't have to call him nasty names nor threaten him, but where I see character failings clearly before me I am allowed to give voice to my observation.

[Canarr]

Although there are cases (and this is puzzling, a bit) of it being protected by "free speech" laws, provided it's on Social Media, it appears:

http://silha.umn.edu/news/Summer2011...onviction.html

http://gizmodo.com/these-people-were...f-a-1788726527

It's dumb. PLEASE, even if you disagree with the President, and regardless of your political stripe, DO NOT threaten the President!

Well, there is a bit of leeway, it appears. From the Wikipedia article you linked:

It consists of knowingly and willfully mailing or otherwise making "any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States".

[SNIP]

For instance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a threat was knowingly made if the maker comprehended the meaning of the words uttered by him. It was willingly made, if in addition to comprehending the meaning of his words, the maker voluntarily and intentionally uttered them as a declaration of apparent determination to carry them into execution.

99% of idiots uttering variations of "He should be killed!" certainly lack the "apparent determination" to carry out those threats.

[victory sabre]

I 100% support the right to free speech, but these clowns doing this are sick indeed. The Secret service has to take the resources and time to investigate them all. This is time and resources taken away from other functions that are also important.

Frankly, there's way too much hate, and it's got to stop. It's one thing to disagree politically with a politician (which I do a lot, and might even with President Trump), it's another to spew mindless hate. I've had to unfollow a couple of people on FB for their sick pro Clinton hate, and it's something I didn't want to do, but felt that I had to because the level was disturbing.

[Hyena Dandy]

In order to be a threat to the President, a comment needs to be made by someone who appears to be capable of carrying it out, and who knows that this statement is likely to be interpreted as a threat to the life of the President, and actually expects their statements to be taken seriously.

In the Twitter links you provided - Does @Diamondiskey truly believe that what he is doing is an effective method of contacting a professional hit man? Does @ToxicHanasa want people to know of an act they intend to commit? Does @SkinnyMaries think that people on their twitter timeline believe that they are both capable and likely to enact this plan, and expects them to react accordingly?

It is a crime to threaten to assassinate the president. However, the mere fact that you said something threatening, does not mean that you said something which meets the legal definition of a threat.