Twitter threats case against Minnesota man goes to grand jury

A court hearing Wednesday for a Minneapolis man accused of making death threats on Twitter against FBI agents raised questions about whether he typed the tweets and who he was specifically targeting.

An attorney for 19-year-old Khaalid Abdulkadir says it's against the law to issue threats against specific federal authorities, such as judges or law enforcement officers. But attorney Chris Madel says the tweets associated with Abdulkadir's purported Twitter account fall short of that threshold. One tweet read, quote, "kill them FBI" and referenced a judge but failed to name a single person.

Prosecutors say Abdulkadir took his anger to social media after the arrest of a friend last week on charges of conspiring to join ISIS. But when Abdulkadir was arrested last Friday, he emphatically denied threatening anyone, according to an FBI report cited in court.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel found there was probable cause to allow the case to advance. Abdulkadir was charged by complaint Friday with threatening to assault and kill a federal law enforcement officer. The case will now go to a federal grand jury for review.

The court hearing Wednesday involved introductory-level discussions about social media, including definitions of a tweet, retweet, and followers. It also laid bare the challenges of prosecuting an individual for social-media statements, rife with slang and obscenities, that could be interpreted in multiple ways.

At one point, Judge Noel referenced a tweet that reads: "#kill them F B I and f--- as judge." Noel asked if the word "as" was understood to be a misspelling of a profanity.

Madel contended his client's alleged tweets were protected by the First Amendment.

"There's nothing illegal for a person to say 'f--- the FBI' and 'f--- the U.S. government," Madel said.

Madel also asked whether another person could have made the tweets. He noted that the Twitter account had a slightly different spelling than Abdulkadir's legal name.

Federal prosecutors say the law does not require the person making the threats to identify their targets by name. FBI Special Agent Vadym Vinetsky testified that agents believed the account was Abdulkadir's, in part because he had at one point tweeted his phone number.

Vinetsky said when federal agents arrested Abdulkadir at his house Friday, he was not cooperating and was "verbally aggressive." Madel said that his client reacted angrily because he is innocent — and because agents used smoke grenades in the presence of a small child at the home.

A hearing to decide whether Abdulkadir should remain in custody as his case progresses will be continued on Monday. Madel said he needed more time to consult with family members and witnesses, as well as to collect more information about Abdulkadir, who he said is attending college.

Madel also recently defended another client, Mahamed Said, who was in a similar situation after he tweeted threats against the U.S. Attorney General following the arrests of several friends in April on charges of planning to join ISIS.

As part of a plea agreement, Said pleaded guilty to impeding a law enforccment officer, a misdemeanor charge, in October.

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