FAYETTEVILLE -- Lawyers for a woman charged in federal court with threatening someone on Facebook are asking the indictment be thrown out, arguing no threats were conveyed and her speech was protected by the First Amendment.
Daphne Ann Crawford, 29, of Fayetteville was indicted on a federal charge of using the Internet to transmit a message threatening to injure another person with a firearm May 24. Use of the Internet is considered interstate commerce.
A verbal altercation happened between Crawford, her husband and employees at Mel's Diner in Prairie Grove, according to a preliminary arrest report. A customer posted a comment on Facebook about the incident.
Crawford responded online and said her husband Alan would shoot the customer and his or her family, according to court documents. Crawford sent the person a photo of her husband dressed in Middle Eastern attire holding an assault rifle. Both Crawfords claim they are Muslim.
Crawford, also known as Daphne Ridenour and Umm Ammara Khalid, is being held at the Washington County Detention Center.
The motion to dismiss, filed by Tiffany Fields, an assistant federal public defender, contends the indictment attempts to criminalize pure speech and the indictment fails to state an offense because it doesn't allege Crawford subjectively intended to convey a threat to injure another person.
"Posts made via Daphne Crawford's account should undoubtedly be viewed as protected speech under the First Amendment," according to the motion. "The alleged content of the postings does not constitute a 'true threat;' rather, they are nothing more than caustic, abusive and vituperative categories that the Supreme Court has previously acknowledged as protected."
A second motion argues the indictment should be dismissed because the government is trying to selectively prosecute Crawford because of her Muslim faith. Similar postings are common on social media and are seldom, if ever, prosecuted, according to the motion. It argues the Crawfords were also the target of such posts with no resulting investigation or prosecution.
"There is a strong indication that this entire prosecution arose over religion and media sensationalism rather than because of actual evidence of the crime charged," according to the motion.
Prosecutors have not responded to the motions.
U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks has terminated all hearings and Crawford's trial date due to the pending motions.
NW News on 11/30/2016