PORTLAND, Maine — Buxton man Brian Dennison is facing a juried trial after allegedly threatening to kill Jewish people in an online post in Sept. 2021.
Dennison is facing one charge of transmitting threatening interstate communication after he allegedly posted "I'm going to kill jews with my ar15 tomorrow" on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Three witnesses took the stand Wednesday, including a digital forensic investigator, Dennison's childhood friend, and a social media strategist.
The social media strategist claims he believes the threat was posted online for about 40 minutes before Dennison allegedly deleted it, and he estimates no more than 10 people would have seen it in that time frame.
The jury must determine Dennison's intent with the threat and whether or not he issued a "true threat." Defense Attorney Tom Hallett said a "true threat" is when a speaker directs a threat with the intent of causing fear of bodily harm or death.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig Wolff and Johnathan Nathans believe Dennison issued a true threat because it included a weapon, a specific date, and a particular group of people targeted. The prosecution argues the language and context of the post would make a reasonable person fearful for Jewish people who are close in proximity to the author.
Meanwhile, Hallett argues his client's threat is meaningless because there was no specific target within the Jewish population nor was there an indicator of the author's location.
On the first day of the trial, six witnesses gave their testimonies, including experts from the FBI, National Threat Operations Center, and the company X.
An FBI Counterterrorism Watch Officer said he was alerted to a tweet on Sept. 8, 2021, allegedly posted by Dennison using the Twitter handle @Ma1lus which said, "I'm building a pipe bomb." After that tweet was flagged, the officer said he assessed the profile page to find another tweet Dennison allegedly posted saying "I'm going to kill jews with my ar15 tomorrow."
An FBI task force officer who testified on Tuesday said he searched the residence and property on Fogg Road in Buxton where Dennison lived in an apartment attached to his parent's house. The FBI search team recovered an AR-15, other pistols, and ammunition. The officer said there was no evidence Dennison had intent on committing a shooting the following day nor were there any pipe bombs located.
Dennison was charged with transmitting threatening interstate communication, a felony that carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Maine's Chief U.S. District Judge Jon Levy released the jury at 12:15 Wednesday afternoon. The trial will resume with closing arguments starting Thursday morning.