Left: Peter Stinson (Alexandria (Va.) Sheriff’s Office). Right: President Donald Trump attends the 157th National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 26, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin).
A former U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant accused of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump in social media posts — writing that “When he dies, the party is going to be yuge” — is no longer behind bars and is now at home, despite objections from the Justice Department to keep him in custody.
“The weight of the evidence, on a scale from one to 10, let’s just say it’s not on the side of 10,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis said Wednesday, according to local CBS affiliate WUSA, while ordering the release of Peter Stinson, 63, who will now be on home detention in Oakton, Virginia.
Stinson’s public defenders had argued in court filings that he “poses no risk of flight or danger to the community” — claiming his comments were “political hyperbole” and not “true” threats against the president.
“While the government characterizes these posts as ‘threats,’ they constitute political advocacy that the First Amendment was squarely designed to protect,” wrote Stinson’s legal team in a memorandum for pretrial release.
They claim that Stinson’s statements lack the “specificity, imminence, and likelihood of producing lawless action” required to fall outside constitutional protection. His speech, instead, falls “squarely” within the realm of protected political advocacy, per the release memo.
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“Significantly, the scope of First Amendment protection for political speech — even speech that could be construed as encouraging violence — has been demonstrated by statements from political figures across the spectrum, including President Donald Trump, who has made similar statements that encourage violence against political opponents without facing criminal prosecution,” Stinson’s lawyers said. They point out instances where Trump said things in the past, including comments about Hillary Clinton and warnings in 2023 of “potential death and destruction” if he were to be criminally charged.
“In 2016, for example, then-candidate Trump stated about Hillary Clinton: ‘If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know,'” Stinson’s team highlighted. “This statement, which could be construed as encouraging violence against a political opponent, was widely criticized but also recognized as protected political speech.”
Federal prosecutors had asked that a third-party custodian be appointed to supervise Stinson and bring him to court hearings while he remained in federal custody, but Davis denied the request and noted how the Coast Guard vet had no prior criminal history, WUSA reports.
“Mr. Stinson’s substantial ties to the community, his family and his history of service to his country weigh in favor of release,” his lawyers argued in their release filing. “Mr. Stinson is a devoted father of five children and has deep roots in the Northern Virginia community where he has resided for years. He is currently organizing the Mayday Movement, a constitutionally protected political protest seeking the impeachment of President Trump through lawful democratic processes. … His permit for this protest demonstrates his commitment to working within the legal system to express his political views.”
Peter Stinson, who spent 33 years in the Coast Guard and served as an instructor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is facing one felony count of making threats against the president of the United States.
Federal investigators say he is a “self-identified” member of antifa who began threatening violence against Trump in posts dating back to early 2020, according to his probable cause affidavit. Investigators said that Stinson often threatened Trump in online posts and conversations by referring to him through code names, including variations of the word “orange,” “one ear,” “Krasnov,” or just simply using the orange emoticon as a stand-in for the president.
In March 2025, Stinson wrote that of Trump, “He needs to be luigied,” an apparent reference to Luigi Mangione, the person charged with assassinating the CEO of United Healthcare in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024.
“He’d look and sound better with a big red hole in his orange head,” Stinson allegedly wrote in February.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
