US high court review sought in Facebook threats case

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — An eastern Pennsylvania man sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for making violent threats on Facebook is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case.

Anthony Elonis of Bethlehem is asking for the review after a federal appeals court rejected the claim that his comments were protected under the First Amendment.

WFMZ-TV said Wednesday that Elonis is arguing that his words weren’t meant as a “true threat.”

The FBI said Elonis made the threats on Facebook after he was fired in October 2010 from Dorney Park and Wildwood Kingdom.

Investigators said he threatened his estranged wife and co-workers and stated he would blow up the amusement park and commit “the most heinous school shooting ever imagined.”

Elonis said he was depressed and venting his frustration.

Information from: WFMZ-TV, http://www.wfmz.com