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Were Geneva man's anonymous, insulting letters a threat or protected speech?

Were the anonymous letter containing racial and homophobic slurs a Geneva man sent to people from a “What's Happening” Facebook group a crime, or speech protected by the First Amendment?

That's what a Kane County judge will decide next month after a bench trial Tuesday for Anton L. Purkart, 51, who was arrested and charged last summer with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

“Most people stick to just arguing in the Facebook realm,” said Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Vanessa Coletti. “The words of the defendant are not protected speech in any case. Threats are not protected speech.”

Purkart's defense attorney Matthew Haiduk acknowledged his client wrote the letters, but argued the act of mailing a letter was peaceful and the state was trying to punish Purkart for the letters' contents.

“Because something is unpopular or goes against what the crowd thinks doesn't make it criminal,” Haiduk argued to Judge Salvatore LoPiccolo. “There are no threats, there are no incitements.”

Three witnesses testified they were in a “What's Happening” group, commented or reacted to a post and later received an anonymous letter in the mail in late May 2018.

Each letter contained a printout of their comment or reaction on the Facebook thread, and racial slurs and insults. Each recipient testified they felt alarmed, threatened and scared — calling police, getting extra security cameras or not leaving the house for an entire weekend.

Geneva resident Brenda Gonzalez testified she commented on a post about food trucks and was alarmed and threatened to receive a letter with racial slurs about Hispanics and “eradicating” them.

Geneva resident Jill Johnson said she was alarmed after receiving a letter referring to “feral subhumans” after she merely reacted with a “sad” face to an article about recent ICE raids in the Kane County area.

And Joe Urbentrout of Batavia testified he received a letter with a homophobic slur that also referred to Urbentrout going to college at the University of Wisconsin.

Geneva Police Detective Sarah Sullivan testified she interviewed Purkart twice. Purkart first denied sending the letters, but in a July 12, 2018, interview, he expressed remorse and said the recipients “probably think there's a psycho out there” and that he understood how they would find the letters unnerving, Sullivan said.

Haiduk said the content of the letters may be repulsive, but Purkart's actions were not criminal.

“These aren't letters saying, ‘I'm going to kill you.' These aren't letters saying, ‘I'm going to bomb your house,'” Haiduk argued. “It's words people don't like. This isn't criminal. It's vulgar, it's offensive, it's problematic. But it's also protected by the First Amendment.”

Coletti argued it was the totality of Purkart's actions: printing the Facebook post, looking up someone's address, writing the hateful letter, and then dropping it in the mailbox with no return address or a false one.

“It's so much more than just putting it in the mail,” she said.

LoPiccolo will give his verdict July 22. If convicted, Purkart faces a punishment of a fine of up to $2,500 and 30 days in jail.

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