San Francisco

Charges Against Man Accused of Tweeting Death Threats to Acting SFPD Chief Dropped

The charges against a 60-year-old man accused of making death threats against the acting San Francisco police chief are being dropped.

Donald Eric Hoganson was arrested for allegedly making criminal threats  against Acting Chief Toney Chaplin on Twitter. The July 16 tweet called for Chaplin's head, and the feed contains white supremacy messages.

The San Francisco public defender confirmed to NBC Bay Area on Thursday the charges were dropped, saying Hoganson's tweets were protected under the First Amendment. The tweets also contained both political and religious elements, according to the SF public defender.

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