The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the five-year prison sentence for a Dubuque man related to his Facebook post about driving by a school with a semiautomatic rifle, which he later said was a joke. 43 year old David Hanson Jr. of Dubuque was sentenced in October in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County after pleading guilty to a charge of threat of terrorism. The court ruled that Hanson argues the district court abused its discretion in sentencing him to prison because the ‘court’s focus was solely on the nature of the offense when it immediately rejected defense counsel’s request for probation and even had to be reminded of Hanson’s right of allocution. Hanson wrote in a Facebook post, “Welp, time to drive by the school with my AR-15, full clip.” Hanson admitted to writing the post and said he did it as a joke. Hanson later was given the five-year prison sentence by Iowa District Court Judge Monica Zrinyi Ackley. Hanson filed a notice of appeal in October.
Dubuque Man Gets Ruling on Comment Written on Facebook
Jul 14, 2023 | 1:23 PM