Examples of Communicating Threats: Types, Delivery, and Penalties

Examples of communicating threats range from a direct “I’m going to kill you” to a mailed demand for money backed by a promise of violence, and any serious expression of intent to harm a person or their property can be charged as a crime even if the speaker never planned to act. Federal convictions for a standard threat carry up to five years in prison, and sentences climb to twenty years when the threat is tied to extortion. What follows is a plain look at the kinds of statements that qualify, the ones that don’t, and what happens under federal law when they do.

What Makes a Statement a Criminal Threat

Not every angry outburst is a crime. To be prosecuted, a statement has to qualify as a “true threat” under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court in Virginia v. Black defined a true threat as a serious expression of intent to commit unlawful violence against a person or group.¹ The word “serious” carries the weight. It separates real threats from trash talk, dark humor, and heated political speech.

Courts look at how a reasonable person in the recipient’s position would interpret the words. Context is central: where the statement was made, the relationship between the parties, the speaker’s history, and anything else that makes the words feel real, like showing up at someone’s home or referencing past violence.

The speaker’s mental state also matters. In 2023, the Supreme Court decided Counterman v. Colorado and held that prosecutors must show the speaker at least recklessly disregarded the risk their words would be understood as threatening. In practice, the government must prove the person consciously ignored a substantial risk that the communication would be taken as a threat of violence.² A purely accidental or unknowing statement is not enough.

Direct Threats of Physical Harm

Statements that promise violence are the clearest examples. “I’m going to kill you” or “I’ll beat you until you can’t walk” communicate a plain intent to cause bodily injury. The speaker doesn’t have to spell out a plan or a timeline. The combination of a serious statement and the fear it produces is what makes it criminal.

Threats don’t have to be aimed at the recipient personally. “If you don’t do what I say, you’ll never see your kids again” threatens both the listener and their family. A statement expressing intent to kidnap, sexually assault, or kill anyone qualifies when the surrounding context supports that the speaker meant it or recklessly disregarded how it would be heard.

Threats Against Property and Bomb Threats

Threats aimed at what someone owns can be criminal too. Saying “I’m going to burn your house down” or “I’ll smash your car” is enough to support charges. Threats to harm a pet fall in this bucket because animals are treated as property under the law. The purpose is usually to intimidate the owner, and courts treat it that way.

Bomb threats and threats involving fire or explosives get their own federal statute. Threatening to destroy a building, vehicle, or other property with fire or explosives through any means of communication carries up to ten years in federal prison, whether or not the speaker actually possesses any explosives.³ Calling in a bomb threat to a school, mailing a hoax anthrax letter, or posting online about blowing up a courthouse all fall under this provision. The FBI prosecutes hoax threats as federal crimes even when they come through social media or text.

Conditional and Extortive Threats

Some threats come with a demand attached: harm is promised only if the victim refuses. These conditional threats are the backbone of extortion and blackmail. “Pay me $10,000 or I’ll release these photos of you” is a textbook example. The fact that the victim has an option to comply doesn’t neutralize the threat. The coercion is the crime.

Federal law reaches extortive threats through several overlapping statutes. Under the Hobbs Act, extortion means obtaining property from someone through the wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, and it carries up to twenty years in prison.⁴ “Fear” here includes fear of economic harm, not only physical violence. A statement like “If you testify in court, I’ll make sure your business fails” fits.

Mailing a threatening demand carries its own consequences. A mailed communication that threatens to kidnap or injure someone with the intent to extort money or property carries up to twenty years.⁵ Even mailing a threat to damage someone’s reputation to extract payment is a federal crime, punishable by up to two years.

Threats Against the President and Federal Officials

Threatening the President, Vice President, President-elect, or the next person in the line of presidential succession is its own federal crime, carrying up to five years in prison.⁶ The Secret Service investigates these cases aggressively, and the law covers any delivery method.

Threats directed at federal judges, federal law enforcement officers, and certain other federal officials also face enhanced penalties. A mailed threat to injure one of these officials carries up to ten years in prison, twice the standard maximum for threats against private citizens.⁵

How the Threat Is Delivered

The medium doesn’t determine whether a statement is criminal. Words spoken face-to-face, shouted over the phone, written in a letter, typed into an email, or posted on Instagram all receive the same legal treatment. Content and context are what matter.

The medium does determine which federal statute applies. Threats sent through the U.S. mail fall under 18 U.S.C. § 876.⁵ Threats sent through any electronic means that crosses state lines, including texts, emails, direct messages, and social media, fall under 18 U.S.C. § 875.⁷ Threats originating abroad and mailed into the United States are covered separately.⁸ Federal jurisdiction is nearly automatic for online threats, since digital communications almost always cross state lines.

Statements That Do Not Count

The line between a criminal threat and protected speech is one of the harder ones in First Amendment law. A few landmark cases show where courts have drawn it.

In Watts v. United States (1969), an 18-year-old at a political rally said that if the government made him carry a rifle, “the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J.” The Supreme Court reversed his conviction, calling the statement political hyperbole rather than a true threat. The threat was conditional on an event the speaker swore would never happen, the crowd laughed, and the setting was a heated draft-era political debate.⁹

In Elonis v. United States (2015), a man posted violent rap-style lyrics on Facebook about his ex-wife, coworkers, and a kindergarten class, and argued the posts were artistic expression. The Supreme Court reversed his conviction because the trial court had used a purely objective “reasonable person” standard without asking about the speaker’s own mental state.¹⁰ That mental-state question is what Counterman later answered by requiring at least recklessness.

Everyday expressions people don’t take literally, like telling a friend “I’m going to kill you for showing up late,” are not true threats when the context makes the meaning obvious.¹ Courts weigh whether the statement was conditional on an unlikely event, whether the audience took it seriously, whether the speaker had any history of violence toward the target, and whether the words expressed a concrete intent to act.

Federal Penalties at a Glance

Federal sentencing for threat crimes varies with the target and the presence of extortion:

Threatening to kidnap or injure someone by mail or interstate communication: up to 5 years.⁷
The same threat by mail against a federal judge or law enforcement officer: up to 10 years.⁵
Threatening to kidnap or injure someone to extort money or property: up to 20 years.⁷
Threatening property damage or reputational harm to extort: up to 2 years.⁷
Bomb or arson threats: up to 10 years.³
Threats against the President: up to 5 years.⁶
Extortion under the Hobbs Act: up to 20 years.⁴

State penalties vary. Many states classify a basic criminal threat as a misdemeanor with up to a year in jail, while threats involving weapons, domestic violence, or repeated offenses can be charged as felonies with multi-year sentences. Convictions at either level can trigger restraining orders, probation, and lasting consequences for employment and firearm rights.

Reporting a Threat and Preserving Evidence

If you receive a threat, documenting it immediately is the most important step. For spoken threats, write down the exact words as soon as possible along with a physical description of the speaker. For phone threats, note the exact wording, save any caller ID, and record the call if you can. For texts, emails, or social media messages, do not delete anything. Print, screenshot, or photograph the message with the date, time, sender information, and subject line.¹¹

Report the threat to local law enforcement first. If the threat crossed state lines, involved the mail, or targeted a federal official, the FBI may also have jurisdiction. Any prosecution rises or falls on the quality of the evidence, so keeping the original communication in its most complete form gives investigators the best chance of building a case.¹¹ Victims who face ongoing threats can also petition for a civil protection order requiring the other party to stop all contact and stay away from their home and workplace.

1
Supreme Court of the United States. Supreme Court Opinion: Counterman v. Colorado
2
United States Courts. Facts and Case Summary – Counterman v. Colorado
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 844 – Penalties
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference With Commerce by Threats or Violence
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 876 – Mailing Threatening Communications
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 871 – Threats Against President and Successors to the Presidency
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 875 – Interstate Communications
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 877 – Mailing Threatening Communications From Foreign Country
9
Legal Information Institute. Robert Watts v. United States
10
United States Courts. Facts and Case Summary – Elonis v. U.S.
11
U.S. Department of Justice / Federal Bureau of Investigation. Threat and Intimidation Response Guide