Judge refuses to toss charge over threat to Muslim candidate

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to throw out a case in which a North Carolina man is charged with anonymously threatening to lynch a Muslim-American man who is campaigning for a state Senate seat in Virginia.
U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. on Monday refused to dismiss Joseph Cecil Vandevere’s indictment on First Amendment free speech grounds.
Vandevere is charged with interstate communication of a threat to injure a person in connection with a tweet directed a