A Californian man has been charged with threatening to kill employees of US newspaper The Boston Globe for its role leading a mass defence of press freedoms against attacks by President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors say Robert Chain, 68, called journalists "the enemy of the people" in a series of threatening phone calls that echoed the same words Trump has used to criticise unflattering news coverage through his campaign and years in office.
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Federal authorities charged Mr Chain on Thursday.
US attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling, a Trump appointee, said anyone, regardless of political affiliation, who put others in fear for their lives would be prosecuted.
"In a time of increasing political polarisation, and amid the increasing incidence of mass shootings, members of the public must police their own political rhetoric. Or we will," he said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Mr Chain, who lives in of Encino, California, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of making threatening communications to interstate commerce.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a US$250,000 (NZ$375,000) fine.
Earlier this month hundreds of newsrooms joined a Boston Globe-led campaign of editorials speaking out against Trump's attacks on "fake news" and the news media.
Reuters
