A judge has thrown out charges against Michael McMahon, a Plymouth man accused of posting online threats against President Donald Trump.
Plymouth District Court Judge Benjamin Barnes this week allowed a motion to dismiss filed by McMahon’s lawyer, Lauren Baker.
McMahon, 68, allegedly posted multiple menacing comments directed toward Trump on his Facebook page between 2023 and 2025.
“I just need one clear shot at djt,” one read. In another, he wrote, “Wanna save millions of lives? Shoot a future dictator. 1930S GERMANY. Remember that?”
But his lawyer argued the police did not have probable cause to charge him because his intent was unclear.
“No specific individual is identified in these alleged posts, other than the initials djt, in lower case letters,” Baker wrote. “The defendant submits that none of these posts are a ‘true threat’ and are therefore protected” under the First Amendment.
“The alleged threat is a combination of social media posts on diverse dates and nothing more that hyperbole and free speech which in fact the current presidential administration normalizes on a daily basis,” the motion to dismiss said.
A Secret Service agent who had identified McMahon met with Plymouth police detective Teresa Best in late January 2025 and the two visited McMahon at his Coachman Terrace home, according to a police report. They said he was uncooperative.
McMahon appeared at his door, agitated, beer can in hand, police said. After the detective and the agent introduced themselves, he asked if they had a warrant.
When they said they did not, he slammed the door shut, the report said.
Secret Service agent Daniel Crehan knocked again, the police report said. This time a neighbor came outside. The neighbor said he didn’t believe McMahon owned guns.
The agent asked the neighbor to try to persuade McMahon to speak with them, but he didn’t respond.
But McMahon’s legal troubles are not over. He still faces charges in two other cases — both involving disputes with neighbors.
Last July 7, he was charged with open and gross lewdness and resisting arrest after his neighbors said McMahon had “mooned” them.
The dispute stemmed from an argument over a camera on the neighbor’s property.
The tensions allegedly escalated after neighbors contacted police.
They told police he “repeatedly” rode his bicycle by their home, shouting obscenities. He allegedly said: “Calling the cops was the biggest mistake you made.”
The neighbor said McMahon’s behavior “placed her in fear for her safety,” according to police.
He is charged with intimidating a witness.
Both cases are scheduled for a probable disposition hearing on February 27.
Open and gross lewdness, and witness intimidation, are felonies. If convicted he could face a state prison sentence.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.