From today's Fourth Circuit opinion in U.S. v. Arthur by Fourth Circuit Judge Steven Agee, joined by District Judge Roderick Young (E.D. Va.), the facts (though defendant's main challenge relates to the facial coverage of the statute):
Arthur [through his company, Tackleberry Solutions, offered] … "training," with the goal of "help[ing] the average person to be able to defend themselves" against "a tyrannical government of our own or an invading tyrannical government." He published videos and sold manuals online with titles including "Fatal Funnels, Wartime Tactics, Repelling the Assault," and "Quick Reaction Force, Modern Day Minutemen, Improvised Explosives." …
The FBI began investigating Arthur following a fatal incident in June 2020 involving one of his customers, Joshua Blessed. While searching Blessed's home in Richmond, Virginia, the FBI found fourteen live pipe bombs that were identical to those described in Arthur's manuals, as well as six manuals that he wrote.
Shortly thereafter, the FBI had a confidential informant—"Buckshot"—contact Arthur for training…. Eventually, Arthur invited Buckshot to join him for in-person training, for which Buckshot would be charged a fee. Buckshot accepted his invitation and, upon his arrival, explained to Arthur that "[the] ATF's been to my house…. [T]hey're probably coming back…. [W]hen they do, I want to be ready." … Arthur spent the next three hours teaching him how to fortify his residence against the returning federal agents.
[Among other things, Arthur] suggested mounting cans of Tannerite {a commercially available explosive, commonly used to make exploding targets for marksmanship purposes} around the property that could be detonated with a rifle shot. In addition to this "perimeter defense," Arthur suggested that it "wouldn't be a bad idea" for Buckshot to "put[ ] some [improvised explosive devices (IEDs)] right up around the doors [of the house]." He noted that he kept such an IED on his front porch.
Arthur also suggested "a setup called the Spiderweb," which he described as "a freaking death box." The "Spiderweb" involved blocking most entrances to Buckshot's house and then placing remotely operated explosives near the remaining entrances, along with a "sentry gun" that could be remotely fired. Arthur even went so far as to offer to "help [Buckshot] design [and] build it," and later showed Buckshot how to use a lightbulb to make a detonator ….Buckshot paid Arthur for the training, and the two agreed to stay in contact.
The majority concluded that the speech banned by the statute "fall[s] largely within one of the 'well-defined and narrowly limited classes of [unprotected] speech': speech integral to criminal conduct," because it was tantamount to aiding and abetting crime (rather than being protected "abstract advocacy" of crime "contemplated in [cases such as] Brandenburg v. Ohio):
