After Seventh Circuit Judges Frank Easterbrook, William Bauer, and Richard Posner ruled in National Rifle Association of America v. Chicago, 567 F.3d 856 (7th Cir. 2009), rev'd sub nom. McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), that the Second Amendment did not apply to the states, Harold Turner published a blog post declaring that the three judges deserved to die.

Turner wrote that the blood of the judges would "replenish the tree of liberty," that the judges "didn't get the hint" sent by a gunman who had murdered the family of another federal judge in Chicago, that they had not "faced REAL free men willing to walk up to them and kill them for their defiance and disobedience," and that their ruling was "so sleazy and cunning as to deserve the ultimate response." Turner also posted photographs, work addresses, and room numbers for each of the judges, along with a map indicating the location of the courthouse in which they worked, and a photograph of the building modified to point out "Anti-truck bomb barriers."

As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit later recounted, when then-Chief Judge Easterbrook learned of Turner's post, his immediate reaction was "that somebody was threatening to kill me." The U.S. Marshals Service was notified of Turner's statements, and he was indicted for "threaten[ing] to assault and murder three United States judges" in violation of 18 U.S.C. §115(a)(1)(B).