Man Facing Trial in US After Threats to Kill CNN Staff for 'Fake News' - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A man from the US state of Michigan is facing trial after he threatened to murder the CNN broadcaster's staff in Atlanta headquarters for spreading what he said were "fake news," CNN reported on Tuesday, citing a federal affidavit.

Brandon Griesemer was charged on Friday in the US District Court and was released on a $10,000 bail after an initial hearing. If convicted, Griesemer could face up to five years of imprisonment.

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Griesemer made a total of 22 calls to the broadcaster on January 9-10, threatening to kill the staff and making racist remarks, the broadcaster said. In the first call the man reportedly told the operator "Fake news. I'm coming to gun you all down."

The threats came almost a week after US President Donald Trump unveiled a list of media outlets that have won the so-called "fake news" awards for their erroneous coverage of his presidency where CNN won bronze with a story alleging that Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks. Trump has many times accused leading US media of spreading fake news targeting him during the election campaign and after he became the 45th US president.