UCMJ Article 115: Communicating Threats
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Article 115 makes three kinds of threat a crime: a wrongful threat to injure another’s person, property, or reputation; a wrongful threat to cause injury with an explosive, weapon of mass destruction, biological or chemical agent, or hazardous material; and a malicious false threat of that second kind. An ordinary threat carries up to a dishonorable discharge and 3 years. A threat or false threat involving explosives and similar means carries up to 10 years.
Three offenses in § 915
Under 10 U.S.C. § 915:
- (a) Threats generally. A person who “wrongfully communicates a threat to injure the person, property, or reputation of another.”
- (b) Threat to use explosive, etc. A person who wrongfully communicates a threat to injure the person or property of another by use of an explosive, a weapon of mass destruction, a biological or chemical agent, substance, or weapon, or a hazardous material.
- (c) False threat concerning use of explosive, etc. A person who “maliciously communicates a false threat” of that kind. A “false threat” is “a threat that, at the time the threat is communicated, is known to be false by the person communicating the threat.”
A reasonable listener, not the speaker’s plan
The Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 53.c(1), defines a threat as “an expressed present determination or intent to kill, injure, or intimidate a person or to damage or destroy certain property presently or in the future.” The test is objective: the communication must be one “that a reasonable person would understand” as expressing that determination or intent.
“Proof that the accused actually intended to kill, injure, intimidate, damage or destroy is not required.” A person who never meant to carry out the threat can still be guilty.
For the general offense, the government must also prove that the communication “was made known to that person or to a third person” (¶ 53.b(1)(b)). A threat about someone, told to a third party, can qualify.
What makes a threat wrongful
Wrongfulness “relates to the accused’s subjective intent” (¶ 53.c(2)). The mental state is satisfied if the accused sent the communication “for the purpose of issuing a threat or with knowledge that the communication will be viewed as a threat.”
Two kinds of statement fall outside the offense:
- a statement made in circumstances showing it was “in jest or for an innocent or legitimate purpose that contradicts the expressed intent to commit the act”; and
- “the mere statement of intent to commit an unlawful act not involving a threat.”
Explosives, WMDs, and hoaxes
The Manual defines each listed means in ¶ 53.c(3)-(7): explosives include gunpowder, blasting materials, detonators, bombs, grenades, missiles, and incendiary devices; a weapon of mass destruction is a device intended or able to cause death or serious bodily injury to a significant number of people through toxic chemicals, a disease organism, or radiation; hazardous material includes substances designated as hazardous by the Secretary of Transportation.
For a false threat, the government must prove the information was false, that the accused knew it was false, and that the communication was malicious (¶ 53.b(3)). It is malicious “if the accused believed that the information would probably interfere with the peaceful use of the building, vehicle, aircraft, or other property concerned, or would cause fear or concern to one or more persons” (¶ 53.c(8)). For example, a false bomb threat made in the belief that it would probably interrupt the use of a building fits that definition, even though no bomb exists.
3 years, or 10 when explosives are involved
From ¶ 53.d:
| Offense | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Threats and false threats generally | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 3 years |
| Threats and false threats concerning use of explosives, etc. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 10 years |
Where a threat becomes another offense
Communicating threats “with the intention thereby to obtain anything of value or any acquittance, advantage, or immunity” is extortion under Article 127. Words that a reasonable person would expect to start a fight, said in the other person’s presence, can be provoking speech under Article 117. An unlawful attempt or offer, with force or violence, to do bodily harm is assault under Article 128.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 915, Article 115, Communicating threats (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. § 927, Article 127, Extortion (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. § 928, Article 128, Assault (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 53
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.