False retweet lands actor in hot water

Actor James Woods wants a judge to dismiss a $3 million lawsuit a Chillicothe woman filed against him for retweeting a comment that she gave the “Heil Hitler” salute at a Trump rally last year.

Dispatch Reporter Earl Rinehart notes that the Chicago Tribune posted a photo of a woman giving the salute on March 11, 2016. A follower incorrectly retweeted that the “Trump Nazi” was Portia Boulger, according to the suit filed in federal court here last month.

Woods, who has a long film resume that includes “Straw Dogs” and “White House Down” and is a well-known conservative, retweeted the false item. He added “Socalled#Trump ‘Nazi’ is a #BernieSanders agitator/ operative?”

The next day the Tribune and The New York Times identified the saluting woman as a Yorkville, Illinois, resident.

Boulger, a member of the Ross County Democratic Party Executive Committee, said Woods kept his retweet up another 10 days, exposing her to hundreds of obscene and threatening messages on social media.

Woods responded that he questioned the accuracy of the original tweet. He deleted the tweet on March 22, 2016, and posted one saying that Boulger “was NOT the ‘Nazi salute lady.’”

He also took the opportunity to add this dig: “Though she supports @BernieSanders, I am happy to defend her from abuse. I only wish his supporters would do the same for other candidates.”

Facebook post gets woman in trouble

If you ever have the urge to criticize a confidential informant on social media, here’s a tip from Dispatch Reporter Earl Rinehart: Don’t go on about it and don’t include the person’s photo.

A grand jury indicted a woman Thursday on a charge of “retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant,” claiming she posted numerous messages in May on Facebook berating an informant in her brothers’ drug case as a “snitch” and included a photo of the informant’s face.

Relatives and friends of Fred and David McShan were removed from the courtroom during the brothers’ drug trial in March for illegally video recording witnesses’ testimony, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The brothers were convicted of running a drug-trafficking ring.

In May, a prosecutor complained that the messages by the McShans’ sister, Joy Edwards of Jefferson County, were “threatening.”

Many of the messages were laced with obscenities and racial epithets.

Edwards is accused of interfering with the “lawful employment or livelihood” of the informant. The man said he can’t return to his home in Steubenville, that his family is at risk and that he has had to look for a new home and employment.

Fred McShan faces up to 30 years in prison; David McShan about 6 years. If convicted, Edwards could be sentenced to 10 years.