An Illinois man, Aaron P. Brown, and his lawyer defended that a social media post about shooting Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce at country star Morgan Wallen’s concert in 2024 at Arrowhead Stadium was never meant to be taken seriously. They called it satirical and part of typical sports-rivalry trash talk. And based on that, they filed a motion last month to have the case dismissed.

“While Mr. Mahomes and Mr. Kelce were present at the concert, their presence was not known to the public, nor is there any evidence suggesting that Defendant [Brown] had any knowledge of their presence,” the motion read, as reported by Fox. “Additionally, it is important to note that the social media account at issue had only ninety-two followers.”

Prosecutors, however, see it differently. They argue that the post was reckless and alarming enough to justify a felony trial. Here’s why: After Brown threatened to harm both the Chiefs’ stars during Wallen’s concert, the show was delayed as the cops searched for Brown. After he was found, prosecutors hit Brown with a felony charge for second-degree making a terroristic threat.

While Brown and his representatives have put forth that it wasn’t a real threat, the First Amendment does not bar prosecutors from moving forward with the case.

In their response to Brown’s representatives, prosecutors mentioned: “Even assuming Defendant’s communication was meant to serve as just ‘satire’ or a ‘joke’ in the context of some unspoken ‘sports rivalry,’ the State here is not laughing.

“They and other officers of KCPD took the post so seriously that the entire concert was put on hold for the better part of an hour while law enforcement worked to identify and locate (Brown) within the crowd in order to take him into custody for further investigation.”

In fact, almost immediately after Brown filed to have the case dismissed, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson responded rather strongly. In her filings to the court, she argued that Brown’s post was not harmless chatter. She pleaded that the motion be dismissed.

Prosecutors mentioned that Brown “knowingly caused a false belief or fear that a condition involving danger to life existed by posting to X that he was going to shoot Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce at the Morgan Wallen concert, and defendant did so with reckless disregard of the risk of causing evacuation of any portion of Arrowhead Stadium, a place of assembly.”

What post got Aaron P. Brown into legal trouble?

The case goes back to 2024, when Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chiefs DT Chris Jones had been named to the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list and were seen walking the country singer through the stadium corridors. At that time, Brown posted from an X account named ‘Gooey Bag’:

“Mr. Wallen at Arrowhead with the wife. If he brings out Mahomes or Kelce, I’ll take the (freakin) shot. (Expletive) em. Also (expletive) you (expletive) @taylorswift13.”

‘Gooey Bag’ was an old nickname given by a fraternity brother, and Brown had maintained that account for almost two years at that point.

Reports from 2024 mention that Brown posted the tweet while driving up from Lake of the Ozarks. As per his girlfriend, she warned him against posting it, but Brown didn’t think anyone would read it. However, detectives and intelligence analysts working on the concert had been keeping an eye on social media for potential threats, and Brown’s post was flagged as concerning.

Brown’s girlfriend told investigators that, while at the concert, she sensed the situation had escalated when he began receiving calls from an unknown number. Soon after, she said she started getting direct messages from that same number. However, she maintained that Brown did not intend to hurt anyone with the post.

According to the affidavit, Brown admitted to investigators that the post was a ‘stupid’. He also told authorities he had never previously made threats on social media.

The X account in question was taken down, and Brown was released after a $15,000 bond.

Now that Brown’s motion has been filed, it is up to the court whether or not the case will proceed.