What’s evidence of a threating motive? VA v Black (2003): Is Cross-Burning a Prima Facie Threat?

The Supreme Court has recognized a true threat exception to constitutionally protected speech. In the Virginia v. Black case, the court declared that burning a cross with the intent to intimidate someone can be prohibited because it constitutes a true threat. However, the court held the statute unconstitutional because it presumed that anyone burning a cross intended to intimidate, without considering other possible motivations. This case raised the question of whether proving a speaker's intent to threaten someone is necessary to prohibit something as a true threat, or if showing that the speech was objectively threatening is enough. The Countermen case aims to address this question.