ST. CHARLES, Mo. – St. Charles County prosecutor Joe McCulloch said it was in 2017 when Matthew McMenamy last had contact with his victim, a St. Charles County police officer. 

In a probable cause statement from the Wentzville Police, in 2023, he is accused of posting fliers on car windshields and at a Wentzville business owned by the officer’s wife. 

The fliers allegedly had the officer’s picture and raised concerns of racism, but investigators working on the case found no evidence of racism. 

“For some reason out of the blue five years later, he begins harassing him, making threats against him, making threats against his family,” McCulloch said. 

Investigators say they also found a post online from McMenamy, threatening to take “all of the officer’s things.” 

Mcmenamy wrote FOX 2 a letter from jail admitting to making fliers but claiming everything on them was “protected by the first amendment.” 

McMenamy is charged with harassment and stalking. 

FOX 2 asked attorney Joel Schwartz, who is not working the case, if the first amendment a viable defense in this situation. 

“To commit harassment, you’ve had to commit something to another individual without good cause to cause emotional distress,” Schwartz, with Rosenblum, Schwartz, Fry and Johnson law firm, said. 

McCulloch says the threats in this case reach that point. 

“You’ve posted online where they live at. You know where they work at. You know where they’re employed so you can follow through with those threats, then you’re obviously causing an emotional stress,” he said. 

In 2024, the court deemed McMenamy mentally unfit to stand trial. 

However, a new evaluation now considers him competent, so the case is progressing again. McMenamy is due back in court in May.