• Roger Stone has apologized for sharing a photo of a judge with a crosshairs in the background.
  • Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, on Monday shared the image of US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over Stone’s case, and called her an “Obama appointed Judge.”
  • He later apologized for the image and said he did not mean to threaten the judge, also denying that it depicted a crosshairs.
  • He said the photo was a “random photo taken from the internet” that was “widely misinterpreted.”

Roger Stone has apologized for an Instagram post that showed the federal judge presiding over his case next to a crosshairs, saying that he did not mean to threaten her and that it was a “random photo taken from the internet.”

Stone and his lawyers filed a notice Monday night saying “the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted.”

Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, was indicted by the special counsel Robert Mueller’s office in January.

He was charged with one count of obstruction of justice, five counts of making false statements to the FBI and in congressional investigators, and one count of witness tampering linked to his relationship with WikiLeaks.

Read more: Meet Roger Stone: One of Donald Trump's most loyal supporters who was indicted by the Mueller investigation

On Monday, he posted an image on his Instagram page of US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson next to a crosshairs. The post, which has been deleted, can be seen here:

In the post, he called her an "Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges against Hilary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime."

Stone apologized on Monday night. "Please inform the Court that the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted," a statement signed by Stone said. "I had no intention of disrespecting the court and humbly apologize to the court for this transgression."

He posted on his Instagram later on Monday, saying that the picture had been "misinterpreted" and that the idea he intended to threaten Jackson was "categorically false."

http://instagr.am/p/BuCZMKlA3uj

He said that the photo was a "random photo taken from the internet."

Stone also said that there was a "fake news tsunami" over the image and that he removed the post because it was "widely misinterpreted."

He said it showed "the logo of the organization that created the image NOT CROSSHAIRS." He said the logo came from a group called "corruption central."

Politico noted that the image was previously posted on a conspiracy website showing photos of judges and politicians with crosshairs and the words "corruption central" alongside them. Law and Crime also said the image appeared on many pro-Russia websites.

Jackson placed a partial gag order on Stone and his lawyers in January, restricting Stone from talking about the case on the courthouse steps and barring his lawyers from discussing the case in the media to prevent influencing potential jurors.