Bridgeport jury convicts man of threatening police officer

A Bridgeport Superior Court jury found Joseph “Joe Grits” Thompson guilty May 29, 2026, of inciting injury to persons and second-degree threatening in a case involving social-media posts directed at a Bridgeport police officer.

The Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice announced the verdict June 2. The case was handled in Bridgeport Superior Court and involved one officer with the Bridgeport Police Department.

Posts followed 2025 shooting

According to the Division of Criminal Justice, the posts followed a March 31, 2025, officer-involved shooting in Bridgeport. The prosecution centered on posts that targeted the officer, rather than on the underlying shooting itself.

The posts depicted the officer with a tombstone and called for someone to die with a badge on, according to the case description provided by the state. A jury later considered the allegations and returned guilty verdicts on the two charges.

The verdict establishes a conviction on the counts of inciting injury to persons and second-degree threatening. It does not itself set a prison term; sentencing is a separate stage of the criminal case.

Potential penalty and scheduled proceeding

Thompson faced a maximum potential prison term of 10 years and 364 days, according to the Division of Criminal Justice. That figure was the maximum potential exposure cited by the agency, not a sentence imposed by the jury.

The court scheduled sentencing for July 27, 2026, in Bridgeport Superior Court. The approved source packet does not provide a post-sentencing disposition, so it does not establish whether the hearing occurred as scheduled, what sentence may have been imposed, or whether an appeal was filed.

The case concerns online statements directed at a local police officer after an officer-involved shooting. The conviction followed court proceedings and a jury verdict; the available official announcement does not characterize the posts as a proven plan to attack the officer.

What remains unresolved in the available record

Because the scheduled sentencing date has passed, the final outcome should be confirmed through the current court docket before reporting a sentence or describing the case as fully resolved. The available state announcement identifies the May verdict, the two convictions and the previously scheduled sentencing date.