in may 2015, charges against freeman for "obstruction" and "disrupting a public gathering" were dismissed by hall county state court judge larry baldwin, and the state replaced these with a charge of "disorderly conduct," with the state alleging that holding up a middle finger and shouting a political opinion in public represented a credible threat to life, limb, and health. freeman was tried and convicted by a jury on january 11–12, 2016.