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The point is that there are implications to statements that go beyond their basic dictionary definition meaning. The fact that someone is choosing to explicitly say that carries weight, and informs the interpretation. You can make reasonable inferences about the character and beliefs of the person who chooses to go around saying that to aquaintences the day after a shocking murder.
Imagine a white man who, the day after the MLK assassination, went around loudly saying to all the neightbors "Well, sometimes things happen to people who won't stop running their mouths." Do you think that would be just some irrelevant banality that no black neighbors should use to further their understanding of the man in question?
I am not arguing that "celebrating" a man's death (though I would argue that a portion of those accused weren't celebrating, some were apathetic and some were objecting to his being made a martyr) is good. I am arguing that the word "threat" has implications that don't fit. A threat is a claim or insinuation that you are willing to perform a violent action, and looking past the "punch Nazi" larping they aren't. As per my analogy, it's like finding money on the street. You didn't cause someone to lose their money so you have nothing to feel guilty over, but you are happy that something happened that benefited you. That first part, that "I didn't cause it," is how they justify it to themselves. "Shit happens, but this time it happened to a bad person so it works out I guess."
You're just objectively wrong. The person I said that to flatly said it felt threatening before they realized I was making a point.
Again, would you say that black people in the Jim Crow south were being unfair and irrational for feeling "threatened" by speech that fell short of being a specific, immediate, actionable threat from a specific person who was about to actually do it? Please be specific. Ignoring the question again will be considered an adverse answer.
First of all, that's not what "objectively" means because this was a subjective question.
Insinuations of violence are very wording, context, and tone specific, which tends to make for bad analogies and also bad over text. If someone said those exact words while making direct eye contact and aggressive body language, sure. Someone says those exact words in response to, "How do you feel about MLK being shot?" Throw in a shrug and an eye roll and it's being dismissive. Said by a man who looks like if a woman punched him he'd run for his life, it looks the opposite of threatening.
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