Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke will face a trial at the end of January that will decide whether his aggressive Facebook posts aimed at a fellow air passenger constituted a threat to that passenger.

A federal judge on Friday dismissed most of the civil rights lawsuit brought by Daniel Black against the ex-sheriff. But the judge also said a jury should decide whether Clarke’s Facebook posts about Black after the incident count as a threat or intimidation that amounts to a retaliation over Black’s decision to exercise his First Amendment rights.