"His defense lawyer, Gabrielle DiBella, chose not to argue for his release, shutting down a hearing on the matter."

Bing Liu received death threats in telephone calls, some from as far away as California, Liu said.

"It's very clear that America now is more partisan than ever before. For me at least there's been times when it's been tough. Whether it be tense dinner arguments with relatives over competing social media postings, or political division in general. Partisanship is the disease and kindness is the cure."

"This is Patrick Liu."