Roger Stone apologized to a judge for posting an Instagram photo of her face next to a crosshairs

• Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone apologized for sharing a photo of a judge with a crosshairs in the background.
• Stone shared the image of US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over his case, and called her an "Obama-appointed judge" on Monday.
• He later apologized for the image and said that he did not mean to threaten the judge, denying that it depicted a crosshairs.
• He said that the photo was a "random photo taken from the internet" that was "widely misinterpreted."

Roger Stone apologized for an Instagram post that showed the federal judge over his case next to a crosshairs, claiming that he did not mean to threaten her and that it was a "random photo taken from the internet."

Stone and his lawyers filed a notice Monday night, saying that "the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted."

Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, was indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office in January.

He was charged with one count of obstruction of justice, five counts of making false statements to the FBI and in congressional investigators, and one count of witness tampering linked to his relationship with WikiLeaks.

Read more: Meet Roger Stone: One of Donald Trump's most loyal supporters who was indicted by the Mueller probe

On Monday, he posted an image of US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson next to a crosshairs on his Instagram page. The post, which has now been deleted, can be seen here:

In the post, he called her an "Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges against Hilary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime."

Stone apologized on Monday night. A statement signed by Stone said: "Please inform the Court that the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted.

"I had no intention of disrespecting the court and humbly apologize to the court for this transgression." 

He posted on his Instagram later on Monday, saying that  the picture had been "misinterpreted" and the idea that he intended to threaten Jackson was "categorically false.

He said that the photo was a "random photo taken from the internet."

Stone also said there was a "fake news tsunami" over the image and that he removed the post because it was "widely misinterpreted."

He said that it showed "the logo of the organization that created the image NOT CROSSHAIRS." He said the logo came from a group called "corruption central." 

Politico noted reported that the image was previously posted on a conspiracy website that shows photos of judges and politicians with crosshairs and the words "corruption central" alongside them. Law and Crime also said that the image appears on many pro-Russia websites.

Jackson placed a partial gag order on Stone and his lawyers in January, restricting Stone from talking about the case on the courthouse steps and barring his lawyers from discussing the case in the media to prevent influencing potential jurors.