7 ms·

There were open calls for murder of cops along with an image of an officer with slit throat. This is as blatant violence incitement online as it gets. It is aga

There were open calls for murder of cops along with an image of an officer with slit throat. This is as blatant violence incitement online as it gets. It is against the law and posters should be charged. Also, saying things like "all cops should die" and "we all should grab our pistols and start busting at 'em" are not criticisms of police.

hobs 10y ago
"The policing of online threats is hardly a new issue. The Supreme Court set a precedent last year when it ruled that prosecutors pursuing a charge of communicating threats need to prove both that reasonable people would view the statement as a threat and that the intent was to threaten. Elonis v. United States dealt with a man who had posted violent rap lyrics about his estranged wife; the court reversed his conviction." "All cops should die" is not a credible threat and should not be viewed as one, and though "you should all die" is not an actionable criticism it certainly implies the existential critique that the black people in America have for the police, eg that they kill black people for nothing and treat them as subhuman. Arresting people for e-threats is probably not a good use of police time considering the real problems they have, it's simply a use of intimidation and overreaction to a situation they feel like they can't control.
- cLeEOGPw 10y ago
  When you encourage violence against a certain group it is incitement, simple as that. All jews should die, all white people should die, all muslims should die, this is all incitement of violence, and it is punishable act of crime. Also, white people are killed at higher rates and police are more trigger happy to kill white people than blacks, so their problem is non-existent. It serves a sole purpose - racism against whites.
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Um, that's pretty much not the case statistically. Its a meme that refuses to die?
  - fucking_tragedy 10y ago
    It's funny how a real actual problem faced by minorities is minimized as far as to be called 'non-existent' only to be followed up by a problem no white person has actually encountered. Unless you count feeling frightened by watching videos on Youtube as racism against whites.
  - ridgeguy 10y ago
    Here's a publication [1] which indicates your belief that whites suffer higher rates of death by police action is incorrect. The probability of a black being killed by police is ~ 3.5x the probability for whites. Probably worth your time to read. [1] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141854 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....
    - cpr 10y ago
      On the contrary, this was just released: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evidence-shows-bias-in-police-use-of-force-but-not-in-shootings.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evid...
      - frabbit 10y ago
        What is interesting about that table is that it presents not raw counts or counts scaled to the proportions of people of color in our communities, but instead counts "per 10,000 stops". So, if one black guy gets stopped 30,000 times (because he "looked urban and suspicious") and is only shot in 5/30,000 times then he is obviously much better off than the 1 pinky-tan guy who is only stopped twice ever but gets shot to death in that 1/2 times).
      - ridgeguy 10y ago
        Thanks for the interesting link, I'll read Fryer's studies. One thing suggested by the last chart in that story is that use of force stats depends strongly on whether the data sets come from police sources or civilian sources. I guess that's not much of a surprise, but it's another confounding variable to partial out.
frabbit 10y ago
Would you mind giving me your name and address? I want to report you for spreading the mental image of a police officer with a slit throat. You are reproducing a forbidden idea. It is no different to posting links to child pornography and support for terrorism. At this time we all need to pull together and back the blue.
- cLeEOGPw 10y ago
  You should report yourself as you are spreading mental image of child pornography. If ideas aren't bad, why racism is bad, or sexism? Just because I say that I hate you because you are the race you are, I don't hurt you directly. Why is it not allowed then? It isn't real violence at all, I just call everyone to kill you and your family. I don't kill you myself of course, I'm nor criminal. But I make it very clear that I would be congratulating anyone who killed you, and I would make sure he is not punished for that. This is what you are advocating for.
  - waterphone 10y ago
    Racism and sexism is allowed. It's not illegal for a person to express a racist or sexist opinion and it should never be—it's just discouraged by most of society these days. There's a clearly defined legal line for where expressions of support for violence become credible threats or incitement of violence, and it sounds like some or all of these did not cross that line, which means the police acted emotionally and illegally to arrest them.
    - mucker 10y ago
      Oh really? So you are saying that if I said a sexist joke at work I could not be legally held accountable?
      - waterphone 10y ago
        That's correct. Your employer might give you a talking to or fire you, but they could not charge you with a crime.

hobs 10y ago

"The policing of online threats is hardly a new issue. The Supreme Court set a precedent last year when it ruled that prosecutors pursuing a charge of communicating threats need to prove both that reasonable people would view the statement as a threat and that the intent was to threaten. Elonis v. United States dealt with a man who had posted violent rap lyrics about his estranged wife; the court reversed his conviction." "All cops should die" is not a credible threat and should not be viewed as one, and though "you should all die" is not an actionable criticism it certainly implies the existential critique that the black people in America have for the police, eg that they kill black people for nothing and treat them as subhuman. Arresting people for e-threats is probably not a good use of police time considering the real problems they have, it's simply a use of intimidation and overreaction to a situation they feel like they can't control.

cLeEOGPw 10y ago
When you encourage violence against a certain group it is incitement, simple as that. All jews should die, all white people should die, all muslims should die, this is all incitement of violence, and it is punishable act of crime. Also, white people are killed at higher rates and police are more trigger happy to kill white people than blacks, so their problem is non-existent. It serves a sole purpose - racism against whites.
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Um, that's pretty much not the case statistically. Its a meme that refuses to die?
- fucking_tragedy 10y ago
  It's funny how a real actual problem faced by minorities is minimized as far as to be called 'non-existent' only to be followed up by a problem no white person has actually encountered. Unless you count feeling frightened by watching videos on Youtube as racism against whites.
- ridgeguy 10y ago
  Here's a publication [1] which indicates your belief that whites suffer higher rates of death by police action is incorrect. The probability of a black being killed by police is ~ 3.5x the probability for whites. Probably worth your time to read. [1] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141854 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....
  - cpr 10y ago
    On the contrary, this was just released: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evidence-shows-bias-in-police-use-of-force-but-not-in-shootings.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evid...
    - frabbit 10y ago
      What is interesting about that table is that it presents not raw counts or counts scaled to the proportions of people of color in our communities, but instead counts "per 10,000 stops". So, if one black guy gets stopped 30,000 times (because he "looked urban and suspicious") and is only shot in 5/30,000 times then he is obviously much better off than the 1 pinky-tan guy who is only stopped twice ever but gets shot to death in that 1/2 times).
    - ridgeguy 10y ago
      Thanks for the interesting link, I'll read Fryer's studies. One thing suggested by the last chart in that story is that use of force stats depends strongly on whether the data sets come from police sources or civilian sources. I guess that's not much of a surprise, but it's another confounding variable to partial out.

frabbit 10y ago

Would you mind giving me your name and address? I want to report you for spreading the mental image of a police officer with a slit throat. You are reproducing a forbidden idea. It is no different to posting links to child pornography and support for terrorism. At this time we all need to pull together and back the blue.

cLeEOGPw 10y ago
You should report yourself as you are spreading mental image of child pornography. If ideas aren't bad, why racism is bad, or sexism? Just because I say that I hate you because you are the race you are, I don't hurt you directly. Why is it not allowed then? It isn't real violence at all, I just call everyone to kill you and your family. I don't kill you myself of course, I'm nor criminal. But I make it very clear that I would be congratulating anyone who killed you, and I would make sure he is not punished for that. This is what you are advocating for.
- waterphone 10y ago
  Racism and sexism is allowed. It's not illegal for a person to express a racist or sexist opinion and it should never be—it's just discouraged by most of society these days. There's a clearly defined legal line for where expressions of support for violence become credible threats or incitement of violence, and it sounds like some or all of these did not cross that line, which means the police acted emotionally and illegally to arrest them.
  - mucker 10y ago
    Oh really? So you are saying that if I said a sexist joke at work I could not be legally held accountable?
    - waterphone 10y ago
      That's correct. Your employer might give you a talking to or fire you, but they could not charge you with a crime.