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Teenager facing terrorism charges for something he posted on Facebook
- barabaraphil 13y agoIf the facts on the web site are correct, than this is really something that needs more attention. One hand you have people looking to hurt this country which must be stopped, but then on the other you have stories like this. It seems this would be a story that I think it would be good if it were picked up on by larger media to either help ley this boy go, or bring up the true facts of this case.
- rpledge 13y agoToo bad it just got flagged to death. HN seems to be getting worse for burying anything that anyone might disagree with lately EDIT: Seems to have come back from the dead... :)
- rhizome 13y ago"Anything that anyone might disagree with," are you kidding?
- Pinckney 13y agoThe title is written as if unlawful statements are somehow made legal when posted on Facebook. The site then goes on to make a big deal about that: "all for something he posted on Facebook". Of course statements made on Facebook can be criminal. Threats against another are not neutralized because they happen online. Neither is a criminal conspiracy. So the article blithely pretending that this alone should make us outraged is frankly insulting. The statements in question don't appear to be criminal, but the submitter should link to something that doesn't start out trying to convince us of this with meaningless tripe.
- mtgx 13y agoYou should check this out if you have a Facebook account. It shows you the crimes you're guilty of, all over the world, just for posting stuff on Facebook: http://www.trialbytimeline.org.nz http://www.trialbytimeline.org.nz
- kstenerud 13y agoI think it's broken. It's been repeatedly spinning through my contacts for 30 minutes so far, switching between 0 and 10 in line as it goes.
- DigitalSea 13y agoWow, this is disgusting. Is this kid really being held without bail because he posted rap lyrics on Facebook? I feel like we're not hearing the full story here, but either way given his age and the fact they supposedly found nothing to support the claims they're holding him on, this is atrocious and I hope this story comes to light, so it can play out fairly in the public eye under fair scrutiny.
- adventured 13y agoFrom what I initially read about it, he also posted a video to youtube verbalizing the rap lyrics. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press will be obliterated under the boot of the fake war on terror. You've got both sides of the political aisle working 24/7 on it.
- nitrogen 13y agoI feel like we're not hearing the full story here... This is precisely why accusations are so damaging, even if one is acquitted. People assume that there must be more they don't know, and the accused's reputation is forever tainted.
- hobs 13y agoThe comment section on the local newspaper article is comedy gold.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- westicle 13y agoIf those are actually the facts of this case, sounds to me like he just has a terrible lawyer. For what it's worth I'm not a lawyer in Massachusetts. However in most jurisdictions I'm familiar with it would NOT be a difficult or expensive task to get him before a court to test the basis for the charges against him. The facts are straightforward, there isn't copious amounts of evidence to work through. Simply interpretation of a statute which could be sorted in a morning's hearing.
- dmix 13y agoIt's not the court system post-arrest that is to be worried about. They usually have rationality in cases like this. Such as the young girl who was charged for using explosives at school when it was only a small experiment with a water bottle. It's the fact he was arrested by the state at all in the first place.
- riggins 13y agothere was a similar story with an ex-marine last year. http://www.nbc12.com/story/19396255/marine-brandon-raub-speaks-out-following-confinement http://www.nbc12.com/story/19396255/marine-brandon-raub-spea... Its certainly shocking to see people being arrested over facebook posts. No sure what to do. Maybe start a campaign to encourage people to post 'terrorist' messages in protest? What can they do with 10 million terrorist messages?
- dragonikola 13y agoArrest the poor ones, ugly ones, minorities, people they don't personally like, etc.
- jmadsen 13y agonot enough prison space
- dragonikola 13y agoThen arrest just enough to fill up the prisons. You think America could ever run short on prison space? Prisons are our fastest growing form of housing.
- jmadsen 13y agonot gonna sit and go back & forth, but prisons are growing because of current state levels of 115% capacity & federal levels of 136% ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rat... ) I'd say they are "all filled up"
- dragonikola 13y agoPrisons are overfilled because there is a will to overfill them. The fact of overfilled prisons supports my point--that the justice system is happy & eager to fill the prisons to the bursting point. Instead of letting prisoners go free or reducing the number of prosecutions, the response has been to build more prisons. This won't stop anytime soon and supports my point.
- mindcrime 13y agoCam's facebook and pointing to "disturbing" posts like "Fuck politics. Fuck Obama. Fuck the government!" What's disturbing about any of that?
- D9u 13y agoMore to the point, what's criminal about it?
- krapp 13y agoIf just talking smack about Obama and the government in general is illegal then there's not going to be enough floorspace in Cuba to hold all the 'terrorists.'
- dopamean 13y agoYeah and think of how many of them are at Fox News. Ted Nugent literally said on TV that if Obama won in November then he (Nugent) was either gonna end up dead or in jail. If that's not a specific threat against an individual then how can this kid's rap be?
- krapp 13y agoI would not be at all surprised if the Secret Service have their own guest house at Casa Del Nugent, as often as they probably have to stop by for a 'chat.' But what can you do, the right to wave guns around and hate the government is practically baked into the Constitution (to a point.) A lot of my facebook friends agree with him, and use Glenn Beck as a primary source for all their Obama news, and honestly believe the country would be a better place with fewer laws and more dakka and the White House burned to the ground. I'm Texan, so that kind of thing comes with the territory. But as long as you don't actually do anything you should be free to say what you like.
- Perceval 13y agoMan, if everyone who had posted "Fuck politics. Fuck Bush. Fuck the government!" were prosecuted as terrorists, there would be no one left on the internet.
- D9u 13y agoThis is on par with a cannabis activist being held without bail because a Federal Magistrate found the accused to be "a danger to the community." http://the-last-marijuana-trial.com/author/roger-christie/ http://the-last-marijuana-trial.com/author/roger-christie/
- meric 13y agoThe government should, in addition to this teenager, put Epik High, a korean hip-hop group, into jail as well. http://www.jpopasia.com/lyrics/10708/ http://www.jpopasia.com/lyrics/10708/ Take a look at these incinerating words, I find them very threatening: "my flow! I'm a mother fckin criminal! my flow! on your TV and radio! my flow! come and check out my video! here we go everybody say fck the president! my flow! I'm a mother fckin criminal! my flow! on your TV and radio! my flow! come and check out my video! everybody say fck the government!"
- D9u 13y agoKindly point out the criminal aspects of the incinerating words?
- qwertzlcoatl 13y agoHe confessed repeatedly to be engaged in motherfcking criminal activities.
- D9u 13y agoWhich "criminal activities" would they be, specifically?
- hamburglar 13y agoWe need to get Eric Clapton in jail for shooting that Sheriff pronto.
- justanother 13y agoI'm more concerned about the lady who gave Bon Jovi severe chest trauma, thereby giving love a bad name.
- hamburglar 13y agoThat was mere accusation. Clapton confessed.
- ahallock 13y agoSo, the kid's flow is weak and he used a metaphor, maybe in poor taste, but that does not constitute a tangible threat. Maybe he actually is trying to be like Eminem who made a controversial reference to Bush that got him a visit from the FBI. http://www.mariamagic.com/music-games-media/eminem-bush-fbi.html http://www.mariamagic.com/music-games-media/eminem-bush-fbi....
- mintplant 13y ago> "(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I’ma be famous" > The actual line is: > "(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I’ma be famous rapping" http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/05/teen_methuen_rapper_held_without_bail_for_facebook_bomb_threat http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/05/... > An accused teenage rapper pleaded not guilty today to making a bomb threat on Facebook he warned would eclipse the horror of the Boston Marathon tragedy and make him “famous.” That's absolutely disgusting. The media should be ashamed of themselves for twisting the words of a kid like that.
- l33tbro 13y agoWell, they say that it is China's century. Didn't realize this extended to us replicating their domestic media model and forwarding the State's interest of total civilian control. Silly me.
- alttab 13y agoDon't worry l33tbro, its a lot less "messy" when pesky civilians can't get in your way with their own thoughts, agendas, and behaviors.
- cinquemb 13y agoThe interesting thing is that he's hardly alone when it comes to this type of muse… Might as well arrest Ab Soul for his "Terrorist Threats"… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_71q5lVEjc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_71q5lVEjc And Ice Cube for his recent song "Everything's Corrupt"…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dGXUJ5iOd4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dGXUJ5iOd4
- aqme28 13y agoI had the exact opposite reaction to that. It shouldn't matter one bit what he said. Neither interpretation of his lyric should be grounds for any kind of criminal punishment.
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- mc-lovin 13y ago"Terroristic Threats" are one way that free speech is under attack. Another is harassment laws. Law student Anya Bargh was arrested for sending an email saying "Let’s celebrate diversity by having the next dean NOT be Jewish." If that isn't protected speech I don't know what is. http://www.volokh.com/2013/05/03/law-student-arrested-chiefly-for-anti-semitic-and-racist-e-mail-to-student-government-and-for-offensive-posts-about-professors/ http://www.volokh.com/2013/05/03/law-student-arrested-chiefl...
- rexreed 13y agoIn reading the above link, it's obvious that her arrest stems from more than just that one email, but rather a series of email messages and online comments that some had claimed were harassment. That being said, it most likely is still protected free speech, as odious as those messages and postings were. I think the case will be dismissed, but her future in law school is probably over.
- mc-lovin 13y agoYou are absolutely correct that her arrest relates to a number of actions on her part, apart from the email that the quote comes from. However, without having seen the arrest report or other documents, it seems from the news articles that the quote in my post is considered by the police to be in itself harassment. Also, to be arrested for protected speech is bad enough, even if the charges are dismissed. Imagine if every time you held up a banner you could get arrested for harassement, it took a court case to acquit you.
- aptwebapps 13y agoDid you actually read what you linked to? The entirety of the allegations go _way_ beyond that single email.
- mc-lovin 13y agoyes, see my reply above. This is potentially a serious free speech issue, please get all the facts before dismissing it. If the police say "We are arresting person X because of this statement, and they also did some other stuff", then this suggests that the statements are part of the charges. But as I said above, it's hard to know for certain without seeing the actual charges.
- btilly 13y agoThis sounds to me like nothing more than an abuse of power by a DA. Those are much more common than people realize. As an example, in a recent case that I'm familiar with in Oregon, a man that I personally know was unjustly charged with 4 criminal charges that the DA knew were unjustified. He fought. He won. He now has, in addition to a crushing legal bill, a bill for the time he spent locked up in prison on trumped up charges? Why did this happen? Various reasons. When bf unexpectedly comes home to find his gf having sex with the husband of the house that they're house surfing at, the upset bf can get the gf to make up a rape case. (The guy shouldn't have been having the affair, but it wasn't rape.) When said husband is a Native American in a rural area, the DA knows that given racism and the fact that the guy was doing something dislikable, there is a reasonable chance of winning no matter what the facts happen to be. But in my opinion the biggest single factor is that the DA in question is an investor in the private jail to which he sends people. When the DA can use the powers of the state to send people to prison, and PERSONALLY PROFITS from this, abuse of power is only to be expected. And even when the DA loses - as in this case - the prison still gets paid. And if the bill doesn't get paid, care to guess whether a hard line will be taken...? I have no idea how widespread this type of conflict of interest is. I suspect that it is much more widespread than most people think (because the people who run private jails are well aware that getting the DA on board generates profits). But as long as it mostly impacts poor people that nobody cares about, it won't be a political issue.
- softbuilder 13y agoHaven't heard about this story. Link?
- btilly 13y agoNo link. As far as I know, no reporter has ever cared about the story and so it is reported nowhere. I know about it because the guy was married to my half-sibling's half-sibling. Unsurprisingly, they are now getting divorced. My family is involved in various ways, including a custody battle. The whole thing is a clusterfuck that I want to keep my distance from, but can't help hearing about. I'll just say that if you run into a statistic like, "70% of natives on that reservation are alcoholics" - well there are REASONS why they are driven to drink. :-(
- protomyth 13y agoThe Supreme Court case to look up is Virginia v. Black (2003). It has the definition of a true threat as "those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals."
- fixxer 13y agoThis kid is 100% idiot and deserves some major ridicule, but he isn't a threat and doesn't appear to have done anything actually illegal. This DA is wasting time and money, which offends me far more. I wish terrorists actually did post their intent on Facebook.
- Intermernet 13y agoWhat qualifies him as "100%" idiot, deserving of "major ridicule"? Do you know him personally and just thought you'd insult him, or are you basing your derision off one article and a couple of posts online?
- fixxer 13y agoHere is his quote: "F* a boston bomb wait till u see the s* I do, I’m be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!" You're telling me this is intelligent? You think this is free speech? The punishment, in this case, should be community service with victims of the Boston bombing. I'm not saying this kid doesn't have potential, but putting that online shows a lack of sense and/or empathy. He can learn that while helping people who have lost limbs. Prison time is rediculous, I'll agree (as I did in my previous post)... still think he's an idiot, though, and this is not a free speech issue that I'm going to defend. We have bigger problems here in the States, Mike.
- Intermernet 13y agoThey're lyrics. Admittedly puerile and tasteless, but every lyricists from Shakespeare to Springsteen (and lots of others that don't alliterate as well) can be accused of stupid lyrics in at least some of their works. I don't like blanket value judgements of people's intelligence based on a ridiculously small sample group of their behaviours. It's sensationalist, reactionary and half of what I see wrong with society. EDIT: I'd also like to say that you, sir, are responsible for one of my favourite HN comments in the last few weeks (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5702566 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5702566). I beleive that made me giggle while drinking tea, and almost burnt my sinuses :-)
- edwinjm 13y ago"The land of the free" - Unfortunately that's more and more just a dream, in a world where more and more countries are more free than the USA.
- bachback 13y agoUS turning into lawless police state and even some people even on HN are more than okay with it. Very scary.
- DanBC 13y agoTrying to avoid political discussion and ask something about startups and law: When you run a site that allows users to post stuff do you have an obligation to hand over details when the law comes knocking? What do you do if this teenager posted stuff like this on your website under a pseudonym, and law enforcement came to you asking for his identifying information? Do you wait until they come back with correctly formed court documents signed by a judge? do you go further, and take it to court yourself? Do you risk jail time to protect anonymity of your users? I guess this is different based on what country you're in and what your product is.
- bachback 13y ago"I’m not in reality, So when u see me (expletive) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the white house, Don’t (expletive) cry or be worried because all YOU people (expletive) caused this (expletive)," Perhaps this guy is really smart and a political activist?
- rlpb 13y agohttp://valleypatriot.com/methuen-police-arrest-high-school-student-on-terrorism-charges/ http://valleypatriot.com/methuen-police-arrest-high-school-s... says: “We took this very seriously,” Chief Solomon said. “He posted a threat in the form of rap where he mentioned the White House, the Boston Marathon bombing, and said ‘everybody you will see what I am going to do, kill people.” The word "kill" does not appear at all in this rebuttal. Is the rebuttal being selective in what to rebut, too? Are the police misquoting him? What did he really say? Why does this rebuttal not cover this?