See something Say something snitch program.

[Erolian]

Fuck a boston bominb wait till u see the shit I do, I’ma be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!” D’Ambrosio had rapped

Clearly a terrorist about to commit a heinous crime, good thing they got him first!

Apparently you get arrested for implying you're going to kill beats etc lmfao wow. Even if he wasn't that clever clearly isn't a threat. What he said was in poor taste for sure but whoever decided to arrest him needs to be fired right now.

[aeir]

Indicating one is going to commit something greater or more attention catching than the Boston bombing and then immediately talking about the plethora of murder charges he is going to beat removes any sympathy I have for him. You do not talk about how you are going to commit terroristic or mass murderous acts even in jest. If you do so, society has a justifiable reason to put you away; because you might actually be serious.

I'd like to see how might will hold up in court.

[LurkerOnly]

Indicating one is going to commit something greater or more attention catching than the Boston bombing and then immediately talking about the plethora of murder charges he is going to beat removes any sympathy I have for him. You do not talk about how you are going to commit terroristic or mass murderous acts even in jest. If you do so, society has a justifiable reason to put you away; because you might actually be serious.

Okay, so why aren't the actors in a stage portrayal of one of Shakespeare's battle-centric plays being arrested for threats? Why aren't the people who do readings of Poe's "Tell-tale Heart" arrested, with their reading used as a confession? If I write a poem, in which the main character says "If ever was a man named Tom/I'll blow his house up with a bomb" and read it at Poetry Jam, I'm communicating a threat?

Here's a threat: If people keep throwing away other's freedoms because they fear for their own, we'll all end up thrown under the bus by somebody eventually. How long before red hair becomes threatening? How long before a school shooting done by a student in uniform happens, and now it's unlawful to wear that uniform? How long until an "Old Navy" serial killer surfaces, and all your shirts are illegal because people "feel threatened when they see the shirts used in those awful murders"?

Only by treating each member of society as if they are innocent unless it can be proven that they are guilty, can we make a society in which the innocent don't have to be afraid that they'll be physically harmed without just cause.

When a police officer or a court harms an innocent for a perceived threat instead of legitimate violence, that officer or court is commiting unwarranted violence against that innocent. A kid that's rapping about how he's getting more attention than the bombing may be in bad taste, but is _not_ a threat to person or property, nor is he communicating any specific threat.

If it's against the law to scare people by reminding them tastelessly about the boston marathon bombings, when are the news stations going to be arrested for their unnecessarily gruesome and fear-mongering clips and editorials every 5 minutes that week?

Isn't it, in fact, the news stations and cops like this guy that's saying "if you can't prove you don't want to kill everyone in town, then you're going to jail for attempted murder", isn't it in fact those entities that are creating the fear, and not the rapper? Had those authority figures not riled up the general population, wouldn't it have just been bad taste and not "A TARRORIST THRAAT"?

So, I suppose freedom of the press and freedom of speech protect the news stations, but not a rapper?

Funny old world.

[DEATHETERNAL]

A kid that's rapping about how he's getting more attention than the bombing may be in bad taste, but is _not_ a threat to person or property, nor is he communicating any specific threat.

When immediately followed by talk about getting out of murder charges, it may not be a threat but a admission of future plans. He will have his day in court and if he wasn't stupid enough to be making other threats online or something, then he will go free, society will be less at risk from an attack, and this moron will have learned a lesson about not making himself a target for legitimate suspicion.

[Sayl]

The article in the OP says the kid was arrested because his "threatening" message was in rap videos he made, however that omits that he'd posted these comments to his Facebook account -- which is specifically what other students saw and reported to the high school's administration, who in turn reported it to police.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...ok_bomb_threat
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...anger_built_up
http://www.eagletribune.com/latestne...rrorist-threat

“…Ya-ll want me to (expletive) kill somebody? So when you see me (expletive) go insane, and make the news…and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the White House, Don’t (expletive) cry ! (expletive) a Boston bomb, wait til you see the (expletive) I do !”

When something like this gets brought to the authorities, how are they supposed to know that these are only lyrics?

[GreatOak]

A farce and nothing more

A decent lawyer will eat this up.

[DEATHETERNAL]

The article in the OP says the kid was arrested because his "threatening" message was in rap videos he made, however that omits that he'd posted these comments to his Facebook account -- which is specifically what other students saw and reported to the high school's administration, who in turn reported it to police.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...ok_bomb_threat
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...anger_built_up
http://www.eagletribune.com/latestne...rrorist-threat

“…Ya-ll want me to (expletive) kill somebody? So when you see me (expletive) go insane, and make the news…and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the White House, Don’t (expletive) cry ! (expletive) a Boston bomb, wait til you see the (expletive) I do !”

When something like this gets brought to the authorities, how are they supposed to know that these are only lyrics?

Okay, if what he said in his song wasn't enough, that MOST DEFENITLY is enough to arrest and prosecute.

[N-7]

The article in the OP says the kid was arrested because his "threatening" message was in rap videos he made, however that omits that he'd posted these comments to his Facebook account -- which is specifically what other students saw and reported to the high school's administration, who in turn reported it to police.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...ok_bomb_threat
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...anger_built_up
http://www.eagletribune.com/latestne...rrorist-threat



When something like this gets brought to the authorities, how are they supposed to know that these are only lyrics?

Well I guess that counts as a threat and the police were within their rights to make the arrest.

---------- Post added 2013-05-06 at 05:18 AM ----------

Okay, if what he said in his song wasn't enough, that MOST DEFENITLY is enough to arrest and prosecute.

That is probably more than enough. After all he made a very explicit threat.

[Powerogue]

Tasteless, but nothing that should be considered illegal. We let the Westboro Baptist Church say whatever they want, after all. I prefer things that way.

I'm still curious what the lyrics to that song he was rapping were, if anyone can get a hold of those.

edit: okay looking through previous posts I see a snippet of “…Ya-ll want me to (expletive) kill somebody? So when you see me (expletive) go insane, and make the news…and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the White House, Don’t (expletive) cry ! (expletive) a Boston bomb, wait til you see the (expletive) I do !”

Which does indeed sound like a threat. I still think the police are overreacting to this kid. We need to tread this ground carefully. The line between this and banning any criticism towards the government is thinner than it looks.

[LurkerOnly]

When immediately followed by talk about getting out of murder charges, it may not be a threat but a admission of future plans. He will have his day in court and if he wasn't stupid enough to be making other threats online or something, then he will go free, society will be less at risk from an attack, and this moron will have learned a lesson about not making himself a target for legitimate suspicion.

If he goes free, then he was never a threat.

If he was never a threat, then society isn't less at risk because he was tried.

If he was tried unfairly, society is at greater risk of authoritative oppression than if he wasn't tried unfairly.

These three tenets are the reason why a lot of cases get thrown out by judges, or why DA's won't even press charges without sufficient evidence or cause. This particular case, my opinion charges shouldn't be pressed, because song lyrics aren't indicative of action. Al Queda didn't rap about 9/11, for example. Lee Harvey Oswald didn't write a country song about shooting JFK, either. Having written music (however tasteless) hasn't ever been linked conclusively to any intent of violence in a court of law, so...... Singing the US national anthem doesn't indicate that you intend to fire cannons at a fortress, for example. Singing (or having written) the song "Fly Me To The Moon" does not signify an intent to see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.

It's a flawed argument from the start. The kid made a comment in bad taste, somewhat like walking into a Japanese bar and saying "So how are you guys liking those nukes?" or into a restaurant in Germany with a large yellow Star of David patch on your jacket. Harmless, tasteless, and probably facetious. The correct level of response is "Dude. Too soon.", not "Get arrested, 1 million dollars bail (8 times higher than one recent murder case, twice as high as another recent murder case, by the way), maybe go to jail, you TERRORIST SCUM."

I'm sorry if you can't see the truth in that, I really am.