Texas Teen Jailed for Joke

[macdoc]

There should be penalties for being so reactionary.

the irony, the irony ....

[Robert_S]

There should be penalties for being so reactionary.

the irony, the irony ....

Shaddup or we'll send the though police freedom squad after you.

[mistermack]

Gun ownership means nothing.

Gun ownership means that you have at home the means to carry out a terrorist attack.

Are you fucking shitting me? That's nuts. Try and be less paranoid.

"Terrorist attacks" are carried out by organized person(s) to make some sort of statement, not a lone crazy person who goes on a rampage. So, theater/school shooting = not terrorist attack. 9/11 and Boston bombing = terrorist attack.

If everyone has the means for a mass killing at home, then you have to take "jokes" more seriously.

No you don't. More paranoia.

Terrorism doesn't have to be political. It simply means violence, designed to have the effect of causing terror.
The school shootings are not personal, the attackers don't have anything personal, against their victims, therefore, they are clearly terrorist attacks. That's not paranoia, it's just simple reasoning. Try and be more reasoning.

Anyway, I said "the means", I didn't mention the motive at all.
If everyone has the means, then you have to take the threat more seriously. It's simple stuff.

[Mysturji]

Oh great! What next, rape jokes?

Could have been worse.
At least he didn't insult mohammad

[Mysturji]

There should be penalties for being so reactionary.

lol

[Mysturji]

There is also a very real potential for joking being a plausible deniability tool for serious threats, as well as a potential for an innocent and seemingly obvious joke to be taken seriously if it bears enough resemblance to real threats and harassment.

Yes it is real. As real as it ever has been in human history. It is not sufficient cause to curtail freespeech, nor even to bring charges against something, and much less to jail them.

No one is suggesting (as far as I can tell) curtailing anyone's free speech.
The reaction was completely ott, but the post was reported, and once it was reported, the police had a duty to investigate, just in case.
Having done a cursory investigation, and found nothing to indicate that it was anything more than a bad joke, they should have dropped it.
The kid might even have learned something about responsibility and thinking before shooting off at the mouth/keyboard.
Actions have consequences, even stupid ones. and rightly so.

[Audley Strange]

There is also a very real potential for joking being a plausible deniability tool for serious threats, as well as a potential for an innocent and seemingly obvious joke to be taken seriously if it bears enough resemblance to real threats and harassment.

Yes it is real. As real as it ever has been in human history. It is not sufficient cause to curtail freespeech, nor even to bring charges against something, and much less to jail them.

No one is suggesting (as far as I can tell) curtailing anyone's free speech.
The reaction was completely ott, but the post was reported, and once it was reported, the police had a duty to investigate, just in case.
Having done a cursory investigation, and found nothing to indicate that it was anything more than a bad joke, they should have dropped it.
The kid might even have learned something about responsibility and thinking before shooting off at the mouth/keyboard.
Actions have consequences, even stupid ones. and rightly so.

Exactly, this is why I suspect its more than just some d-bag talking shit on the net. I may be wrong.

[Collector1337]

Gun ownership means nothing.

Gun ownership means that you have at home the means to carry out a terrorist attack.

Are you fucking shitting me? That's nuts. Try and be less paranoid.

"Terrorist attacks" are carried out by organized person(s) to make some sort of statement, not a lone crazy person who goes on a rampage. So, theater/school shooting = not terrorist attack. 9/11 and Boston bombing = terrorist attack.

If everyone has the means for a mass killing at home, then you have to take "jokes" more seriously.

No you don't. More paranoia.

Terrorism doesn't have to be political. It simply means violence, designed to have the effect of causing terror.
The school shootings are not personal, the attackers don't have anything personal, against their victims, therefore, they are clearly terrorist attacks. That's not paranoia, it's just simple reasoning. Try and be more reasoning.

Anyway, I said "the means", I didn't mention the motive at all.
If everyone has the means, then you have to take the threat more seriously. It's simple stuff.

You're playing fast and loose with your definition of "terrorism." It's not "terrorism" when it's just some crazy person.

Try and be more "reasoning."


So, in your opinion, are the tens of millions of gun owners across America, all potential "terrorists?"

[Collector1337]

There should be penalties for being so reactionary.

the irony, the irony ....

So, can't differentiate between expressing opinion on an internet forum and actually taking an action like calling police on someone who should not be bothered, can you?

Don't see any difference there at all?

[Collector1337]

The kid might even have learned something about responsibility and thinking before shooting off at the mouth/keyboard.
Actions have consequences, even stupid ones. and rightly so.

If that's the case, than the majority of this forum should be arrested and have their home searched.

You know... "just in case."

[Jason]

There is also a very real potential for joking being a plausible deniability tool for serious threats, as well as a potential for an innocent and seemingly obvious joke to be taken seriously if it bears enough resemblance to real threats and harassment.

Yes it is real. As real as it ever has been in human history. It is not sufficient cause to curtail freespeech, nor even to bring charges against something, and much less to jail them.

No one is suggesting (as far as I can tell) curtailing anyone's free speech.
The reaction was completely ott, but the post was reported, and once it was reported, the police had a duty to investigate, just in case.
Having done a cursory investigation, and found nothing to indicate that it was anything more than a bad joke, they should have dropped it.
The kid might even have learned something about responsibility and thinking before shooting off at the mouth/keyboard.
Actions have consequences, even stupid ones. and rightly so.

They are curtailing it by jailing him I think. As I said earlier, an investigation would not have been unwarranted - so long as it was discrete, unobtrusive, and did not violate his rights. Whether you think he was shooting his mouth off stupidly or not, it is not up to the state to parent children (except children in state care..). Even if it was, this kind of proceeding is not the way to do it. He has a criminal record now. Because, as far as we know, he only wrote something flippantly sarcastic on the internet.

[Collector1337]

Exactly, this is why I suspect its more than just some d-bag talking shit on the net.

For talking shit during a video game? And you suspect it's more than that? Wow. Not too bright.

I may be wrong.

You are.

[Robert_S]

Exactly, this is why I suspect its more than just some d-bag talking shit on the net.

For talking shit during a video game? And you suspect it's more than that? Wow. Not too bright.

I may be wrong.

You are.

Actually, it was for taking shit on Facebook with one of his gamer friends.

[Collector1337]

Exactly, this is why I suspect its more than just some d-bag talking shit on the net.

For talking shit during a video game? And you suspect it's more than that? Wow. Not too bright.

I may be wrong.

You are.

Actually, it was for taking shit on Facebook with one of his gamer friends.

So. In other words, nothing changes. It's still just sarcasm.

[Robert_S]

Exactly, this is why I suspect its more than just some d-bag talking shit on the net.

For talking shit during a video game? And you suspect it's more than that? Wow. Not too bright.

I may be wrong.

You are.

Actually, it was for taking shit on Facebook with one of his gamer friends.

So. In other words, nothing changes. It's still just sarcasm.

Yes. It should be fairly obvious to any native English speaker and to most people who are even somewhat fluent in it.