Oregon man detained after Internet posting

Oregon man detained after Internet posting

www.upi.com

OREGON CITY, Ore., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- An Oregon community college student was receiving a psychological evaluation after the school told authorities he posted musings online about "a killing spree."

(visit the link for the full news article)



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Where is the justification in this? How can they say this guy may end up going on a shooting spree? This is clearly a story of our rights being stripped right out from under us. Unfortunately this man and his family had to find out the hard way. This guy must be considered a domestic terrorist according to spy laws. Apparently these are the things that will end up sending people to FEMA camps when the time comes.
I wonder if this will start a roundup of people posting thoughts online. If that is the case, we here on ATS better keep an eye out.

www.upi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by palehorse23


Its a double edged sword. Lets say for argument that the school that your son or daughter goes too knew that this hypothetical student had been making "threats" about shooting up the school? Then he goes and does it, Ill bet you would hold the school responable.

IMHO its no different than shouting 'Fire" in a crowded movie theatre. You HAVE never had the right to make threats and its resonable to have authorites take these matters seriously even if you do not consider recent events

This kinda sounds like Pre-crime in Minority Report but like was posted above if you are stupid enough to post some ridiculous joke about a killing spree then you really need to spend a little time some type of authority figure

First I would say this should have been reported to the parents and if they didn't beat him/her satisfactorily then call in the police but parents first then the law
otherwise the slippery slope argument comes into play in that we are creating criminals by putting otherwise ornery children in with already successful and stated criminals... I know it can be a reach but I bet it is not as much of a stretch as you might think


Respectfully
GEO

reply to post by FredT


I guess it depends on how you define threat. Did what this guy "type" actually constitute a threat? Maybe when he said it is getting harder to not just start shooting, but to be honest, there are times when I feel the same way. Knowing myself, and the fact that I do not own a gun, I would never act on an impulse like that, but the way this world is going, people are getting fed up and losing control. Are they to blame or is there something bigger at fault?
Look at the recent incident at the Missouri town board meeting. That guy was harassed over and over again. By no means do I condone these people's actions, but everyone has a breaking point where they cannot take it anymore. It is difficult when you try and try to be heard and no one seems to listen. It happens on this site quite a bit. You try and try to make your point, but always to no avail.
I just feel that we cannot assume that what people say actually implies what they are going to do. If we evaluated everyone who had a thought about killing someone, this world would certainly contain a lot of people in padded rooms.

I would like to see what else he wrote. What was quoted in the article was very tame, and could be interpeted as sarcastic. It does seem that our rights are slipping faster than ever.

I would like to see what else he wrote. What was quoted in the article was very tame, and could be interpeted as sarcastic. It does seem that our rights are slipping faster than ever.

Well we all know that this man will never be able to exercise his second amendment after this, just another way for government to ensure that citizens will remine weaponless for making coments.

[edit on 16-2-2008 by marg6043]

reply to post by marg6043


Most definitely. This is going to be raising a flag within his FBI profile. He might as well forget about that criminal justice degree.

Originally posted by marg6043
Well we all know that this man will never be able to exercise his second amendment after this, just another way for government to ensure that citizens will remine weaponless for making coments.

Marg, if this guy shows this lack of judgement in a chat room is this the type of person you want owning a firearm at any rate?

Again based on that would it be acceptable to yell fire in a theatre?

When someone makes threats, joke or not, you take them at face value IMHO and you need to investigate.

not sure what to think. it is a crime to make threats albeit by mouth to face, phone, computer.altho sarcasm is lost on a computer. but also if i get drunk in a bar and jokingly say i am going to killl the president i can be hauled away and charged. uhoh shouldn't have said that now the ss is going to come for me!!! lol but as was said yelling fire in a movie theater is a very serious crime. i would have to read exactly all of what he said and implied.

BTW the guy is getting a AA in Criminal Justice :shk: He should have known better

Fred our nation has become a fascist nation and citizens need to keep quiet and compliant, jokes will now are no tolerated by any circumstances, because this will render you in the crazy ward, tagged tested and strip of your constitutional rights while be in the list of the of the FBI for life.

Actually this very sad indeed.

reply to post by FredT


Again, who is the guy that decides what is a threat and what isn't. Every Gomer Pile sheriff is going to start going around thinking everything you said is going to be put into action. Everyone has said something that they shouldn't have. We have all put our foots in our mouth at one time or another. Does that mean we need to go see a shrink? I am just afraid of the level this sort of thing is going to reach. Where are the lines drawn between social mishaps and serious intent to cause harm? Who is going to draw those lines. Such a difficult issue with so many variable to deal with.

reply to post by marg6043


I agree. Look at our soldiers coming home from Iraq. They are murdering and committing suicide left and right. Who is to blame for that? IMO, it is the administration that sent them to fight an unnecessary war. Are they going to be held responsible for causing these soldiers mental problems? I highly doubt it.
Maybe if the NIU gunman wasn't so drugged up and if someone had actually listened to him, this tragic incident wouldn't have happened.

Marg, this has little to do with being able to make jokes etc. Threats are not covered by the first amendment IMHO not now, not in the past.

As a parent myself, if some kid is making threats about killing some classmates, I damm well want someone to look into it. If we cannot ensure the safety of our schools at the very least we are done, done as a society.

Are you suggesting that if the Columbine killers should have been left to carry out thier plans if someone had alerted the police if they had bragged about it online?

What about that Virginia Tech lunatic?

How about the recent massacre?

Can you decide if someone is joking based on a snippet posted in a chat room? No, and neither can I. So do we just laugh it off and wait and see if they are joking or not? I for one do not want to take that chance.

My immediate thought after reading the article saying he was going for his degree in criminal justice was that he did this on purpose for a test case.

We'll just have to wait and see ... but I do agree this was the only responsible action that could be taken.

Originally posted by palehorse23
[Again, who is the guy that decides what is a threat and what isn't.

EXACTLY, you can't based on a snippet said in a chatroom. neither you or I can determine if that guy is joking. Or is he serious? The police should, indeed have an obligation to check it out by conducting an investigation.

So are you saying that if you had seen say a posting from one of the Columbine psychos about what they had planned, you would have just laughed it off?

reply to post by FredT

Can you decide if someone is joking based on a snippet posted in a chat room? No, and neither can I. So do we just laugh it off and wait and see if they are joking or not? I for one do not want to take that chance.

Look, I am a parent as well. I feel it is necessary to look at all the aspects of this kids life and go from there. You cannot just ship him off to a shrink. That is just not right whether you are concerned about what he "thinks" or not. Has this kid ever done anything before? Why do I say kid, he is 23. Plenty old enough to be aware.
We are soon going to be detained for what we think. If you came to my house and saw a map with city coordinates and a book that explains how to make a pipe bomb, would you call me a terrorist? I would hope not. To me, this is a similar situation. We are being accused before we physically do anything. Guilty until proven innocent. Not the way things should be done in this country.

So are you saying that if you had seen say a posting from one of the Columbine psychos about what they had planned, you would have just laughed it off?

first, I would hope that those kids parents would recognize a problem before it came to more than an internet posting. It falls on the parents. They need to be fully aware of their kids and what they are doing. It doesn't fall into the hands of the police unless the parents see something that may lead to a bigger incident. How come parents are not held accountable for acts such as Columbine? It is always about how the kids is f'ed up.
You know what, it isn't up to me to keep an eye out for possible drugged up kids making threats whether they are serious or it is a joke. I watch out for my family and that's it. You can't even take things people say on here seriously a lot of the time. A lot of people hide behind computers. They get a feeling of power and I can say anything. There are a ton of posts that are only done to push buttons. Those people are not even being taken away form the discussion. So their nonsense continues. Doesn't mean they are mental, it just means they are childish and have nothing better to do.

[edit on 2/16/2008 by palehorse23]

Fred our nation's government is in an agenda, and that agenda is to make as big issue of this very sad incidents of killing and murdering, that actually has been part of society since the beginning of modern society.

We are living dangerous time and is not coming from these rampant and mindless killings.

I raised my two children and If I was going to keep thinking about them dying from any thing before reaching adulthood I would have lost my mind and have kept them in a glass bubble for life.

But I rather send them into society and hope for the best.

Been scare of what goes in this nations and society is not going to make you life any easier and it will put you on a life rule by antidepressants, now be no just aware of what goes on around your children's life but more so what the future will be for those children in a nation that is becoming the biggest danger to their future our government and their hidden agendas.


[edit on 16-2-2008 by marg6043]