Marine veteran held in psych ward for Facebook posts

[daddyo]

Looks like NDAA and the Patriot Act are in full force. The thought police are real, my friends:

https://www.rutherfo..._psych_ward_det

Edited August 21, 2012 by DaddyO

[DaveTN]

You have to post something pretty outrageous to get the FBI and cops to show up at your house. We would need to read what he posted to make any intelligent decisions about what they did.

[Sam1]

here's a couple of the posts:

http://rt.com/usa/news/chesterfield-veteran-facebook-arrest-106/

Nothing too bad, looks like they were in reaction mode hoping to avert the next disaster and they jumped the start line too quickly.

[daddyo]

You have to post something pretty outrageous to get the FBI and cops to show up at your house. We would need to read what he posted to make any intelligent decisions about what they did.

Does the First Amendment protect outrageous speech?

[BryanP]

Before making up my mind I'd have to read the actual posts, not an abstract of them as described by him and his supporters. The Secret Service doesn't show up on your doorstep for saying govt officials should be arrested.

[daddyo]

Why does it matter what he said? There was a time when you had to actually do something to be arrested, not just speaking your mind.

[TMF]

[TMF]

[DaveTN]

Does the First Amendment protect outrageous speech?

Not threats it doesn’t. The Mother said the Secret Service was there. That makes me think he made threats against someone protected by the Secret Service. However as I said, we can’t have an intelligent discussion without knowing what he said. No one links the Facebook page, was it taken down?

The “Civil Liberties and Human Rights†page didn’t quote anything he said; that’s telling by itself.

[TMF]

[TMF]

[TMF]

[TMF]

[TMF]

Funny, I remember when people were bitching about how there were so many signs about Jared Laughner and Holmes before they went on a shooting rampage. There is plenty here to indicate that perhaps he was an unstable person intending on doing something violent. Perhaps there is more stuff we don't know about in conjunction to his posts. Either way, this isn't a case of Big Brother looking to squash free speech. I think there were folks that were genuinely concerned he was going to do something crazy.

Plus, he was a Ron Paul supporter.

[DaveTN]

Funny, I remember when people were bitching about how there were so many signs about Jared Laughner and Holmes before they went on a shooting rampage. There is plenty here to indicate that perhaps he was an unstable person intending on doing something violent. Perhaps there is more stuff we don't know about in conjunction to his posts. Either way, this isn't a case of Big Brother looking to squash free speech. I think there were folks that were genuinely concerned he was going to do something crazy.

That’s what I thought when I read those posts. Proactive vs. reactive.

Maybe he was stupid enough to fire off some emails.... who knows.

Plus, he was a Ron Paul supporter.

[daddyo]

OK, so First Amendment rights are just for some, and not for others. Got it.

[DaveTN]

He said he wanted someone to come pick him up. That is what happened.

[TMF]

OK, so First Amendment rights are just for some, and not for others. Got it.

So if someone says they intend to do something violent to you or your family you would expect law enforcement to wait until that act is done? I think they have plenty here to indicate that he was going to do something violent. This is just a snippet of what he posted and doesn't include postings over the history of the account. You also assume that there was nothing else to indicate that he was planning to do something.

[Chucktshoes]

I guess I should keep an eye out for the FBI as I have a history of posting similarly provocative items up on the FB.

[daddyo]

People were arrested and carried away in Nazi Germany for being "anti-government". Is that what we are becoming?

Where did he threaten anyone? And because "maybe" he fired off some emails, that's justification for coming to his home and putting him in a psych ward? Really?

[tnhawk]

I guess I should keep an eye out for the FBI as I have a history of posting similarly provocative items up on the FB.

If you sent a contribution to the RNC, or said you'll vote for Romney, they're on the way to pick you up

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I guess they'll be coming for me,

also.

There must be a new charge,

"Suspicion of craziness". No 1st

Amendment protection any more.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TMF]

He wasn't taken into custody because of his anti-gov comments or because he believes that there will be some kind of revolution, it is because he made clear that he was about do to something. I'm betting they were watching him for a good long time. He made several references in the past to wishing someone would "pick him up" so he could start an armed rebellion against the government. His last post before he was arrested claimed that someone was finally on their way to get it started. Sounds like a doomsday post to me. Not too different than other folks that have gone off the deep end and started shooting people.... do I need to give you a list?

With that, we don't know what else was going on. Was there someone close to him that called the authorities and said that he was going to do something crazy? Did he have the means to do it? Means, motive and opportunity in addition to claims of getting ready to take action should certainly raise the eyebrows of folks who get paid by the taxpayer to provide some degree of security. This isn't about the 1st Amendment at all. If all speech was free I could yell "fire" in a crowded theater, make comments about planning to kill the President or brag about having automatic weapons/cocaine/hookers/meth/dead bodies in my house without any fear of law enforcement doing something about it. That isn't the world I live in. It isn't the world you live in either.

[Daniel]

Some people here want a revolution started.

[mikegideon]

I guess I should keep an eye out for the FBI as I have a history of posting similarly provocative items up on the FB.

I've never seen you post anything close the TMF's examples. This guy was making threats.