Texas Teen Jailed facing 8 yrs in Prison for Making Sarcastic Threat on Facebook

[Samstwitch]

Texas Teen Jailed facing 8 yrs in Prison after Making Sarcastic Threat on Facebook

NEW BRAUNFELS – An Austin man wants to warn other parents and teenagers that statements made on social media websites can land them in jail.

Justin Carter was 18 back in February when an online video game "League of Legends" took an ugly turn on Facebook.

Jack Carter says his son Justin and a friend got into an argument with someone on Facebook about the game and the teenager wrote a comment he now regrets.

“Someone had said something to the effect of 'Oh you're insane, you're crazy, you're messed up in the head,’ to which he replied 'Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were lol and jk.," said Carter.

“LOL” stands for “laughing out loud," and “jk” means “just kidding," but police didn’t think it was funny. Neither did a woman from Canada who saw the posting.

Justin’s dad says the woman did a Google search and found his son’s old address was near an elementary school and she called police.
Justin Carter was arrested the next month and has been jailed since March 27. He’s charged with making a terroristic threat and is facing eight years in prison, according to his dad.

“These people are serious. They really want my son to go away to jail for a sarcastic comment that he made," added Carter.
Unfortunately for Justin his comments came only two months after dozens of youngsters were killed in a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut back in December of 2012.

“Justin was the kind of kid who didn't read the newspaper. He didn't watch television. He wasn't aware of current events. These kids, they don't realize what they're doing. They don't understand the implications. They don't understand public space,” said Jack Carter.

Friends and family have started an online petition they’re hoping will garnish more attention for Justin’s plight. You can find it by clicking here.http://www.change.org/petitions/rel...tigative-criteria-for-terroristic-threat-laws
“If I can just help one person to understand that social media is not a playground, that when you go out there into social media, when you use Facebook, when you use Twitter, when you go out there and make comments on news articles, and the things you are saying can and will be used against you," added Jack Carter.

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[Samstwitch]

Travyon Supporters’ Threats Ignored While Facebook Joker Remains Jailed

Kit Daniels
Infowars.com
July 2, 2013

Violent threats erupt on Twitter as teenager who made joke on Facebook languishes in jail. Could the threats of violence, mass looting and rioting by Travyon Martin supporters fall under “terroristic threat” laws?

As we reported earlier today , supporters are stating on Twitter that they will loot businesses and riot if George Zimmerman is acquitted of second-degree murder in the trial that appears to be heading in his favor. Death threats were also made against Zimmerman.

According to Texas Penal Code Section 22.07, for example, a terroristic threat offense consists of:

(a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to:​

(1) cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;​

(2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;​

(3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building, room, place of assembly, place to which the public has access, place of employment or occupation, aircraft, automobile, or other form of conveyance, or other public place;​

(4) cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service;​

(5) place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury; or​

(6) influence the conduct or activities of a branch or agency of the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state. ​

Other states have similar laws.

Granted, there is a definite argument on the constitutionality of these laws. With that said, Americans continue to be charged for “terroristic threats” in cases involving bubble guns, water guns and sarcasm.

As recently reported, Austin teenager Justin Carter was charged for making a “terroristic threat” for a joke he made on Facebook.
Carter’s father said that someone wrote to Carter saying he was crazy and insane. “Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts lol jk,” Carter said sarcastically in response.

Carter spent his 19th birthday in jail for the comment after a Canadian woman complained to police. He’s facing eight years in prison and his parents are devastated.

In January, we reported that a five-year-old girl was suspended for a “terroristic threat” when she told her fellow students she would shoot them with a Hello Kitty bubble gun.

Apparently the school officials considered bubbles as causing serious harm to others.

We also reported in April that New York police revoked a man’s pistol license and confiscated his firearms after his son threatened to use a water pistol against bullies.

While police remain busy with cases such as these, Travyon supporters’ threats of civil unrest and violence go largely ignored.