Secret Service IDs kid for Facebook 'assassination poll' -- no charges

[jeffbr]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/10/68500154/1

The Secret Service announced today that a juvenile was behind the Facebook posting that asked whether President Obama should be assassinated, calling it a prank that would not lead to prosecution.

The agency declined to release the juvenile's name, age or residence.

-------------------------------------

So, something against Obama is a prank, and something against Bush was a national threat?

[laughingliberal]

1. Bet that kid soiled himself when the SS showed up for a chat nt

[hamsterjill]

24. I'm betting you're right that he did!

I'm betting he was not acting very tough when the SS showed up. It's one thing to anonymously post something; it's another to have someone track that posting back to its origin and have agents with guns show up.

I'll bet he was scared to death. And hope he was.

[Treo]

2. No Charges

But I bet they keep an eye on him for the rest of his life

[WeDidIt]

7. Yep, he will not be allowed within 2 miles of any US president during his life

He's targeted as a possible or potential threat.

[Treo]

17. War Story

I was in the Army W/ an extremely dumb young lady who stated , in front of the entire platoon, that the President should be shot. She was informed that it was unacceptable for her to make such comments and she said it again.

Long story short the SS pulled her out of formation the next morning. Her husband, a second Lt. in a MI unit had his TSCI pulled and received a transfer to an ordnance battalion. He was also told that he would be permanently passed over for promotion no matter how long he stayed in the Army. The woman was flagged for all favorable actions and moved to the bottom of the list for PLDC (NCO school) W/ out which she was also permanently unpromotable. Niether one was encouraged to re-enlist

She ruined two lives in one second W/ one slip of the tounge.

[leftynyc]

18. Not that it changes the story at all but

who was President at the time?

[Treo]

25. Clinton

She was upset at "Don't ask , don't tell" The girl was a true drama queen

[Javaman]

22. Somehow, I don't think it was a slip. nt

[Posteritatis]

26. What's "flagged for all favorable actions" mean? (nt)

[Treo]

29. Flagged for all favorable actions

She couldn't be awarded any medals, She couldn't be awarded a the President's council on physical fitness patch if she scored a perfect 300 om her PT test. She couldn't appear before a promotion board. basically anything that could be benificial to her career was not allowed.

[Posteritatis]

33. Ahhhh; thanks for the info! (nt)

[WeekendWarrior]

27. I'm sorry, the woman was an idiot, yes

but was the punishment she and her husband received truly justified?

Reprimand her, yes, but to destroy her husband's career over a stupid statement -- repeated or not -- seems a bit Big Brotherish to me.

[Treo]

30. Her husband

Was assigned to a Military Intelligence unit He had a Compartmentalized Information Security clearance and he was married to a woman who had advocated the assassination of the President of the United States. Do you not see the disconnect?

[WeekendWarrior]

39. Maybe I just don't take every idiot seriously

And maybe I don't think that every idiot has a spouse that agrees with her.

Had they conducted an investigation and seen that she could somehow carry out her threat and that her husband was involved in the plot, then, yes, throw 'em both away. But is that what happened here?

[Treo]

41. I Don't Know

How do you quantify her level of competence to carry out that threat? She qualified sharpshooter W/ an M-16 so she could reasonably be expected to hit a human sized target at 300/400 meters. A mental case loser like John Hinkley got close enough to Reagan to hit him W/ a .22 revolver.


How do you quantify her ability to gain classified information from her husband and pass it on to a foreign government?

How do you know that someone who thinks the President should die doesn't like America in general and is willing self information to the highest bidder?

Why would you allow someone like that anywhere near information that ,if it fell into hostile hands, could be detrimental to American interests?

It only took one idiot to drive across the inter-Deutch border with the entire VII corps. defense plans and hand it to a East German border guard. He did it because he was pissed off at his chain of command.

[WeekendWarrior]

44. I'm only going on the information provided

If she was a credible threat, then yes, she should be dealt with in this way. If her husband was a credible threat, then he should go, too.

But the way this was first presented, it sounded like Big Brother at work because they heard something they didn't like.

I'm happy to stand corrected if I'm wrong.

[Treo]

46. Big Brother

Remember this couple didn't work for Taco Bell they were both in the Army they signed away a lot of the rights that normal citizens enjoy when they joined.

[WeekendWarrior]

51. Doesn't mean the punishment shouldn't be fair. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. You do not say something like that while in the army

your first amendment rights are gone, for starters.

It also violates the UCMJ and I could cite a few other areas that it violates. Good news, not only the US Army works this way. Bad news, this is what you need for civies to truly be in command of a military force. By the way I don't expect you to understand, as civilians, mostly, don't get it.

:-)

Now if they were both civilian then you may have a point, unless they were working for the US Government in a different capacity. Hell, even a cop could suffer repercussions for that comment.

[WeekendWarrior]

55. Which is why I'd never be in the military, thank you. nt

[Treo]

58. But we were

And we accepted the conditions of our enlistment

[WeekendWarrior]

60. And for that I thank you.

[spanone]

31. fucking a ....the President is her commander in chief...it's called TREASON

[Treo]

34. Actually it's not

It's conduct unbecoming, threating speech or gestures and communication of a terrorist threat.

[nadinbrzezinski]

53. Exactly, people bandy out the T word way too much

At the very least it is actionable for disciplinary action. It also is bad for good order and discipline.

[Treo]

59. Clarification

Her husband wasn't "punished". He was married to a security risk, as such, he wasn't eligible for a security clearance. An officer can't be promoted if he can't get a clearance. It's sucked but it wasn't "punishment"

[treestar]

37. Seems unfair to the husband

Are they using the ancient common law rule that the husband is responsible for the wife's actions?

[WeekendWarrior]

38. Exactly my thought. nt.

[Treo]

42. No

They were using the common sense rule that the wife could gain access to classified information through the husband. Would you really want someone who's spouse was an enemy of the United States to have a TSCI clearence? That's a pretty high level of trust.

Someone who wants to kill the President can reasonably be considered a threat to the security of the United States. Would you really want to entrust military secrets to their spouse?

[treestar]

62. Depends on the spouse

Guilt by association is wrong. I'd need evidence the spouse had something to do with it.

Just because one is married doesn't mean they are in on everything the other person does.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

3. Interesting strategy I can see emerging from the right...

Use kids to spread/organize hate speech and assassination orders.
Denial isn't even required from the offenders as the charges would likely be dropped or minimal for a minor.
Same outcome with little/no risk. Untouchable more or less.

Something to keep an eye on I suppose.

[csziggy]

11. The right wingers have to use their kids for this kind of thing

Because the adults don't know how to use their computers to do this stuff.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Article says the Secret Service had a little talk with the kid and his parents. If is parents

aren't total Birthers, I'll bet they might reign him in.

[ashling]

10. If he did it from his parents's computer

:shrug:

[Sanity Claws]

5. Did you read the comments?

All freepers spewing lies. They even claimed that there were worse threats against Bush. The reality (not something very meaningful to freepers) is that threats are up 400%.

Why is USA Today dominated by Freepers? Is it because of its link to AOL, which only old fogies use?

[lillypaddle]

23. "is it because of its link to AOL, which only old fogies use?"

Hey! I resemble that remark!

[redqueen]

6. Remember when the kid's anti-war drawings earned a visit from the SS?

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=13245

Imagine if someone had done such a poll about Bush... I wonder if it would have been taken as lightly.

I wonder if the juvenile is even old enough to have a Facebook account.

[pipi_k]

8. OK, so the kid made a "mistake"

according to the article...

What about the people who replied "yes"?


Are they going to be investigated/questioned also?


Or will that all turn out to be "Oops....I thought I was on eBay and clicked the wrong button..."

??

[gateley]

9. Why wouldn't they charge him?! He's probably laughing about it with his friends.

[orleans]

47. he's probably laughing about it with his parents

who probably told him to put the poll up in the first place.

[gateley]

50. You're probably right. sigh. nt

[bdamomma]

12. a prank???

[Ian David]

13. What about all the people who answered "Yes" to the poll?

Why won't Fox "News" broadcast a video of the kid and his classmates?

[C_U_L8R]

19. Exactly... the ones that voted yes have some explaining to do

a visit from Agent Mike might be in order

[Ian David]

14. Use your childrens' facebook accounts when you create threats against The President...

... and the terrorists will get away with it scott-free.

[scheming daemons]

15. Well.. we knew the perp was "juvenile"... but how old is he?

All Repukes are juvenile, regardless of their age.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

16. I'm not surprised

Kids act like total fucking idiots on the Internets.

[bullwinkle428]

20. If Bush was the poll subject, he'd be getting tasered in the rectum at Gitmo right now.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. Yeah, juveniles almost never kill people these days.

[951-Riverside]

28. They were also "hands off" about William Kostnic

[Treo]

35. William KostRic

Didn't break any laws (unless you count fashion laws)

[Rude Dog]

32. Of course not.

If they'd charged him, the right would be up in arms over how he was being "persecuted" and they'd froth themselves into a frenzy.

I say, let it happen - arrest the kid. Let him spend a few days shitting his pants so he'll learn that his teadouchebagger bullshit will get him in trouble. Maybe he'll spread the word to his drooling knuckle-dragger friends.

[aikoaiko]

36. strictly speaking -- a question is not a threat.

now the people who answered yes, on the other hand......

[uppityperson]

40. There were comments posted 8/25, F* this "put up Sat" bs.

lying liars

[sabrina 1]

43. What about the adults who voted 'yes'?

Could have been a sting operation by the CIA or not. But even if it was a prank by a kid, the voters weren't in on the prank.

[Dirtyhairy]

49. No one who would be seriously considering an attempt would admit to it, even in an online poll.

[sabrina 1]

61. Not so, You are assuming that people who

commit crimes are smart ~

You must have missed the Newsmax post all but encouraging a military coup against the president. Written by one of their 'prize winning' jouralists. You would think they would know better wouldn't you? After several reports to the FBI they removed it. But to say that criminal-minded people filled with hatred are smart enough not to vote in a hateful online poll, is silly. I believe several hundred 'patriotic citizens' voted 'yes' on that poll. I would want to talk to each and every one of them to see how far they might be willing to go. Sane people, no matter how dis-gruntled they may be with the government do not condone that kind of thing. You have to be a little unhinged to go along with it, imho.

[AuntPatsy]

45. I am not sure that I believe it was his idea..I know many parents take part in

this face book...I hope they take a closer look at his parents..I think they are using their own son as cover...it would not be such a stretch considering the mind set of these type of people..they have no morals, none..

[Dirtyhairy]

48. I doubt Bush would have thrown a child in prison for that,

[Amonester]

54. No surprise there.

The kid must be about the same age as all the other wingnuts who post on the board that shouldn't be named.

[Kievan Rus]

56. So lemme get this straight

Left-leaning Pitt students are arrested for simply voicing their opinion which runs contrary to the hypercapitalist agenda.

Right-leaning youth advocates the assassination of the President, yet the Secret Service lets him go.

We truly are a nation dominated by right-wing assholes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

57. Well you know what I say about markers right?

The pattern is scary.

:hi: