Austin man, 19, jailed over Facebook post

[ElisabethWhispers]

Do any of you think of this as being extreme? Has it come down to we have to REALLY watch what we say OR write or otherwise, we could be stuck in a jail? What he wrote on his Facebook page (and I thank God each day that I don't have one!) was very bad but young people spout off all of the time.

Would appreciate your thoughts. I've realized for a long time that we don't have freedom of speech but isn't this taking things a bit far?

Elisabeth


Posted on July 3, 2013 at 9:04 AM

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) — Justin R. Carter never thought he'd be an object lesson in watching what you say in the social media.

The 19-year-old says he thought he was being edgy when he jokingly posted on Facebook that he was "going to shoot up a kindergarten."

Now, after spending almost 100 days in a New Braunfels jail, he says he regrets the Feb. 13 posting.

He remains in Comal County Jail with a $500,000 bond pending a July 16 court date, charged with making a terroristic threat.

New Braunfels Police Lt. John Wells tells the San Antonio Express-News (http://bit.ly/13pU47i) the threat was taken seriously after the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut. Twenty young children and six women died.

Online petitions in his support have garnered about 30,000 signatures.

[Whirlaway]

I think it is scary that a one-off comment (no matter how crude/rude/wrong) gets you thrown in jail........unless there is some prior history with this kid.

Who is the district attorney for the County ? Seems extreme that the DAs office would seek jail time on this offense. DA's in Texas are elected so this guy likely has the support of the local residents on this issue.

Wouldn't "counseling" have been a more reasonable alternative ?

[CJ7]

pointless ... actions like that just drive the people deeper underground when and if they actually decide to go shoot up a school or any other public place ..

[ElisabethWhispers]

Couldn't agree with the comments more.

[WTF]

Well after Sandy Hook, that joke goes over about as well as joking about having a bomb in your luggage at the airport!

[CJ7]

more than likely, a parent or a classmate read, and alerted authoritites ... I cant see a government agency reading facebook looking for threats without a heads up first

[i'va biggen]

Anything you put on social media can bite you in the ass. Lots of crooks follow twitter to see who went shopping.

[LexusLover]

Originally Posted by ElisabethWhispers

Do any of you think of this as being extreme? Has it come down to we have to REALLY watch what we say OR write or otherwise, we could be stuck in a jail?

No.
Yes.

Next time you are walking up to security at the airport say something like ...

"Do I have to unpack the bomb I have in my carry on bag?" to the nearest TSA officer.

Or write a note to tape on the outside of you check back that reads:

"Caution. Contains explosives connected to a trip device inside."

Then while you are say how ridiculous that is ... think ....back ....

Columbine
Shopping Mall
Shopping Center/Area
Sandy Hook
Chicago
Houston
... children are killing children ... It's much less costly to prevent it, than to clean it up.

[LexusLover]

Originally Posted by i'va biggen

Anything you put on social media can bite you in the ass. Lots of crooks follow twitter to see who went shopping.

. or on vacation
or who has what in their home
and even get pictures of all the shit!

On here they even find out how many firearms are there ..!!!

[ElisabethWhispers]

Originally Posted by LexusLover

No.
Yes.

Next time you are walking up to security at the airport say something like ...

"Do I have to unpack the bomb I have in my carry on bag?" to the nearest TSA officer.

Or write a note to tape on the outside of you check back that reads:

"Caution. Contains explosives connected to a trip device inside."

Then while you are say how ridiculous that is ... think ....back ....

Columbine
Shopping Mall
Shopping Center/Area
Sandy Hook
Chicago
Houston
... children are killing children ... It's much less costly to prevent it, than to clean it up.

Although your patronizing tone is annoying, I do get what you're saying. And I expected this type of response, even more than the positive ones that I'm seeing.

The reason why I presented this, though, is to discuss when do we STOP? Where is the threshold?

[JCM800]

its hard to ignore a comment like he made after everything thats happened. if they don't take that jerkoff seriously and later on down the road he decides to act on it ....then who's at fault?

[jbravo_123]

Sadly, in a post 9/11 world, people really have to watch what they say especially in regards to things like that.

The social pendulum is just in a very security/restrictive end right now due to those events. I have confidence things will eventually swing back slowly over a few decades as long as further events don't keep the pendulum on that side of the scale.

[ElisabethWhispers]

Originally Posted by JCM800

its hard to ignore a comment like he made after everything thats happened. if they don't take that jerkoff seriously and later on down the road he decides to act on it ....then who's at fault?

This is what I was thinking would make a good discussion. Can we, or should we, really base our decisions on a "what if"?

Originally Posted by jbravo_123

Sadly, in a post 9/11 world, people really have to watch what they say especially in regards to things like that.

The social pendulum is just in a very security/restrictive end right now due to those events. I have confidence things will eventually swing back slowly over a few decades as long as further events don't keep the pendulum on that side of the scale.

I wish that were the case then I wouldn't worry about the future as much as I do now. I have a feeling that we will only get MORE restrictive. Not less. What would NOT happen that would cause us to be less restrictive?

Wars, internet, cell phones makes it too easy to eavesdrop. And those social media sites? I do use Twitter and I can see the fun side of participating.

In a way, it's probably on this side of foolish to create a topic that doesn't have an answer ... but this particular situation is glaring. And from personal experience, too common.

That's all.

Elisabeth

P.S. jbravo ... like the avatar! Very sexy!

[CJ7]

Originally Posted by CJ7

more than likely, a parent or a classmate read, and alerted authoritites ... I cant see a government agency reading facebook looking for threats without a heads up first

Elizabeth, I think youre giving the government too much credit for singlehandedly rooting out the kids threat.

just sayin'

[jbravo_123]

Originally Posted by ElisabethWhispers

I wish that were the case then I wouldn't worry about the future as much as I do now. I have a feeling that we will only get MORE restrictive. Not less. What would NOT happen that would cause us to be less restrictive?

Wars, internet, cell phones makes it too easy to eavesdrop. And those social media sites? I do use Twitter and I can see the fun side of participating.

In a way, it's probably on this side of foolish to create a topic that doesn't have an answer ... but this particular situation is glaring. And from personal experience, too common.

That's all.

Elisabeth

P.S. jbravo ... like the avatar! Very sexy!

Certainly things will likely get more restrictive as people continue to fear and opt for more security over freedom. However, we also have historically shown that over time, we will eventually swing back towards more freedom again (we did get over the McCarthyism and Cold War eras, did we not?).

As for things like the internet and social media, if people want to put all that information about themselves out there, then they can't really expect to have much privacy anymore, no? People today are more and more open about what they do and care less about who knows about it / can read about it. Whether or not that's a good thing is something that will be seen in the future.

Oh, and if you worry about the future, just take comfort in the thought that we could all be dead before it matters to us!

Thanks for the compliment - we should all try and be a little more like him!