Calif. Man Arrested For ESPN Post On Killing Kids 416
A reader writes with an AP story as carried by Yahoo that illustrates one of the boundaries of free speech online: "A California man accused of posting comments on ESPN's website saying he was watching kids and wouldn't mind killing them was in jail Tuesday on $1 million bail after he was arrested for investigation of making terrorist threats, authorities said. Several guns were found Monday at the home of former Yale University student Eric Yee, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Steve Low. Yee was arrested after the sports network ESPN reported threatening posts were made in a reader response section to an online ESPN story on Thursday about new Nike sneakers named after LeBron James that cost $270 a pair. Some of the nearly 3,000 reader comments on the story talked about children possibly getting killed over the sneakers because of how expensive they are, said ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys. 'What he was posting had nothing to do with sports," Soltys said Tuesday. "We closely monitor the message boards and anytime we get a threat, we're alerting law enforcement officials.' An employee at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., notified local police the same day and they linked the posting to Yee's home in Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles County."
Yeesh (Score:5, Interesting)
I like the part where neither the summary or the article actually shows us exactly what he said so that we can judge its seriousness for ourselves.
Re:ugh (Score:1, Interesting)
Wasn't that the whole point of patriot act though?
So government officials can arrest and detain anyone they want without any probable cause or due process? Makes it easier to pick out the dissidents stirring up any trouble for the shepherds.
Re:Ermahgerd 1984! (Score:5, Interesting)
Which would be an excellent defense. Having a good defense will not prevent you from being arrested, if it is really good though you might avoid even being charged.
The DA will decide if they charge him or not, the police are just doing their jobs.
Re:Ermahgerd 1984! (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a huge problem in the US - our first responders are not well trained in handling people in emotional distress or who are mentally ill. Even medical first responders tend to be extremely ill equipped to handle this. Often by their ham-handed approach to things they make a situation much, much worse than it needs to be.
There are efforts to train LEOs and other first responders, but the problem is that by and large, the qualities that police forces look for when hiring officers do not tend to mesh well with the qualities ideal for working well with the mentally ill.
It's a horrible situation, and one that keeps on getting made worse in the US because politicians want to be seen as tough on crime to satisfy a bloodthirsty population out for revenge and punishment rather than rehabilitation and prevention.
Re:Ermahgerd 1984! (Score:4, Interesting)
And who decides what a "terrorist threat" is? How do we know he wasn't being sarcastic?
A lot of shit gets said on the internet and in real life.
And notice nowhere is the actual quote of what he said posted...
Here are some context quotes by other people though:
z3nmaster69@yahoo.com writes: "Some kid will get killed if he wears one of these in the hood. I'll guarantee that!"
Buzz1158 asks: "When will the first kid be killed for a pair?"
So if he responds to that in a way that says he's "watching kids and did not mind murdering them" then that's not tongue-in-cheek?
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)