20 Years in Prison for posting rap lyrics on Facebook?

[Paladin3]

20 Years in Prison for a Facebook Post?

A teenager from a small town outside Boston has been held without bail for weeks. He faces terrorism charges and 20 years in prison for posting rap lyrics on the internet.

http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/teenager/

After you read this kid's story, you'll think twice about what you post on Facebook. (And that's the problem.)

Meet Cameron D'Ambrosio. He's 18 and lives in a small town outside Boston. He wants to be a rapper and calls himself "Cammy Dee" in his YouTube videos.
Oh, and he's been locked up without bail for weeks -- facing terrorism charges and 20 years in prison -- all for something he posted on Facebook.

On May 1st, Cam was skipping school and messing around online. He posted some lyrics that included a vague reference to the Boston Marathon Bombing and called the Whitehouse a "federal house of horror." Shortly after that he was arrested and charged with Communicating a Terrorist Threat, a felony that carries 20 years in prison.

The post contained no specific threat of violence against any person or group of people, and in the context of the rest of the lyrics and Cams' rap persona, it was clearly nothing more than a metaphor. A search of Cam's house found NO evidence that he was planning any violence, but a judge still ordered him held without bail for the next 3 months, pending trial.

 

[Slew Foot]

If all rappers were tossed in jail, America would kick ass

 

[nextJin]

If all rappers were tossed in jail, America would kick ass

/subbed

 

[EagleKeeper]

While it may be a joke to him; enough was written (via the techdirt link) that could cause concern.

While the media stripped out parts; the other pieces do contain implicit threats.

Maybe bragging; but let the judge sort it out.
Make threats, face the consequences until the threat is determined to not exist or be neutralize.

He was an idiot for trying to get his 15 minutes of fame that way.

 

[Theb]

“I’m not in reality, So when u see me (expletive) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the white house, Don’t (expletive) cry or be worried because all YOU people (expletive) caused this (expletive).

(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I’ma be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!"

I want to want him to be charged with something, but he probably shouldn't be charged with anything over that.

It would've been irresponsible not to investigate though.

I'm assuming all the expletives were "penis."

“I’m not in reality, So when u see me (penis) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (penis) federal house of horror known as the white house, Don’t (penis) cry or be worried because all YOU people (penis) caused this (penis).

(Penis) a boston bominb wait till u see the (penis) I do, I’ma be famous rapping, and beat every (penis) that comes across me!"

 

[Darwin333]

This is pure bullshit and anyone who can think rationally knows that his intent was not to make an actual threat. FFS it starts out with "i'm not in reality" so any idiot that wants to take the rest literally must conclude that any threat made isn't in reality either.

 

[Lithium381]

ZERO TOLERANCE wins again

 

[Matt1970]

This is pure bullshit and anyone who can think rationally knows that his intent was not to make an actual threat. FFS it starts out with "i'm not in reality" so any idiot that wants to take the rest literally must conclude that any threat made isn't in reality either.

Or he realizes he is out of his mind. Can you just imagine the outrage people would have about not doing anything if he posted crap like that on Facebook and then actually went and carried it out without law enforcement stepping in? Everyone is an expert in warning signs after the fact, but before the fact everything seems to be blown out of proportion.

 

[hans007]

That is straight up ridiculous. This isn't minority report.

 

[gevorg]

another step towards police state

 

[Ventanni]

They'll most likely drop the charges after they scare the kid to death. Rappers love to talk a big game.

 

[ch33zw1z]

It won't stop. Big brother is watching, and they want you to be scared.

edit: just found an email about this from fightforthefuture.org, I get their emails because I signed the petition for the CISPA thing, and contacted my state reps. I signed this petition to let him go. wtf is this country coming to.

 

[zanejohnson]

door to door papers checks have started too, how do i know? the man who works my familys ranch, tends to the horses and such in exchange for living in one of our rent propertys and contract labor pay got his door knocked on last week (by a gang of county sheriffs) and papers checked....


he's legal (married a woman here, had kids) my family is hispanic, my mother was severely offended and is using the proper channels to file complaints and to do what she can (and she has more money than God) she's the most skeptical person in the world when it comes to the latest craziness and conspiracy's, but she called the sheriff's that came nazi's... i thought it was HILARIOUS.

 

[Doppel]

door to door papers checks have started too, how do i know? the man who works my familys ranch, tends to the horses and such in exchange for living in one of our rent propertys got his door knocked on last week (by a gang of county sheriffs) and papers checked....

If he is possibly or considered possibly an illegal this may be why. There are no random "papers please" checks of people at their houses without warrants in the US, not yet.

 

[zanejohnson]

If he is possibly or considered possibly an illegal this may be why. There are no random "papers please" checks of people at their houses without warrants in the US, not yet.

yes sir, there sure is... it happened, i'm not making this shit up..why would i make this shit up!.. it happened.

there's no reason to think he's illegal, he files taxes every year, i know because we help him, he files a 1099, contract labor that he does for my family.

his two children ride the bus to school every morning they get picked up at the end of the driveway at our ranch... the ONLY thing that makes him seem possibly "illegal" is that he's hispanic.

 

[Darwin333]

Or he realizes he is out of his mind. Can you just imagine the outrage people would have about not doing anything if he posted crap like that on Facebook and then actually went and carried it out without law enforcement stepping in? Everyone is an expert in warning signs after the fact, but before the fact everything seems to be blown out of proportion.

Carry out what exactly??? I heard at the very least a dozen songs on the radio yesterday that had some sort of "direct threat" in them but people are fucking sane and realize that its just music and not to be taken literally.

 

[Darwin333]

yes sir, there sure is... it happened, i'm not making this shit up..why would i make this shit up!.. it happened.

there's no reason to think he's illegal, he files taxes every year, i know because we help him, he files a 1099, contract labor that he does for my family.

his two children ride the bus to school every morning they get picked up at the end of the driveway at our ranch... the ONLY thing that makes him seem possibly "illegal" is that he's hispanic.

Shrug, we won't say shit about that either. We already let them waste all sorts of our times while they check our papers on the roads, why do you think we will be all pissed off when they come to the house to do it? Way too many people in this country think that bullshit "if you have nothing to hide..."

 

[Paladin3]

Another judge just denied the kid bail. I guess he bit some kid at school when he got in a fight when he was 12. He also got in a fight with his older sister, who was in court to support him, and she called the cops.

That and the cops edited his posted lyrics when they read them in court. Silly stuff, really, but damn scary too.

http://www.dailydot.com/news/cam-dambrosio-teen-rapper-facebook-terror-charge/

 

[JockoJohnson]

ZERO TOLERANCE wins again

A reason for that would be Zero Common Sense. It seems that the FBI, judges, law enforcement in general cannot use common sense so it forces zero tolerance.

 

[Socio]

Any bets that if he was a Muslim here on a student visa, even if sent warnings about him from the Russians and Saudis his facebook would have gone ignored.

 

[Paladin3]

After repeatedly denying the kid bail, a Grand Jury Rejects Indictment of Teen Arrested for Rap Lyrics.

A grand jury has declined to indict an aspiring Massachusetts rapper whom police had accused of making "terroristic threats," according to the Essex County District Attorney's office. Cameron D'Ambrosio, 18, was arrested in Methuen, Massachussetts on May 2nd after posting a rap verse on his Facebook wall that contained the line, "fuck a boston bombinb [sic] wait til u see the shit I do, I'ma be famous for rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me." The high school student has been held in jail since then without bail. "There will be a bail hearing this afternoon, after which point he will probably be released, is my educated guess," says Essex County DA spokesperson Carrie Kimball Monahan.

Prosecutors sought to charge D'Ambrosio with threats to make a bomb or hijack a vehicle, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Danielle Simpson, a legal assistant to D'Ambrosio's lawyer, says they expect D'Ambrosio to be released on his own recognizance and home by Thursday night. An additional court date is scheduled for June 27th in Lawrence district court, but Kimball Monahan said the DA would not likely bring additional charges.

Before the indictment was rejected, civil liberties advocates said the case raised serious concerns. "This is a travesty of free speech, and a travesty of the First Amendment," says Evan Greer, the campaign manager for Center for Rights, which created an online petition in support of D'Ambrosio. According to Greer, a search of D'Ambrosio's house after his arrest yielded no evidence of bomb-making materials. "We should never allow tragedies to limit rights," says Greer, who believes that authorities over-reacted in the wake of the recent violence in Boston. "It doesn't actually make us safer."