Felony Charge For Ebola Joke Inside Cleveland Casino

[kranky]

A lot of Facebook comments that I've read recently about Ebola could be broadly construed in the same way--as inciting panic.

Yet, no one is getting charged with a felony. Perhaps it is NOT the same thing?

I think there's a big difference between reading something on FB, and standing next to someone who gives you reason to believe they might have been exposed.

 

[Carson Dyle]

A lot of Facebook comments that I've read recently about Ebola could be broadly construed in the same way--as inciting panic.

Yet, no one is getting charged with a felony. Perhaps it is NOT the same thing?

Saying that there's a fire at the movie theater down the street isn't quite the same as yelling 'Fire' in the theater itself.

 

[jagec]

I think there's a big difference between reading something on FB, and standing next to someone who gives you reason to believe they might have been exposed.

Hearing someone say something like that in a conversational tone calls for clarification, not panic.

But naw, instead let's freak out and SHUT. DOWN. EVERYTHING.

And clearly the media, traditional and social, HAVE been amplifying the "panic response" above all reason. Where do you draw the line? This guy said something that was not intended to cause panic, and that would not cause a reasonable person to panic. Also, their reason for charging him stinks:

A prosecutor said Smith was losing money at the casino and that officials from multiple agencies wasted resources debunking Smith's off-color comment. The squandering of those resources is in part grounds for the felony charge, the prosecutor said.

So, even the prosecutor doesn't think that he was inducing a panic. He just caused embarrassment to someone with power, which is not allowed in the USA