Image via Complex Original
Social media tools like Twitter have allowed people to express themselves in all new ways. But what are the limits of that expression? Are you allowed to say anything you want on Twitter? Most people would say yes.Twitter is protected under the First Amendment, they'll say. However, ask some lawmakers and police officers and the answer will vary. Over the past few years we've seen a number of people arrested for what they've tweeted. Some have been harmless jokes, while others were hardcore threats.
Last year, the NYPD asked Twitter to give up info on a user who threatened to carry out an Aurora-like shooting at a Broadway theater. Twitter refused to cooperate, so now the boys in blue are working to subpoena the social network. Another man recently plead guilty after being indicted for threatening to kill the president on Twitter in September. If you needed a reason to watch what you tweet, take heed from these examples.
Man Who Threatened to Destroy Tea Party Protest
Date: 4/24/2009
Tweet: "I really don' give a shit anymore. Send the cops around. I will cut their heads off the heads and throw the on the State Capitol steps."
A few days before the Tea Party's April 15 tax protest, Daniel Knight Hayden, 52, who went by the Twitter handle CitizenQuasar, sent out a flurry of tweets threatening to carry out a mass murder at the protest. The tweets began with Hayden promising to start a "war" against the government. The tweets came to ahead when, on the day of the protests, Hayden tweeted, "Locked AND loaded for the Oklahoma State Capitol. Let's see what happens." The police showed up to this home later that day and charged him with making interstate threats.
Man Who Encouraged Guatemalans to Withdraw Money from Bank
Date: 5/15/2009
Tweet: "First concrete action should be remove cash from Banrural and bankrupt the bank of the corrupt. £escandalogt."
What is seen as the first Twitter arrest in Central America, a 37-year-old man named Jean Anleu Fernandez was apprehended after tweeting that Guatemalan's should pull their money out of Guatemala's Banruralbank. Fernandez allegedly tweeted: "First concrete action should be remove cash from Banrural and bankrupt the bank of the corrupt. £escandalogt. At the time, the bank was embroiled in a controversy of its own which centered around a mysterious murder. Jean Anleu was charged with "inciting financial panic."
Protestor Who Helped Other Protestors via Twitter
Date: 10/7/2009
Tweet: N/A
Social media played a major role in various international uprisings such as Arab Spring, as it allowed protestors to stay connected and abreast of any new developments. However, when 41-year-old New York resident Elliot Madison used Twitter to tell those protesting the summit of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations in Pittsburgh where the police were, he was arrested. The criminal complaint alleged that Madison used Twitter to direct unlawful protesters and other people involved in criminal acts to avoid arrest and to inform them of police movements and actions. Madison's lawyer was pissed and confused at the charges saying, "It's an outrageous use of criminal law to punish dissent, to punish speech, which tends to support dissent, and it is the most unique application of the criminal law to the use of Twitter that I have ever seen."
Def Jam Exec Who Didn't Tweet When He Allegedly Should Have
Date: 11/23/2009
Tweet: N/A
It turns out you can get arrested for not tweeting. Who knew? Not James Roppo. A vice president at Def Jam records, Roppo was arrested for endangering the welfare of children and obstructing governmental administration. When the crowd of Justin Bieber fans got out of control at a Long Island mall, the Nassau Country Police asked Roppo to send out a tweet telling the crowd to go away. Roppo didn't cooperate and was arrested. The Nassau Country Police chief was quoted as saying: "We feel he put lives in danger and the public at risk." Ironically, Justin Bieber himself sent out a tweet imploring the crowds to disperse.
British Man Who Threatened to Blow Airport "Sky High"
Date: 1/13/2010
Tweet: "Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!"
Paul Chambers was more than a little pissed off when he arrived at the Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire, England and found it closed due to heavy snow fall. Chambers was planning on visiting his girlfriend in Ireland and would now have to wait until the weather improved. No biggie, right? Not to Chambers. The Northants, England resident took to Twitter and wrote: "Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!" Not the smartest thing to tweet in a post 9/11 world. A week later the police arrived at Chambers' office and arrested him under the Terrorism Act. After having his appeal rejected in November 2010, Chambers was cleared of all charges on July 27, 2012.
Dutch Teen Who Threatened to Carry Out Copycat Mass Shooting
Date: 4/11/2011
Tweet: "Haha Iraq is also coming to the Netherlands. This man in Alphen already has 6 kills on his name. I'm going to outdo him."
Shortly after a horrible mass shooting in the Dutch town of Alphen which left six dead, an unnamed 17-year-old took to Twitter to voice his admiration for the heinous act. "Haha Iraq is also coming to the Netherlands," tweeted the teenager. "This man in Alphen already has 6 kills on his name. I'm going to outdo him." Amidst a deluge of negative responses from other Twitter followers, the teen deleted the tweet and claimed "it was only a fucking joke." The cops didn't think it was too funny, though, and showed up to the kid's crib the next morning to arrest him.
Man Who Sent 20,000 Threatening Tweets to Marissa Mayer
Date: 8/19/2011
Tweet: "IM SURE YOU THINK IM SERIOUS AND I'LL F****** SHOOT YOU"
It's safe to say Gregory Calvin King is insane. Only insane people tweet 20,000 times about how they want to shoot and kill a person they've never met. That's exactly what King did between November 2010 and August 2011. In addition to threatening then Google VP Marissa Mayer with tweets like: "IM SURE YOU THINK IM SERIOUS AND I'LL F****** SHOOT YOU," King also, according to the San Francisco Examiner, accused Mayer of being "associated with with a group that tried to infect him with HIV 'in powder form.'" See? Crazy. King was arrested and charged with threats transmitted through interstate communication and harassing communications.
Two 17-Year-Olds Who Were Accused of Racial Attacks
Date: 11/2/2011
Tweet: "Your hand is nearly the same colour. Nigger."
After Newcastle United forward Sammy Ameobi tweeted a photo of his new, all-black Nike cleats, a user under the Twitter handle @JonnnyPhipps replied "Your hand is nearly the same colour. Nigger." Ameobi took the jab in stride, and retweeted the message to his followers, with a message of his own: "Sad to see some people are still racist nowadays." Newcastle didn't take it so lightly. The football club alerted the authorities and the Northumbria Police arrested two 17-year-olds "on suspicion of malicious communication."
Student Who Threatened to "Shoot Up" College Campus
Date: 7/30/2012
Tweet: N/A
Maybe summer sessions were kicking William Koberna's ass. Or maybe he got a ticket while parking on campus. Whatever the reason, nothing explains the tweet the 19-year-old New Brunswick, NJ resident posted where he threatened to "shoot up" the Kent State University campus. Koberna was arrested and charged with inducing a panic, a felony, and aggravated menacing.
British Teen Who Criticized Tom Daley
Date: 7/31/2012
Tweet: "@Rileyy_69: You let your dad down i hope you know that"
The 2012 London Olympics was full of ratchet news. Athletes with white girls, gold medalists crip walking, divers with grills, etc. But none was more ridiculous than what a 17-year-old tweeted to British diver Tom Daley. After Daley and teammate Peter Waterfeld finished fourth in the men's synchronized 10-meter platform diving event, a man using the Twitter handle @Rileyy_69 tweeted to him that he let his late father down. "You let your dad down i hope you know that," tweeted the teenager on July 30. The next day, the Doreset Police tweeted that it had arrested @Rileyy_69.
North Carolina Man Who Threatened to "Hit President Obama with That Lee Harvey Oswald Swagg"
Date: 9/3/2012
Tweet: "Ima hit president Obama with that Lee Harvey Oswald swag."; "Well Ima [sic] Assassinate president Obama this evening !... Gotta get this monkey off my chest while he's in town -_-."
One day before the 2012 Democratic National Convention was set to kick off in Charlotte, 21-year-old Donte Jamar Sims, who went by the Twitter handle @DestroyLeague_D, tweeted that he was going to "hit president Obama with that Lee Harvey Oswald swagg." If that led to any confusion, he later followed that up with a more explicit tweet: "Well Ima [sic] Assassinate president Obama this evening !... Gotta get this monkey off my chest while he's in town -_-." The feds promptly paid dude a visit and arrested him. Later, at the police station, Sims admitted to being high and said that he "understood what he was doing and that it was wrong."
Alabama Man Who Wanted to Kill President Obama
Date: 9/14/2012
Tweet: "Let's kill the president. F.E.A.R."
Here's a word of advice: Refrain from tweeting about killing the president. In September, 25-year-old Alabama resident Jarvis Britton was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of threatening to hill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on the president. This all stemmed from a tweet Britton posted which read "Let's kill the president. F.E.A.R." According to reports, F.E.A.R is a national militia group whose initials stand for Forever Enduring Always Ready. Their mission was reportedly to take down the U.S. government and assassinate President Obama.
