Man gets prison for Facebook rants

CLEVELAND -- An Ohio man who had been arrested for drunken-driving has been sentenced to 17 months in prison for subsequent Facebook rants against police and judges.

The Plain Dealer reports that 27-year-old William Bement was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to attempted retaliation.

The North Olmsted man was given probation on a drunken-driving conviction on Feb. 5. That's when authorities say he took to Facebook to post comments such as "stop shooting up schools and start shooting cops in courthouses."

Another said, "Kill your local judges!!!!!!!."

Bement told the judge Wednesday that he was just venting and never intended for anybody to feel threatened. He said he did it for "shock value."

A prosecutor said someone else could have read the postings and acted on them.

The Associated Press


http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/296...acebook-rants-

apparently 'Freedom of Speech' is now open to interpretation and only ok...sometimes

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before the First Amendment came under fire much like the Second Amendment has. How much longer do you think we have before anti government speech is a criminal act?

It's going to get worse and worse.

For some reason the "majority" still seem to "believe" the US Constitution
is intact and valid.
As they say. . . . . only on paper

Thank the Libertarian movement
hasnt even begun to get bad . . . . . . (yet)

Just because there is freedom of speech, doesn't mean there will be zero consequences for what you say. It's always been that way. There's a big difference between an opinion, and a threat of violence. That should be taken seriously.

Originally Posted by Shadera

Just because there is freedom of speech, doesn't mean there will be zero consequences for what you say. It's always been that way. There's a big difference between an opinion, and a threat of violence. That should be taken seriously.

Agreed. If he did the same thing in front of a crowd of his facebook friends he would probably be charged with initiating a riot too. Anonymity on the internet is over.

I agree also but 17 months? Maybe a visit or even picked up and taken to court to explain probably more reasonable though.

No doubt 17 months hurts, but I learned long ago you don't mess with your cook or those who handle your pay. That was a pick and choose battle that wasn't well thought out

Ya gotta be sneaky!