Man gets 33 months for threatening Obama in poem

[PandaNin]

Man gets 33 months for threatening Obama in poem


A Kentucky man who acknowledged threatening President Barack Obama in a poem has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

Johnny Logan Spencer apologized for writing the poem, which described a fatal sniper shooting of the president.

The 28-year-old said in federal court in Louisville on Monday that he was upset over his mother's death and had fallen in with a white supremacist group that had helped him kick a drug habit.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. called Spencer's writing of the poem an extremely dangerous thing. Spencer will be on supervised release for three years after he completes the 33-month sentence.

The poem, titled "The Sniper," was posted on a website in 2007 and again in 2009 after Obama took office.

Man gets 33 months for threatening Obama in poem


Freedom of speech has been lifted. I guess we need to be careful what we say now? When does freedom of thought go too or has it already?

I'd like to hear people's points of view regarding this. What if the poem were against his ex-wife or ex-girlfriend, would he also go to jail for that? Is a poem really a "threat" or does someone have to say, "I'm going to do this" to make it a threat.

So if I say to someone, "SCREW YOU" is that a threat that I'm coming after them with a screwdriver?

 

[RussellJ]

Well he probably did not include at the bottom of the poem that he had no violent intentions and the poem was just a piece of literature and not an assasination threat. Why would you write a poem like that? Hes just stupid and doesnt need freedom of speach if hes going to write crap like that. I am no Obama fan whatsoever but he had that coming to him.

 

[PandaNin]

It was written in 2007, before Obama was elected. Do we now have to modify all our writings with disclaimers?

What about movies that show the president being maimed/killed. Isn't that just a vailed allegory to assassination? What's the difference between freedom of speech and entertainment?

 

[RussellJ]

It was written in 2007, before Obama was elected. Do we now have to modify all our writings with disclaimers?

What about movies that show the president being maimed/killed. Isn't that just a vailed allegory to assassination? What's the difference between freedom of speech and entertainment?

Not disclaimers but when you write something about a specific person being assassinated you should kinda think before you release it to the public.. He was still an elected official even before he was elected.

The movies that are made are not made with the intent to show agression or intent to assassinate an actual president or elected official. A movie script passes through many hands before it is published and put to filming.

 

[Rainbow7]

The movies that are made are not made with the intent to show agression or intent to assassinate an actual president or elected official.

I disagree, Russell. I recall a number of mainstream media figures saying that they wished George W. Bush would be assassinated, during his Presidency. - Where was the outcry over that? None of them were charged/sentenced to jail.
Obama is receiving nepotistic treatment from his sycophants.

EDIT: If this had happened during the Bush Administration, we'd be hearing all of the harpies on The View screeching about "McCarthyism", and ranting about the First Amendment.

 

[RussellJ]

I disagree, Russell. I recall a number of mainstream media figures saying that they wished George W. Bush would be assassinated, during his Presidency. - Where was the outcry over that? None of them were charged/sentenced to jail.
Obama is receiving nepotistic treatment from his sycophants.

Well then perhaps Im wrong. I dont know everything is so corrupt these days you cant know the truth on alot of things... I think posting anything about an assassination without showing intent of actual harm to come to that person should be met with charges or close supervision.

 

[J'Man]

I think it was pretty stupid. The man was obviously an idiot. The only part I don't understand is why he was given 33 months when Craig Kilborn from CBS's The Late Show put "Sniper Wanted" under George Bush's picture when he won the Republican nomination in August of 2000. I'm pretty certain nothing happened to him and he even continued to work for CBS for several years.

I also recall someone getting a Toronto film award for making a movie about Bush being assasinated. ???

Just seems like a double standard to me.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

It's not what you say or how you say it but whether or not you actually have reason and ability to act on it . You could say your gonna nuke the world but if your a milk truck driver with no education probably not much will happen .
Say your gonna nuke the world as a graduate of MIT and retired from Los Alamos and things may be different for you.
The FBI looks at all aspects when it comes to threats like this as they get thousands daily.

 

[Rainbow7]

I think posting anything about an assassination without showing intent of actual harm to come to that person should be met with charges or close supervision.

So, what should the punishment be if there is intent?

My point is this: lots of people have made threats against political figures. So what?
Democrats, despite their laughable attempts to whip up hysteria, are under no real threat of assassination whatsoever. I read something about this a while back, where the author pointed out that all of the U.S. Presidents who have been assassinated were killed by people who were either insane, held no political convictions at all or...get this...were Democrats!

 

[teddypenn]

thats more time than the reporter got for throwing a shoe at bush

 

[Schexy1]

There have been several people put in prison for plotting against Bush. The most notable was a White Supremacist group in the Mid West. They were robbing banks to fund a plot to kill Bush and overthrow the government. I can only guess that the media concentrated on the bank robberies and gave little press to the assination plot. Regardless, they were charged and convicted for the plot as well as the robberies and other associated crimes.

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001, a 47-year old Evansville, Indiana man identified as Robert Pickett, while waving a loaded handgun near a White House gate and was shot in the knee by a Secret Service Agent. While Pickett's intent is still unknown, Secret Service Agents had to interpret his actions as a threat to President Bush and acted accordingly.

In 2007, Purdue University student Vikram Buddhi was convicted of posting messages to Yahoo Finance criticizing the Iraq War and stating, "Call for the assassination of GW Bush" and "Rape and Kill Laura Bush."

What is considered a threat?

The posting of a paper in a public place with a statement that it would be an acceptable sacrifice to God to kill an unjust President was ruled to not be in violation of the statute. The statute does not penalize imagining, wishing, or hoping that the act of killing the President will be committed by someone else. Conversely, the mailing of letters containing the words "kill Reagan" and depicting the President's bleeding head impaled on a stake was considered a serious threat. A broad statement that the President must "see truth" and "uphold Constitution" or else the letter writer will put a bullet in his head count is not expressly conditional as it does not indicate what events or circumstances will prevent the threat from being carried out. However, the statement "if I got hold of President Wilson, I would shoot him" was not an indictable offense because the conditional threat was ambiguous as to whether it was an expression of present or past intent.

Threat or Criticism
Where is the line drawn? When does a critical remark become a threat? On one extreme is the off-hand comment, the letter to a friend, the email to a co-worker, or message posted in a newsgroup. On the other, the twisted psychotic plot. Clearly, the circumstances of delivery make a great deal of difference. A "letter to the editor", or speech intelligently attacking the President's every action and policy is our right and should never be construed as a physical threat. Screaming obscenities in the President's face, sending threatening mail to the White House, or publicly stating a desire to see the President harmed are not only acts of shameful disrespect, they should always be considered threats under the law.

To set the record straight, there have been people convicted for making threats against every president in the last 100 years. Prosecutions, convictions and sentences are based on the evidence and level of the threat, not who it was made against.

 

[ogre]

threatening the president's wife is a little too far. i'd think that death threats would be part of being president. regardless of how well you do or how well liked you are, you're going to piss someone off.

 

[Poppy]

The guy obviously is entitled to his opinion but to publicly announce and publish something of that nature is pretty....uh...silly. Free speech is actually limited. You can't yell fire in a theater. You can't go to your place of employment yelling racial or religious insults and expect no consequences. On and on with other examples.

The FBI have to take certain things seriously and threatening to harm/assassinate the POTUS is not acceptable.

 

[rockethead]

music artists sing about drugs murder fast cars and loose woman. so can we expect to see more unlawful arrests?

 

[Schexy1]

music artists sing about drugs murder fast cars and loose woman. so can we expect to see more unlawful arrests?

Nothing wrong with making a song as long as there are not threats directed towards a named idividual. I have heard songs hinting aouut a person or what they are going to do, but never threating and naming. However, there are people being arrested for making threats to a named person on Facebook.

Also, arresting a person is not unlawful nor does it mean your are guilty of a crime. People are arrested for suspicion of a crime and not charged or found guilty in court all the time. Not charged or not found guilty person is set free. That is how the system works.

 

[rockethead]

the system doesn't work man, artists make direct threats all the time and get away with it. I know it's obsurd but ever listened to a rap song? I feel obama is trying his best to turn this country into a socialist state. Im sure if Bush had a man arrested the media would be all over his back but someone voices his opinion in a stupid poem and obama reacts and it's " poor obama " the only thing that suprizes me is noone has taken him out yet. ( it's probably because they can't catch up to him, always taking *family vacations visiting socialist dictators). Can't wait to boot him outta office and get back to normal.

 

[Schexy1]

I have to ask, is your rant a joke, stupidity or ignorance?

the system doesn't work man, artists make direct threats all the time and get away with it. I know it's obsurd but ever listened to a rap song?
I listen to rap songs all the time. I have never heard a direct threat on any commercially produced song. Maybe you could point one out to me.

I feel obama is trying his best to turn this country into a socialist state.
This is your real issue, but is has nothing to do with the topic.

Im sure if Bush had a man arrested the media would be all over his back but someone voices his opinion in a stupid poem and obama reacts and it's " poor obama " .
Obama nor Bush ever had anyone arrested. They probably don't even hear about most of the threats made against them. If the claims are correct, Clinton was the last president to have people taken care of. Read post 11, do some research on threats against Bush and then tell me is you feel the same way.

the only thing that suprizes me is noone has taken him out yet
I guess you are pleased with what happened in AZ over the weekend.

( it's probably because they can't catch up to him, always taking *family vacations visiting socialist dictators).
Again, back to the root of your problem, an off-topic unsubstantiated rant.

Can't wait to boot him outta office and get back to normal.
Vote and get other like you to vote and it may happen. But, I just have to ask, what will change so our country can "get back to normal"?

Facts are your friend and you should seek them out. If you are going to hate someone, you should base your hatred on facts instead of something you heard.

 

[soundman]

My friend in the secret service is always having to go investigate Dave Chapelle's brother. He's paraniod schitzophrenic and is always making threats against the president and other elected officials. My friend had to fly to somewhere (Iowa I think?) to investigate in incident where Chapelle's brother was pulled over and arrested after threatening to "rape, kill, and eat" the officer. Oddly enough you never hear this on the news. .lol