Man convicted for death threats against Officer Darren Wilson
In another case of getting yourself into legal troubles over what you post through social media, last week saw a man sentenced over apparent death threats posted onto Facebook.
Jaleel Abdul-Jabbaar’s reaction to the unfolding events in Ferguson couldn’t be described as mild mannered, specifically his opinions of officer Darren Wilson, the cop who fatally shot teenager Michael Brown in 2014.
Abdul-Jabbaar’s Facebook rants and diatribes against Darren Wilson included remarks threatening to kill him. Remarks that got him into serious trouble after he was quickly arrested and thrown into jail.
Amongst his comments included the call to “give back those bullets that Police Officer Darren Wilson fired into the body of Mike Brown.”
However as we have seen countless times over the last decade, what you write onto social media isn’t always covered by freedom of speech. The same rules apply online as they do in your offline world, and this includes the consequences of violent threats.
This case serves as a reminder that death threats are illegal no matter if they appear on or offline. However things become more complicated within the realms of cyberspace as a defendant can argue that online comments were not intended to be serious, for example if they are used in humour or hyperbole. It is ultimately up to a judge to determine if such remarks could be interpreted as a serious threat and if the defendant had any real intention of carrying it out, and this can be largely subjective.
Abdul-Jabbaar spend 2 months in jail (before sentencing) and was ordered to three years supervised release and a ban from social media. The judge agreed that whilst he had committed a crime, the threat could not be considered a serious one and that he had no real intent of carrying it out. Had a judge considered his threat to be genuine, Abdul–Jabbaar could have spent several years behind bars.
Do you think Abdul-Jabbaar received a fair sentence, or was it too harsh or lenient? Let us know below.
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