# Twitter Stupidity! or I want to be a felon! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446 "2012-11-09T03:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/1 "2012-11-09T03:18:03Z")
> **[17 People Talking About Assassinating The President](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jwherrman/17-people-talking-about-assassinating-the-presiden)** > > Probably time to sign off for the night. This is a felony, btw. Are these people stupid? Do they want the secret service knocking on their door?? _(if this is in the wrong forum, please move it)_ ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/2 "2012-11-09T03:44:39Z")
Remember folks, talking about assassinating a US citizen without any sort of due process or legitimate legal authority is bad! Unless you’re the President. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/3 "2012-11-09T03:47:00Z")
Looks like they’re mostly high school kids. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/4 "2012-11-09T03:48:22Z")
Ymmv, this is no different than people threatening to assassinate Romney it burn the White House down if he won. Some people are just idiots. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/5 "2012-11-09T04:14:33Z")
I hadn’t heard of it, **OMG**. But after a quick google search, it’s confirmed. Even if I couldn’t find it, I would have agreed with you on that one. No group has a corner on being mouthy and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/6 "2012-11-09T04:23:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Looks like they’re mostly high school kids. I just know they’re going to be in a shocker. It’s one thing to be a sore loser, but damn. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/7 "2012-11-09T05:52:09Z")
it says making such comments is a felony. so my question is: will any agencies follow up on at least contacting these people? or is this just dismissed as waggin’ dumbassery? ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/8 "2012-11-09T06:03:27Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > it says making such comments is a felony. > > so my question is: will any agencies follow up on at least contacting these people? or is this just dismissed as waggin’ dumbassery? They will be followed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/9 "2012-11-09T06:09:39Z")
Only the last 4 are actually threats and I’d imagine they’re joking/blowing off steam/trying to impress someone. I’m going to guess the SS is going to ignore it. OTOH, I could see them sending someone from the local FBI branch around to knock on their door and scare the shit out of them and make a small example out of them just to get the point across that you don’t joke around with that kind of stuff. I’m assuming what they said was technically illegal (I don’t know if it is) and if it’s not, then maybe they just send someone around to ‘follow up on the threats they received against the POTUS’ knowing that it would make the news, spark some media discussion and probably keep it from happening again. The one, IMO, that deserves some real attention is the person that put a $20K bounty on the presidents head. Only because someone else may attempt to take her up on that offer thinking that if they take out the president, they’ll get a check in the mail from her. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/10 "2012-11-09T06:47:46Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Only the last 4 are actually threats and I’d imagine they’re joking/blowing off steam/trying to impress someone. I’m going to guess the SS is going to ignore it. It has been my understanding the Secret Service lacks a sense of humor when it comes to threats against the President. [Here](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/obama-twitter-death-threats-486712) is a [del]bright young man[/del] dumb fuck who found out just how seriously they take threats of this type on Twitter. I highly doubt they will ignore crap like this. I very much suspect the [del]young lady[/del] dipshit who posted the $20,000 offer will be seeing the inside of a Federal courtroom in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/11 "2012-11-09T06:59:35Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > It has been my understanding the Secret Service lacks a sense of humor when it comes to threats against the President. [Here](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/obama-twitter-death-threats-486712) is a [del]bright young man[/del] dumb fuck who found out just how seriously they take threats of this type on Twitter. > > I highly doubt they will ignore crap like this. I very much suspect the [del]young lady[/del] dipshit who posted the $20,000 offer will be seeing the inside of a Federal courtroom in the near future. Well, like I said, that last one, that put a bounty on his head, I don’t think they’ll mess around with that at all just because someone may very well take it seriously. The others, joking or not, as your link shows, they really don’t mess around. Of course, the SS was right in his neighborhood when that incident took place and it wouldn’t surprise me if they monitor local tweets for just something like that. Now, as I think about it. I know I said that they’re probably just some kids joking, but I suppose some of them might not have been. I can think of people that I knew of years ago that were a bit, off. People that were 18, 19, 20 years old already preparing for the apocalypse. One specifically that I lost track of years ago that if I had to guess is probably a prepper at this point. If someone like him put out a tweet like that, yeah, it needs to be followed up on. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/12 "2012-11-09T07:38:39Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > it says making such comments is a felony. Lots of people say the same thing about throwing away junk mail addressed to a previous resident. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/13 "2012-11-09T07:40:33Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Remember folks, talking about assassinating a US citizen without any sort of due process or legitimate legal authority is bad! > > Unless you’re the President. Where do I sign up to be able to assassinate people with due process? I’ll take my chances with the paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/14 "2012-11-09T08:36:25Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Where do I sign up to be able to assassinate people with due process? I’ll take my chances with the paperwork. I think Grumman was referring to exercising the death penalty. So, to answer your question…hope you get called to jury duty? Get a job at a Texas correctional facility? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/15 "2012-11-09T08:41:42Z")
I can personally confirm that the Secret Service takes each and every threat seriously. Back in 2008, I made some ill-conceived comments about George W. Bush while blowing off steam late at night in an AOL chatroom, and a week later two Secret Service agents showed up at my workplace insisting on speaking to me. After ten minutes of interviewing me the lead agent told me “I don’t believe you’re a threat to the president,” which is probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever told me, and let me know that I shouldn’t ever think about making those kind of comments ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/16 "2012-11-09T08:45:08Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I think Grumman was referring to exercising the death penalty. So, to answer your question…hope you get called to jury duty? Get a job at a Texas correctional facility? He was talking about military strikes overseas. Some political persuasions hold that these are “assassinations.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/17 "2012-11-09T09:41:41Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Lots of people say the same thing about throwing away junk mail addressed to a previous resident. yeah well, according to a little research, it’s a Class D felony–and here’s a pretty comparable-to-what-i-saw-on-twitter-list of events and this shit really is investigated. sometimes convictions come of it. [here](http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/08/20120908PNI0908-wir-ohio-obama-tweet-assassination-teenager-investigation.html)’s an article that is exactly the sentiment of the majority of these tweets (and was subsequently investigated). these are of the indirect “someone should take action” ilk. > [@](#): > > 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.” The defense had argued that the defendant never explicitly threatened anyone. He was located despite efforts to disguise where the messages were coming from.[20] > > In September 2009 the Secret Service investigated Facebook polls that asked whether President Barack Obama should be assassinated.[21] Some question has arisen as to how to handle Facebook groups such as “LETS KILL BUSH WITH SHOES” (a reference to the 2008 Muntadhar al-Zaidi shoe incident) which had 484 members as of September 2009;[22] similar issues have arisen on MySpace.[23] Tweets have come under Secret Service investigation, including ones that said “ASSASSINATION! America, we survived the Assassinations and Lincoln & Kennedy. We’ll surely get over a bullet to Barrack [sic] Obama’s head,” and “The next American with a Clear Shot should drop Obama like a bad habit. 4get Blacks or his claims to b[e] Black. Turn on Barack Obama.”[24] The former tweet was marked “#tlot,” a reference to “Top Libertarians on Twitter”.[25] “Ima hit president Obama with that Lee Harvey Oswald swag,”–arrested Jay Martin made idle twitter threads and ended up under investigation–even tho he had no plan and it was all said in jest. according to the article, > [@](#): > > The Secret Service investigates any/ all threats, even ones allegedly made in jest . he is banned from the internet now, even tho he had no weapons or anything serious. and, for the record, the mail thing seems to be legit illegal, too. \*TITLE 18–CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PART I–CRIMES CHAPTER 83–POSTAL SERVICE Sec. 1702. Obstruction of correspondence Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. \* i guess Twitter is easy to track–it aggregates all used terms, right? but i wonder how closely people are all being monitored that so many of these get investigated, like dude said up above on AOL chat or Facebook or other non-aggregated sites. of the guy who said something stupid before Obi came to his college–he was investigated within hours. i am curious if he popped up the second he posted it due to some monitoring system or if he was just quickly reported by some busybody. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/18 "2012-11-09T09:46:26Z")
shit. now i wonder if we will be monitored for reposting their tweets in this thread… duh duh duuuun. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/19 "2012-11-09T10:59:14Z")
Most of the tweets listed aren’t threats. The single word “assassinate” is not a felony. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446/20 "2012-11-09T12:21:56Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Most of the tweets listed aren’t threats. The single word “assassinate” is not a felony. you should read up on the law i just posted and note that the SS doesn’t have the tolerance you seem to employ. i dare you to say similar things and see how it goes. number 13, 12, the girl in 11 (the guy was replying to her) and number 10 are all making direct threats–that is a straight up felony. 2 and 3 are direct even if they are not personally threatening to do it, and fall under the law. 8. is a micrometer less direct than 11-13 but will probably get some attention still. 1, 4 and 5 are toeing the line. 6 is probably dismissible 7 doesn’t belong on the list 9 is the only one applicable to what you’re saying… all i can say is sure, ok–you think “Freedom of speech” and on planet you “meh, this isn’t that bad.” but check the precedents and see how tolerant officials are. they send people at your work and talk to you when you say this junk. there’s tons of cites demonstrating exactly what will happen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-stupidity-or-i-want-to-be-a-felon/640446.md?page=2)