A Painful Civics Lesson

Ebony Dickens

An East Point (GA) woman has been accused of making terroristic threats against police officers on her Facebook page and is now in jail. (http://www.usatoday.com/…/facebook-threats-kill-p…/26560855/)

The FBI, Homeland Security, the District Attorney’s office and the New York Police Department (NYPD) assisted East Point police with Ebony Dickens’ arrest.

Ms. Dickens is accused of writing a Facebook post Monday using the name Tiffany Milan in which read: "Black ppl should rise up and shoot every white cop in the nation starting NOW.

"I condone black on white killings. Hell, they condone crimes against us.

"I've thought about shooting every white cop I see in the head until I'm either caught by the police or killed by them. Ha!!!! I think I can pull it off. Might kill at least fifteen tomorrow. I'm plotting it now. They reading this shit too right now. Freedom of speech tho. So when you can absolutely show me in the 1st Amendment where it explicitly says, you can't say "kill all cops", then I'll delete my status.Other than that...NOPE.

"Death to all white cops nationwide."

The post is very specific. It is pointedly racist, it is a deliberate incitement of violence and it is overtly and directly threatening violence against specific people.

ALL of that is ILLEGAL.

So, as to, "So when you can absolutely show me in the 1st Amendment where it explicitly says, you can't say "kill all cops", then I'll delete my status.Other than that...NOPE,"....OK, how about now?

East Point police Lt. Cliff Chandler noted, “That’s 15 people that she’s talking about killing within a day or so, so whether she is serious or not that's something that we have to take seriously."

Ms. Dickens took down the post on Tuesday, just hours before she was arrested.

It's hard to believe, but some people obviously think the 1st Amendment is sacrosanct.

Seriously?

Ever hear about libel/slander statutes?

AND yes, numerous people have been arrested for making terroristic threats, ESPECIALLY post-9/11. In fact, the late cop killer Ismaaiyl Brinsley posted, "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs," before heading to NYC to assassinate two NYPD Officers (Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu), so, YES, such threats MUST be taken seriously.

It's the SAME thing with those who inanely view "resisting arrest," as struggling/fighting with cops!

WRONG!

Merely stepping away from an arresting officer is "resisting arrest," and that's very much AGAINST the law. Struggling, or fighting with an arresting officer is a much more serious crime (felony assault on a police officer)...you get locked up and do serious time for that one.

Ignorance of the law is NOT a valid defense. OPINIONS are protected speech. You can hold unpopular opinions and views. Threats, libel, incitement, defamation are NOT, in FACT all of those can result in criminal charges and Civil lawsuits.

IF Ms. Dickens had simply posted, "I hate all white cops," or something like that, her opinion, however racially bigoted, or noxious it might be, would be just that...an opinion. 

By encouraging others to kill police she engaged in "incitement," and by posting that she was plotting to kill police officers herself, she made a 'terroristic threat" against a specific group (police officers). Things like that amount tyo criminal offenses and tend to be taken seriously, especially in the wake of the Ismaaiyl Brinsley episode.