12-Year-Old Faces Criminal Charges For Using Emoji

Megalith

Megalith

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I wonder if a prosecutor will try to convince me that the poop emoji has violent undertones the next time I’m on jury duty.

The smiley face, heart, praying hands and other “emoji” have become the way millions of Internet users playfully punctuate their texts, posts and messages, but for one middle schooler the icons brought the police to her door. The 12-year-old from Fairfax, Va., has been charged with threatening her school after police said she posted a message on Instagram in December laden with gun, bomb and knife emojis.
 
I think the litmus test is this, if this was a person who wrote this same note with gun/knife/bomb on it would that be considered a threat? In this case I would think so.
 
mullet said:
This is like the kid that made the gun out of a pop tart. People have lost their damn minds. I thank my lucky stars I grew up in the time I did and not now.
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Eh, this is a little more than that. Not sure if you actually read the article, but the kid's post was this:

Killing (gun emoji)
“meet me in the library Tuesday” (gun emoji, knife emoji, bomb emoji)
Click to expand...

To top it off, she posted under the name of a different student, perhaps to get him/her in trouble instead. I say the kid needs some kind of intervention and help. Not sure if that's being arrested or what, but that sort of stuff isn't okay.
 
I don't know about the response, I don't know enough about American law.

What a stunningly stupid thing to publish, though.
 
mullet said:
This is like the kid that made the gun out of a pop tart. People have lost their damn minds. I thank my lucky stars I grew up in the time I did and not now.
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I don't know, I think its exciting times right now. I think we're seeing the pendulum finally swing the opposite direction again as a corrective measure to extremism... heck, perhaps even too far. I'm a gun nut, and yet even I think that open carry is dumb which is legal in Texas now, and prefer concealed carry permits. And look at the popularity of Trump, who despite fighting the entire Republican establishment, along with the Democrats of course, and the entirety of the media including Fox News (who donated over $3 million to the Clintons, putting them in the top-ten donor list), is pushing political correctness over the cliff 300 style. Times are-a changin'!
 
They make open carry in states that have concealed carry because folks that have a concealed carry are getting arrested for showing their gun by accident, like bending over to tie your shoe or reaching up to get some thing off the shelf exposing your hand gun. They are passing an open carry law in FL just for the people that have a CCL permit only so they are covered either way and don't get arrested.

BTW how many girls in school have gone on a shooting spree? Only nutbag little boys have.
 
I'm all for Constitutional Carry, like that in Vermont (home of Bernie Sanders), Alaska, and Arizona. Permits are much less about public safety and much more about bringing in revenue, and amount to a poll tax in my opinion.
 
After reading the article, yeah, I think she should have gotten in trouble. I don't care if you use the word or the emoji, threatening to kill people is still threatening to kill people.
 
Deadly Ramon said:
I'm all for Constitutional Carry, like that in Vermont (home of Bernie Sanders), Alaska, and Arizona. Permits are much less about public safety and much more about bringing in revenue, and amount to a poll tax in my opinion.
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Take a fee and add a couple of digits and suddenly most people can't afford it anymore. Just begging to de facto eliminate the right.
 
jpm100 said:
Take a fee and add a couple of digits and suddenly most people can't afford it anymore. Just begging to de facto eliminate the right.
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WAAAAY too many gun companies making billions of dollars off of US civilians to let that happen..


or let ANYTHING happen...

"We should make it so that guns can't be sold to felons ...."

"DONT TAKE MAH GUNS YA GODAMN COMMIE"

"I was only talking about sales to felons..."

"ITS MAH SE-KUND AMENDMENT RIGHT, GODAMNIT!"

"But background check...."

"GO TE HELL YOU GODLESS LIBERAL! GO BACK TO PANSY HEATHEN LAND WHERE EVERYONE TURNS THE OTHER CHEEK AND FEEDS THE HUNGRY, I'M OWNING GUNS AND DEFENDING MAH LAND JUST HOW JESUS WOULD HAVE WANTED!"

/rant.
 
mullet said:
They make open carry in states that have concealed carry because folks that have a concealed carry are getting arrested for showing their gun by accident, like bending over to tie your shoe or reaching up to get some thing off the shelf exposing your hand gun. They are passing an open carry law in FL just for the people that have a CCL permit only so they are covered either way and don't get arrested.

BTW how many girls in school have gone on a shooting spree? Only nutbag little boys have.
Click to expand...

Here are a few examples of female school
shooters. In 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Spencer
committed a sniper attack at Cleveland
Elementary School in San Diego. In 1988, Laurie
Dann, age 30, shot young children in Hubbard
Woods Elementary School in Winnetka, Illinois. At Penn State University in 1996, 19-year-old Jillian
Spencer, who was trained in the Army Reserve as
a sharpshooter, opened fire on random students.
Latina Williams, a 23-year-old nursing student at
Louisiana Technical Institute, killed two
classmates in 2008. Finally, in 2010, Professor Amy Bishop shot six colleagues in the biology
department at the University of Alabama.

My advice dear liberal get your head out of your ..........
 
Who you callin liberal kid? Great so you found a couple of women that killed people, good for you.
 
She wasn't charged for using emoji, she was charged for making threats
 
This whole PC thing about guns has gone to far like the kid pop tart example however this girl went a little far and she needs a full smack down. Well she at least needs correction and education.

As for the open carry folks that is just asking for trouble as you are the first to get targeted or in a heated argument with gun haters. I CC every day and they are trying to pass the law here that permits are no longer required to CC which I am against.
Every person who wants to carry should be required to have even a short course on gun safety, carry etiquette and some trained shooting time. I have always been a huge advocate of Gun/Hunter safety training at the same time as drivers license training. They both teach responsibility.

The many guys I know in law enforcement are only concerned about the lost revenue, they say there will be a short term spike in people who carry but will drop off quickly. Those people who carry legal or not will always carry regardless and 85% are easily detected, lawmen just dont worry with them because for most people it takes them longer to get there gun out and ready than the actual incident.
 
"Meet me in the library" is a threat?!? I think that gun/knife/bomb is a signature she is trying to establish for herself. I bet there are other texts where she has used those symbols ... in that order.
 
amddragonpc said:
"Meet me in the library" is a threat?!? I think that gun/knife/bomb is a signature she is trying to establish for herself. I bet there are other texts where she has used those symbols ... in that order.
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Haha, that's a stretch. What's the "Killing" part with the gun emoji then? And why would she post in the name of another student? I think you're really grasping at straws here to exonerate this kid. The kid knew what she was doing... well, as much as a 12 year old child can.
 
gun and knife emoji could be threatening. fucking click bait title. Threats on someones life is illegal.
 
KazeoHin said:
WAAAAY too many gun companies making billions of dollars off of US civilians to let that happen..


or let ANYTHING happen...

"We should make it so that guns can't be sold to felons ...."

"DONT TAKE MAH GUNS YA GODAMN COMMIE"

"I was only talking about sales to felons..."

"ITS MAH SE-KUND AMENDMENT RIGHT, GODAMNIT!"

"But background check...."

"GO TE HELL YOU GODLESS LIBERAL! GO BACK TO PANSY HEATHEN LAND WHERE EVERYONE TURNS THE OTHER CHEEK AND FEEDS THE HUNGRY, I'M OWNING GUNS AND DEFENDING MAH LAND JUST HOW JESUS WOULD HAVE WANTED!"

/rant.
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Way too many conformists (formerly known as liberals) for it to not happen.
 
dr_drift said:
Haha, that's a stretch. What's the "Killing" part with the gun emoji then? And why would she post in the name of another student? I think you're really grasping at straws here to exonerate this kid. The kid knew what she was doing... well, as much as a 12 year old child can.
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Not exonerating the kid. There isn't proof of a threat in "Meet me in the library".
 
amddragonpc said:
"Meet me in the library" is a threat?!? I think that gun/knife/bomb is a signature she is trying to establish for herself. I bet there are other texts where she has used those symbols ... in that order.
Click to expand...

amddragonpc said:
Not exonerating the kid. There isn't proof of a threat in "Meet me in the library".
Click to expand...

You are leaving off part of the message. If I tell a woman "I am going to meet up with you in the library and rape you" Yes there is nothing wrong with the "I am going to meet up with you in the library" part, it is the "and rape you" part that is the problem.

The entire message as she posted it under a different person's account, states they are killing and are in the library. You are twising the context to state that there is no possible way that what they said could be taken in a bad way at all. When in fact there could be a way that is meant to be taken in a bad way and that is why she got in trouble while they investigated why she made the post.
 
dr_drift said:
Eh, this is a little more than that. Not sure if you actually read the article, but the kid's post was this:



To top it off, she posted under the name of a different student, perhaps to get him/her in trouble instead. I say the kid needs some kind of intervention and help. Not sure if that's being arrested or what, but that sort of stuff isn't okay.
Click to expand...


Agreed, at a minimum this deserved an investigation. The court case suggests the investigation happened, I would hope they found more during the investigation to warrant the charges or I'd be looking for a new DA.

It's easy to forget that between A and D, there is B and C (y)
 
amddragonpc said:
"Meet me in the library" is a threat?!? I think that gun/knife/bomb is a signature she is trying to establish for herself. I bet there are other texts where she has used those symbols ... in that order.
Click to expand...

Do you have access to case evidence to back that up?
 
Maybe Microsoft will send her a free XboxOne too. No, I guess not, she is not Muslim.
 
lcpiper said:
Agreed, at a minimum this deserved an investigation. The court case suggests the investigation happened, I would hope they found more during the investigation to warrant the charges or I'd be looking for a new DA.

It's easy to forget that between A and D, there is B and C (y)
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What would you do bring in DHS?
 
It is sad that a 12 year old is facing these charges, there are absolutely better ways to handle situations involving youths, instead of bringing criminal charges to bear.

There is just a much risk that these charges will ruin her life and cause her to walk the path of a criminal, shame.

I am perfectly aware that children are capable of horrific things, I remember reading about this particular case in 2006, Richardson family murders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Aireoth said:
It is sad that a 12 year old is facing these charges, there are absolutely better ways to handle situations involving youths, instead of bringing criminal charges to bear.

There is just a much risk that these charges will ruin her life and cause her to walk the path of a criminal, shame.
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How do you deal with a bully? Talk to them? Have stern words for them? History has shown that bullying doesn't stop just because the bully got "caught" and told to not do it anymore. Now escalate this with sending threats of guns/knives and then what? "Oh you told on me you little snitch.... you know they say snitches get stitches *knife emoji, sad face emoji, crying emoji*" I'm not saying it's true in this case but in my cases kids are just fucking broken and it all has to do with how the parents raised (or didn't raise) them.

Here's a better way, expel the kid, tell the parents that child can not go to school in that school district, move it to another school, if she continues to bully, then say you can't go to school in this state, maybe moving it to the parents to actually do something.
 
sfsuphysics said:
How do you deal with a bully? Talk to them? Have stern words for them? History has shown that bullying doesn't stop just because the bully got "caught" and told to not do it anymore. Now escalate this with sending threats of guns/knives and then what? "Oh you told on me you little snitch.... you know they say snitches get stitches *knife emoji, sad face emoji, crying emoji*" I'm not saying it's true in this case but in my cases kids are just fucking broken and it all has to do with how the parents raised (or didn't raise) them.

Here's a better way, expel the kid, tell the parents that child can not go to school in that school district, move it to another school, if she continues to bully, then say you can't go to school in this state, maybe moving it to the parents to actually do something.
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I never once said nothing should be done. I completely disagree with the punishment mentality of our western society, it does more harm than good, is based around profit and recidivism, and does little to no rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is often left to the individual, and the trials they must endure to have society accept them make it nigh impossible.

As to this case, it is clear that the child needs psychological intervention, they need help, a child needs help, and societies reaction is to criminalize the child rather than get them the proper help and support they need. All this from one of the richest societies on the planet.

Also, the child's family should be investigated to determine and deal with any potential root causes.

As I said, it is sad.
 
I live in the Fairfax, VA area. The police force is over budgeted and overpaid. In one of the most affluent places on earth, they have nearly nothing to do. So they bust minors for emojis.
 
So, she implied a time this was supposed to happen. Did they find any weapons on her, in the library or to the people she linked the message to? If not then for all they know she was setting up a game of D&D with her friends in the library. Without proving means they have very little. All they have is her posting under someone else's name.
 
Hornet said:
she was charged for making threats
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Using emoji's to do it. I'm of two minds on this. I think context and intent are crucial here. Did she intend to carry out her thoughts? If she did and you can determine she did, then is that enough inculpatory evidence to charge her with? So is any use of these types of emoji's going to be subject of investigation? I can see it now, "OMG, he/she used these emoji's. I had no idea they were going to actually do it." is this where we are now? Hiding criminal/deadly intent behind hieroglyphics?
 
PhotoBobBarker said:
So, she implied a time this was supposed to happen. Did they find any weapons on her, in the library or to the people she linked the message to? If not then for all they know she was setting up a game of D&D with her friends in the library. Without proving means they have very little. All they have is her posting under someone else's name.
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And that is why they checked into it. Like somebody said above between A and D there is B and C. First you see a post like this and you have to decide should I look further into this. In this day and age, yes normally it is best to look into it. Because all you need is one person to post saying something slightly off (wish so and so would drop dead, wish the school would blow up, somebody needs to poison everyone...) and then follow through for people to ask why they didn't respond.

So a student post something, they investigate the post to see is this a possible threat or does it have some other meaning. If the investigation shows a need for concern then they go further and take whatever action is needed.

If a person post or states I wish I was dead. You would mentally do the same thing. Is this person talking about killing them self and in need of help. Or is this person just using a dramatic saying. If they mean they are going to kill themselves you try to get them help. If they are using are just using the statement you call them a drama queen or over dramatic or something else. There is always an assessment of something that could be taken in a normal and a bad way.
 
jpm100 said:
Way too many conformists (formerly known as liberals) for it to not happen.
Click to expand...

Trust me, look at the Donald Trump voting pool: There are a LOT of rednecks with voting power, and a LOT of gun companies who pay good money for their politicians. Its all good: yer'guns are safe. Even criminals have unrestricted access.
 
KazeoHin said:
WAAAAY too many gun companies making billions of dollars off of US civilians to let that happen..


or let ANYTHING happen...
Click to expand...

It's the namblacrats who invent myths about cheap handguns ("Saturday Night Specials") in order to disarm poor Americans. 'A law against "Saturday Night Specials" would disproportionately affect poor citizens by reducing the availability of defensive handguns to low income Americans. (Gary Kleck,Targeting Guns, 1997.) The violent crime victimization rate is highest among people in households with annual incomes below $7,500. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimization 1997, Changes 1996-97 with Trends 1993-97, Dec. 1998)' NRA-ILA | "Saturday Night Specials"

"We should make it so that guns can't be sold to felons ...."

"DONT TAKE MAH GUNS YA GODAMN COMMIE"

"I was only talking about sales to felons..."

"ITS MAH SE-KUND AMENDMENT RIGHT, GODAMNIT!"
Click to expand...


If a convicted felon is too dangerous to be allowed his 2nd Amendment rights, then he's too dangerous to be released from prison. Namblacrats have no problem restoring a felon's voting privileges, but balk at the prospect of restoring their 2nd Amendment rights because it conflicts with the namblacratic narrative.




"But background check...."

"GO TE HELL YOU GODLESS LIBERAL! GO BACK TO PANSY HEATHEN LAND WHERE EVERYONE TURNS THE OTHER CHEEK AND FEEDS THE HUNGRY, I'M OWNING GUNS AND DEFENDING MAH LAND JUST HOW JESUS WOULD HAVE WANTED!"

/rant.
Click to expand...

Nevermind that the world's worst famines in the 20th century occurred under godless Communist regimes. Communism Killed 94M in 20th Century, Feels Need to Kill Again[/quote]
 
KazeoHin said:
Trust me, look at the Donald Trump voting pool: There are a LOT of rednecks with voting power, and a LOT of gun companies who pay good money for their politicians. Its all good: yer'guns are safe. Even criminals have unrestricted access.
Click to expand...

Donald Trump is a liberal who's donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-gun Democrats and supported "the ban on assault weapons" even though so-called "assault weapons" are simply semi-automatic rifles with attachments that people who know nothing about guns find scary. Donald Trump Is Not Just A Clown, He’s A Liberal Anti-Gun Clown
 
mullet said:
They make open carry in states that have concealed carry because folks that have a concealed carry are getting arrested for showing their gun by accident, like bending over to tie your shoe or reaching up to get some thing off the shelf exposing your hand gun. They are passing an open carry law in FL just for the people that have a CCL permit only so they are covered either way and don't get arrested.

BTW how many girls in school have gone on a shooting spree? Only nutbag little boys have.
Click to expand...
I agree concealed carry is ridiculous... Also cant really allow for the silhouette to show.. Its just redonculous. Open carry makes more sense.
 
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