NationStates Jolt Archive

I wasn't aware that the Secret service spends a lot of time on Myspace, but apparently they found a threat directed at the President (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20061015/D8KP09580.html) on a 14 year-old's page and pulled her out of class to question her about it.


Teen Questioned for Online Bush Threats

By DON THOMPSON

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Upset by the war in Iraq, Julia Wilson vented her frustrations with President Bush last spring on her Web page on MySpace.com. She posted a picture of the president, scrawled "Kill Bush" across the top and drew a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand. She later replaced her page on the social-networking site after learning in her eighth-grade history class that such threats are a federal offense.

It was too late.

Federal authorities had found the page and placed Wilson on their checklist. They finally reached her this week in her molecular biology class.

The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two Secret Service agents. The incident has upset her parents, who said the agents should have included them when they questioned their daughter.

I know that threats against the President are taken seriously, but I didn't know the Secret Service could question a person about their Myspace page. You'd think they have bigger threats to worry about than an eighth-grader in California.

Thoughts?

Everyone on myspace is gunna start threatening to kill the president now. Although when two secret service guys pull you out of class it may be scary at first but think of the scene points you'd rack up!

The secret service should start questioning Myspace, and promptly burn their servers to the ground.

The secret service should start questioning Myspace, and promptly burn their servers to the ground.

Seconded!

I'd be a little surprised if they gave her more than a stern talking-to.
I mean, it's just 15 minutes, it's not like they hauled her off to guatanamo bay. Formally they have to check out any threats made against the president, I assume, unless they acted like righteous assholes I don't see the fuss.

This is ridiculous. Why do you even have that law?

Oh hell, that's nothing. The secret service won't even confirm or deny that any type of investigation is underway.

I remember once, a guy threatend the president because he was making a speech that was pre-empting a football game.

This is cool, if enough of us from around the world make death threats online then the airfares to get the SS to us to questions us would put such a massive dent in the USs' budget that they have to stop all these foreign wars.

I'll start, I'm going to kill George W. Bush with a big stick or possibly a pretzel.

That's a very serious action to commit. I personally wish that they'd enforce it better so that it would set those people who think it's okay to threaten the US President as examples.

I am in full support of that law. Every threat is taken very serious. It is in best interests of National Security. If it weren't a law there would probably be more Presidential assasinations and attempts.

I say "zero-tolerance".

This is cool, if enough of us from around the world make death threats online then the airfares to get the SS to us to questions us would put such a massive dent in the USs' budget that they have to stop all these foreign wars.

I'll start, I'm going to kill George W. Bush with a big stick or possibly a pretzel.

Since when did not have enough money stop them from doing something?

I'd be a little surprised if they gave her more than a stern talking-to.
I mean, it's just 15 minutes, it's not like they hauled her off to guatanamo bay. Formally they have to check out any threats made against the president, I assume, unless they acted like righteous assholes I don't see the fuss.

Part of it was that the kid was taken out of her class and questioned without her parent's knowledge and consent. The other part is the nature of the threat. A picture on Myspace with "Kill Bush" written across the top? It's not as if she e-mailed it to the White House or sent it to the President as a threat. I'm just not sure a picture in public domain like that would constitute a threat any more than a poster here saying "Kill Bush".

This is cool, if enough of us from around the world make death threats online then the airfares to get the SS to us to questions us would put such a massive dent in the USs' budget that they have to stop all these foreign wars.

I'll start, I'm going to kill George W. Bush with a big stick or possibly a pretzel.

Do you not think that we have people overseas? I hope they put you in one those private CIA prisons we have across the world.

Do you not think that we have people overseas? I hope they put you in one those private CIA prisons we have across the world.

Perhaps, but with hundreds or thousands of isolated threats...

It amazes me what kids will put on their MySpace pages, even college kids looking for jobs. Just a piece of advice--when it comes to getting a job, scrub your MySpace page and don't mention it anywhere in the process. Employers will look you up in a heartbeat.

If it weren't a law there would probably be more Presidential assasinations and attempts.:rolleyes:

Part of it was that the kid was taken out of her class and questioned without her parent's knowledge and consent. The other part is the nature of the threat. A picture on Myspace with "Kill Bush" written across the top? It's not as if she e-mailed it to the White House or sent it to the President as a threat. I'm just not sure a picture in public domain like that would constitute a threat any more than a poster here saying "Kill Bush".

Yes it does. It advocates the murder of the US President and should not be taken likely despite the suspect.

Dont think ANYTHING you write on the internet in any public forum is not being read by some version of a US intelligence agency. They have bots that do nothing but collect data based on key words along with live investigators that do nothiing but monitor thee internet..even local police are doing it.

If it is not encrypted you are dead. If your saying...ummm "threatning" in their subjective opinion things....and you will be made an example of so you can go back on tthe internet an warn everyone...then they can make a note of who you contacted and investigate them....keeps them occupied .

Hey they catch tons of kiddie porn morons in this way...so cut 'em a break .

http://img270.imageshack.us/img270/999/172660lqe0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I found this on myspace, do you think the SS will send me a finder's fee?

Do you not think that we have people overseas? I hope they put you in one those private CIA prisons we have across the world.

ROFLMFAO. You are a peach.

I find it interesting how the mother of the girl didn't object to her photo being in the paper. Makes one wonder about their agenda. Maybe fame seeking. Or as she confesses activism. :D

I think she should have been sent to JDC.

Yes it does. It advocates the murder of the US President and should not be taken likely despite the suspect.

its freedom of expression simple as and as long as she’s not on a building near bush with a sniper rifle I don’t see the problem

On that note its time for an experiment: kill Bush, kill Blair, commit terrorism, aid the spread of communism and buy an electric car

Now I wonder which one they will arrest me for *waits for MI5 to burst through my door*

Note to mods: I do not support Al Qaeda or its affiliates I do however support ghosts stories that terrify people

"New Friend Request!"

"S.S Agent Smith" would like to be your friend!"

That's a very serious action to commit. I personally wish that they'd enforce it better so that it would set those people who think it's okay to threaten the US President as examples.

I am in full support of that law. Every threat is taken very serious. It is in best interests of National Security. If it weren't a law there would probably be more Presidential assasinations and attempts.

I say "zero-tolerance".

You support wasting of federal money to track down and question a 14 year old because of her myspace account?

Here I thought right wingers were for small government

Yes it does. It advocates the murder of the US President and should not be taken likely despite the suspect.

Or the nature of the threat? I thought the Secret Service would have bigger concerns than a picture on Myspace. The organization doesn't have unlimited funds to check every single threat made, so they must necessarily treat some lighter than others. An eighth-grader in California getting a visit from agents seems to be indicative of either a lack of actual threats to the President, and I seriously doubt that given the world's opinion of Bush, or they are having trouble finding the real threats and so spend time on the harmless threats to make it look like they're doing something.

I find it interesting how the mother of the girl didn't object to her photo being in the paper. Makes one wonder about their agenda. Maybe fame seeking. Or as she confesses activism. :D

I think she should have been sent to JDC.

That or she felt they did nothing wrong and as such felt no reason to remove her picture

It amazes me what kids will put on their MySpace pages, even college kids looking for jobs. Just a piece of advice--when it comes to getting a job, scrub your MySpace page and don't mention it anywhere in the process. Employers will look you up in a heartbeat.

They'll look you up in spite of it, I know when I go apply to the internship sites this summer, I'm sanitizing my facebook.

You support wasting of federal money to track down and question a 14 year old because of her myspace account?

Here I thought right wingers were for small government



Riggggggght like 40 year old bald dudes are not on my space saying they are 14 year old girls ....uh huh.....:D


And the 600 lb lady on MY space with the picture she put in from inside a frame she bought who just happens to be 44 years old...they can see through the monitor ....:D

But she says she is " petite " and sweet and good enough to eat...an elephant or two ...:p

You support wasting of federal money to track down and question a 14 year old because of her myspace account?

Here I thought right wingers were for small government

To set the Record straight: I am neither right nor left wing. I have "No Party Affiliation" due to my choice. This isn't the matter of big or small government. It is the matter of National Security and no it should not be taken lightly.

Riggggggght like 40 year old bald dudes are not on my space saying they are 14 year old girls ....uh huh.....:D


And the 600 lb lady on MY space with the picture she put in from inside a frame she bought who just happens to be 44 years old...they can see through the monitor ....:D

But she says she is " petite " and sweet and good enough to eat...an elephant or two ...:p

Because by the time they went to interview her at her school they still thought she might be a 40 year old bald man.

You're pretending to be this dense aren't you.

It is the matter of National Security and no it should not be taken lightly.

are pretzels a matter of national security as well? (vile things bleh!)

are pretzels a matter of national security as well? (vile things bleh!)

If they're not then they should be, all that salt is bad for your heart *nods*

Or the nature of the threat? I thought the Secret Service would have bigger concerns than a picture on Myspace. The organization doesn't have unlimited funds to check every single threat made, so they must necessarily treat some lighter than others. An eighth-grader in California getting a visit from agents seems to be indicative of either a lack of actual threats to the President, and I seriously doubt that given the world's opinion of Bush, or they are having trouble finding the real threats and so spend time on the harmless threats to make it look like they're doing something.

How do you know that there wasn't a more credible suspicious threat in that area and while investigating it they stopped by the school for 15 minutes to check out a lessor threat? Our government is a lot smarter than you're giving them credit for. You have no way of knowing what the Secret Service's agenda is or was. There could be numerous reasons behind what they were doing.

To set the Record straight: I am neither right nor left wing. I have "No Party Affiliation" due to my choice. This isn't the matter of big or small government. It is the matter of National Security and no it should not be taken lightly."No Party Affiliation" doesn't mean you're not left or right wing.

its freedom of expression simple as and as long as she’s not on a building near bush with a sniper rifle I don’t see the problem

On that note its time for an experiment: kill Bush, kill Blair, commit terrorism, aid the spread of communism and buy an electric car

Now I wonder which one they will arrest me for *waits for MI5 to burst through my door*

Note to mods: I do not support Al Qaeda or its affiliates I do however support ghosts stories that terrify people

Yeah, I think it's fun to ALLAH AKHBAR insert intelligence keywords into otherwise bin laden innocuous kill the Americans conversations.

Probably makes the destroy the great Satan data miners feel like Europe your holocaust is coming having people arrested just for all who disrespect Islam must die wasting their time.

"No Party Affiliation" doesn't mean you're not left or right wing.

That is why before I mentioned NPA, I had stated that I am neither Right nor Left wing.

An eighth-grader in California getting a visit from agents seems to be indicative of either a lack of actual threats to the President, and I seriously doubt that given the world's opinion of Bush, or they are having trouble finding the real threats and so spend time on the harmless threats to make it look like they're doing something.Maybe they are only investigating harmless threats because secretly they hope the serious threats are made good on.

You have no way of knowing what the Secret Service's agenda is or was. There could be numerous reasons behind what they were doing.

maybe they were out to give young girls pre-Halloween scares

After all we should trust the government there the smart ones :rolleyes:

How do you know that there wasn't a more credible suspicious threat in that area and while investigating it they stopped by the school for 15 minutes to check out a lessor threat? Our government is a lot smarter than you're giving them credit for. You have no way of knowing what the Secret Service's agenda is or was. There could be numerous reasons behind what they were doing.

Or they could have just been there because they wanted to talk to her. Unless you've got some inside line into Secret Service activity, you've nothing more than speculation.

Or they could have just been there because they wanted to talk to her. Unless you've got some inside line into Secret Service activity, you've nothing more than speculation.

ditto

ditto

So, we can at least keep this discussion to the one thing we know they did, rather than a bunch of wild speculation about what else the agents might have doing. Good.

Can we say gross overreaction by the federal government and an egregious waste of my tax dollars investigating this.

Can we say gross overreaction by the federal government and an egregious waste of my tax dollars investigating this.

We can unless you're KB then the government is always right.

That is why before I mentioned NPA, I had stated that I am neither Right nor Left wing.

You're just Crazy Wing.

How do you know that there wasn't a more credible suspicious threat in that area and while investigating it they stopped by the school for 15 minutes to check out a lessor threat? Our government is a lot smarter than you're giving them credit for. You have no way of knowing what the Secret Service's agenda is or was. There could be numerous reasons behind what they were doing.

...like maybe stopping for doughnuts and coffee.

...like maybe stopping for doughnuts and coffee.

Maybe they couldn't find any Arabs to oppress that week so they settled for a teenage girl?

ha ha cool.

i'm going to kill bush next weekend. with pixie sticks.

Maybe they couldn't find any Arabs to oppress that week so they settled for a teenage girl?

Maybe they have problems with women. Their mother never loved them enough?

"New Friend Request!"

"S.S Agent Smith" would like to be your friend!"

You're really reaching for the Schutzstaffel connotation there, aren't you?

ha ha cool.

i'm going to kill bush next weekend. with pixie sticks.

Careful, he might think the pixie sticks are filled with his favorite powdered substance in the world: Cocaine!

I'm adding her like right now :p :sniper:

She got questioned by the secret service? Awesome! You wanna know something? When I was a kid I posted all kinds of death threats on the internet to try and get this to happen, and it never did, and nwo that I'm an adult I don't do that anymore because I know I will be shipped off to eastern europe and have electrodes attached to my nipples. And this bitch just writes an insincere death threat on her MySpace and she gets questioned? What's this country coming to!?

She got questioned by the secret service? Awesome! You wanna know something? When I was a kid I posted all kinds of death threats on the internet to try and get this to happen, and it never did, and nwo that I'm an adult I don't do that anymore because I know I will be shipped off to eastern europe and have electrodes attached to my nipples. And this bitch just writes an insincere death threat on her MySpace and she gets questioned? What's this country coming to!?

Awwww no scene points for you

We can unless you're KB then the government is always right.

Not sure who that is. Shouldn't they be out looking for Hassam Abim Hallam of the Islamic Martyr Brigade who wants death to the infidels and is currently buying up ammonium nitrate in New Jersey to blow up a tunnel or something rather than Ms. Julie Dwyer of Polk Elementry School? I understand her science project is a volcano that explodes and lets out red lava but come on, prioritize the threats here. I'm sure Timmy will get the lava stain off his shirt.

Yeah, I know her sister. The girl who did it is a Freshman at my school.

THe response by the S.S. was a bit over the top, all things considered, but I can definitely understand the reasoning behind it.

Although the fact that the girl made the page the year before, and deleted it over the summer, makes it worse still that the Secfret Service had to come up like that.

when i was in college the first time, a college republican advocated killing clinton off as a joke.

he still got talked to.

Its not just big bad bushies that waste taxpayer money.

why the hell is a 14 year old threatening to kill anyone? let alone the President. Something wrong with the parents, the school system, the community or the direction society is taking as a whole.

She apparently had some pretty graphic stuff on there. and how does a little 14 year old have so many "frustrations" to vent about a President. I don't care how smart or aware she may or may not be, someone is feeding her these thoughts.

Maybe they have problems with women. Their mother never loved them enough?

maybe they knew who they were going to work for.... i wouldn't love them either.

why the hell is a 14 year old threatening to kill anyone? let alone the President. Something wrong with the parents, the school system, the community or the direction society is taking as a whole.
That seems a little hasty. She didn't make a serious threat, she posted a picture of the President with the words "Kill Bush" across the top and a drawing of a dagger piercing his hand. That sort of stuff is grade-school at best, more immature than seriously disturbing.

She apparently had some pretty graphic stuff on there. and how does a little 14 year old have so many "frustrations" to vent about a President. I don't care how smart or aware she may or may not be, someone is feeding her these thoughts.
What makes it so unbelievable that she thought this up herself? 14 year-olds are more than capable of forming their own opinions and taking political stances without being "fed" information. Taking it to the "Kill Bush" extreme is a sign of immaturity in political opinions, but if you read the article you'll note she took the picture down when she learned it was illegal. She was clearly aware of what she was doing and saying.

Awwww no scene points for you

naw, I'm kidding. But I would have looked like such a bad ass if the feds came for me at school.

I wasn't aware that the Secret service spends a lot of time on Myspace, but apparently they found a threat directed at the President (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20061015/D8KP09580.html) on a 14 year-old's page and pulled her out of class to question her about it.




I know that threats against the President are taken seriously, but I didn't know the Secret Service could question a person about their Myspace page. You'd think they have bigger threats to worry about than an eighth-grader in California.

Thoughts?

Coolest way to dodge a tough test EVER!

Yeah, I know her sister. The girl who did it is a Freshman at my school.

THe response by the S.S. was a bit over the top, all things considered, but I can definitely understand the reasoning behind it.

Although the fact that the girl made the page the year before, and deleted it over the summer, makes it worse still that the Secfret Service had to come up like that.

Well, let that be a lesson to her. If she want's to kill the president, she's only got about five months to a year to get the job done before the Feds come down on her like a two pound sandbag.

Careful, he might think the pixie sticks are filled with his favorite powdered substance in the world: Cocaine!

Well then, it's clearly a coded message. He's got some "Killer Pixie Sticks," and would like to share them with the President.

I think it seems like she got off fairly easy. Saying you want to kill someone is a pretty strong statement, and anyone charged with protecting the president has to take all threats seriously. And they let anyone make a MySpace account... if you don't know the user personally there's no way to know if it's some high school freshman venting anger or someone who truly does have intentions of killing the president. Obviously this time it was the former and therefor they just scared the daylights out of her.
Only part I don't understand is why anyone would want to kill him... I mean, he's a lousy president no question about it, I don't know of any other who's managed to do so much damage to the country internationally and domestically simultaneously, and I would love to see him get kicked out of office and/or where the sun don't shine, but to want to kill him is taking it rather far.

This is cool, if enough of us from around the world make death threats online then the airfares to get the SS to us to questions us would put such a massive dent in the USs' budget that they have to stop all these foreign wars.

Bad idea.

The US just has to print more money because the Dollar is the reserve for oil trading. And to maintain that position, US will have to enforce its supremacy by using its military...which means more foreign wars.

Well then, it's clearly a coded message. He's got some "Killer Pixie Sticks," and would like to share them with the President.



They still make pixie sticks? I lost about three teeth with help from them damn things...kiddie crack...from back in thee day .:D

This is cool, if enough of us from around the world make death threats online then the airfares to get the SS to us to questions us would put such a massive dent in the USs' budget that they have to stop all these foreign wars.

I'll start, I'm going to kill George W. Bush with a big stick or possibly a pretzel.

Didn't he already, almost commit suicide by pretzel?

Well, let that be a lesson to her. If she want's to kill the president, she's only got about five months to a year to get the job done before the Feds come down on her like a two pound sandbag.

This is good to know. Sounds like plenty of time to me.

why the hell is a 14 year old threatening to kill anyone? let alone the President. Something wrong with the parents, the school system, the community or the direction society is taking as a whole.

She apparently had some pretty graphic stuff on there. and how does a little 14 year old have so many "frustrations" to vent about a President. I don't care how smart or aware she may or may not be, someone is feeding her these thoughts.

Actually I'm more impressed that a 14 year old is taking a MOLECULAR BIOLOGY class!!!

If it weren't a law there would probably be more Presidential assasinations and attempts.

We can only hope.

If you threaten the president anywhere I think you should expect a visit from the secret service.

I wasn't aware that the Secret service spends a lot of time on Myspace, but apparently they found a threat directed at the President (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20061015/D8KP09580.html) on a 14 year-old's page and pulled her out of class to question her about it.




I know that threats against the President are taken seriously, but I didn't know the Secret Service could question a person about their Myspace page. You'd think they have bigger threats to worry about than an eighth-grader in California.

Thoughts?
Why do you hate freedom?