cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/1255681
Archived version: https://archive.ph/tAw7a
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230809205032/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66457089
So like it’s cool just to murder people exercising their free speech on the internet?
“I hear Biden is coming to Utah. Digging out my old ghillie suit and cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle.”
“Perhaps Utah will become famous this week as the place a sniper took out Biden the Marxist.”
Those probably cross the line and might not be protected speech. Especially when posted with pictures of the firearms and equipment in question.
What line? Where is this line defined? Can you cite some law that he was breaking that necessitated a death-squad to pay him a visit?
Among other possibilities, Utah Code § 76-5-107
(2) (a) An actor commits a threat of violence if the actor: (i) (A) threatens to commit an offense involving bodily injury, death, or substantial property damage; and (B) acts with intent to place an individual in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, substantial bodily injury, or death; or (ii) makes a threat, accompanied by a show of immediate force or violence, to do bodily injury to an individual. (b) A threat under this section may be express or implied.
They showed up with an arrest warrant. Unless and until there’s some evidence where they just rolled up with the intent to murder him, I’m going to presume that’s not the case.
They are cops doing a no-knock raid at 6:00am, of course they are had intent to murder.
Sounds like (purely speculation, since the details aren’t available) he pulled a gun on or otherwise threatened the agents coming to arrest him, based on his other behavior. Told them to come back with a warrant, they did so, and he took issue?
Either way, posting on the internet about assassinating government officials, regardless of whether it’s serious or not, was probably not the smartest opening move.
That won’t stop the far right from turning him into a martyr
They sure are big on traitors and hostile to the rule of law lately.
Lately?
The right used to at least pretend to be into law and order.
They still pretend, they just also pretend that the rule of law is different than what it is.
You know how many far-righters have “back the blue” and thin blue line bumper stickers?
And yet here were are in a thread about the state murdering someone over words and liberals are falling over themselves to “back the blue” hardest.
“Next up on Fox News… The libs have weaponized the FBI and are executing innocent conservatives for exercising their freedumb of speech!”
Yes, the parties of Capital use the state-monopoly on violence to enforce the status quo. How old are you that you don’t realize this?
I like it when bad things happen to right wingers
Same, those fucking “right-wingers” advocating for universal healthcare, the overthrow of capitalism, and the uprising for the proletariat.
Oh what’s that? That isn’t a right-wing thing? Well I just had the federal government murder you, and obviously the federal government would only murder “right-wingers” so I’m sure it’s you who was mistaken.
What’s this soft-ass “oh, but what if they do it to you?” bullshit? I’ll be mad about that a per-case basis when it happens but i’m not gonna be upset some dumbfuck I probably wanted clapped anyways gets clapped.
Hot Take. Cops killing people in no knock-raids is bad, even if you think “they deserved it.”
You think this guy was left wing?
No? But if it were politically convenient, he would be framed that way and he’d be dead no matter what. Bsically if you think that the government should murder “right-wingers” you are just a fascist.
I don’t know that I would call that fascism. I think leftist governments (which we do not have) killing right wingers (frequently actual fascists) has been an unfortunate but inevitable part of defending revolutions historically. But a right wing government killing right wingers is something else entirely.
We can more or less expect our right wing government to kill leftists, because it has always done that, continues to, and would be doing a lot more of it now if there were actually more leftists wielding any sort of power. You can about count on one hand the number of right wingers the cops have murdered for political reasons, so I’m not sure the “what if they do it to us” hypothetical is all that illuminating. Because again, they always have been doing it to us.
You might find it in poor taste, but I can understand somebody not being too broken up about the shoe being on the other foot for once. Also, if this guy was posting about shooting the “Marxist” joe Brandon, I’m pretty sure he’s exactly the type of person who would happily shoot as many actual marxists as possible given the right opportunity. So I guess I’m not all that broken up about it either.
Though i do wonder if he had dementia. In which case it is in fact somewhat sad.
A leftwing government killing actual fascists can be fine. A right wing government deploying door-to-door death squads on people some of which happen to include actual fascists is never fine and the only people cheering that shit on are piece of shit cowards or just Liberals, for short.
Well, yes… but what does that have to do with any of this? Is that actually how you would characterize what happened to this guy? Or that the people laughing at the irony of his demise are “liberals cheering on door to door death squads?” That just seems like a deliberate misreading of both the events and the reaction to them.
Look at the comments in this thread. People think that what happened to him is justified, correct, and expected.
Top voted comment is police apologia and giving them the benefit of the doubt, which if you’ve paid attention, should never be granted to the police.
Second comment is “what did he think would happen for threatening the life of a sitting president.” As if posting on facebook should obviously result in the FBI coming to kill you in a predawn no-knock raid.
Tons more with similar sentiment that obviously the police are the good guys here and it was correct that this guy should have been killed by him.
In bad country you can be punished or even jailed for talking about government officials. Not here in America though.
What country don’t deal with violent threats against their politician seriously? Are you suggesting people should act as if threats are protected speech
Yes. Until the person takes an action like bringing a rifle to within range of the president and actually attempting to assassinate said president, then it’s free speech and you should stop being a fascist.
