Submitted by Michael Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog [4],
It seems as if the never-ending stream of American plebs being arrested for the most innocuous activities, things that were seen as completely normal just a few years ago, is continuing its irrational march forward toward peak nanny-statism, at which point everything will be criminalized.
This disturbing trend has been a key topic for Liberty Blitzkrieg in 2014. Here are the three most recent absurd cases from July and August alone:
South Carolina Woman Arrested for Cursing in Front of Her Kids [5]
The “Nanny States of America” – Mother Arrested for Allowing 7-Year-Old Son Walk to Park Alone [6]
Connecticut Man Arrested for “Passive Aggressive” Behavior to a Watermelon [7]
The latest incident involves a Kentucky man, 31-year-old James Evans, who was arrested and spent eight nights in jail for posting song lyrics to Facebook. No, this is not a joke. Local station 14News reported that:
Family members say Evans posted the following on Facebook on August 24:
“Student bodies lying dead in the halls, a blood splattered treatise of hate. Class dismissed is my hypothesis, gun fire ends in debate.”
The family says it’s lyrics from the song “Class Dismissed” by the band Exodus.
Mike Drake, the Muhlenberg County school resource officer, says multiple agencies received calls concerned about the post.
So Evans was arrested for terroristic threatening.
The warrant says Evans was arrested because, “he threatened to kill students and or staff at school.”
“Whenever we found out that he actually got arrested for lyrics, we were all shocked,” said Ashelynn. “We couldn’t believe that you could do that or get in trouble for that. I don’t personally agree with the band or the music but I agree that you should have the choice to listen to it if you want to.”
Maybe I’m missing something here, but how is posting lyrics equal threatening to “kill students and or staff at school.” Also, notice how the word “terrorist” is thrown into the charge. As I have said for years, the entire sham “war on terror” will be used to justify putting regular citizens in jail for pretty much anything.
Think eight nights in jail is more than sufficient for this non-crime? Think again. It appears Mr. Evans will be forced to undergo a mental evaluation [8].
While the lyrics in question certainly don’t leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling, they pale in comparison to the lyrics I recall listening to growing up and which my classmates recited endlessly. After all, isn’t this supposed to be America. Aren’t we supposed to have a right to offend?
The band Exodus, which composed the song agrees. We learn from Consequence of Sound [9]that:
In response to the incident, Exodus’ manager released a statement, explaining that while the “band does not promote or condone terrorists, threats or bullying,” they are “somewhat baffled by the fact that this man being charged for what seems against his first amendment rights of Freedom Of Speech.”
In a separate statement, guitarist Gary Holt explained that the song “was written as a view through the eyes of a madman and in no way endorses that kind of fucked up behavior. It was the Virginia Tech massacre perpetrated by Seung-Hui Cho that was the subject and inspiration to write the song, one in which we put the brakes on playing it live after the Sandy Hook shooting, as we did not want to seem insensitive.”
Holt added, “As some of us in Exodus are parents, of course these things hit close to home; it’s every parent’s worst fear. These moments are the stuff of nightmares, and life, as well as music, isn’t always pretty. But when we start to overreact to things like lyrics by any band, including Exodus, and start arresting people, we are caving in to paranoia and are well on our way to becoming an Orwellian society.”
Good thing the terrorists didn’t win or anything…
