Well.....Told you so.

TEXARKANA, TEXAS – The Texarkana Texas Police Department arrested Ricky Jared Rankin, 24, at his Texarkana Texas home early this afternoon for Terroristic Threats.

Detectives immediately initiated an investigation and obtained an arrest warrant for Rankin this morning. As a precautionary step, local school districts were notified of the threats and the ongoing investigation. Officers and FBI agents arrested Rankin outside his home on Park Lane without incident and then served a search warrant of the property.

txktoday.com...
FULL DISCLOSURE: Evidence to the charge is not indicated within the article.

Terroristic Threats: Link


Are we seeing the beginnings of thought crimes? If you've not the will or ability to click on the source, they suspect posted a picture of an AR-15 with the caption "I'm thinking about finally going back to school."

Chief Dan Shiner said, “We don’t know if this post was meant as a joke or if he really planned to go to a school with a gun.

They didn't know, but arrested him anyway.

Seems to me if your going to arrest someone better be damn sure.

a reply to: JinMI

Ricky Jared Rankin

Dude has 3 names.....he's a killer for sure.


Let's see the evidence play out first .

It's only going to get worse EVERYWHERE, before it gets "better" ....

a reply to: neo96

Well, the did get a warrant. Thus the disclaimer.

Other than that, I've no idea what they have on him other than the posting. It's not smart regardless, however the precedent this sets is beyond dangerous.

Texarkana, TX!! Small town, I opened their first Hooters there.

People must be more cautious of what they say on social media. Maybe this guy was being a threat, maybe he was just being an idiot and bragging. Yeah, being an idiot is something you can be arrested for if it looks like you are making a threat. Never say you are going to kill someone, it can ruin your life if they ever die. You do not need to be proven guilty for something to ruin your life.

You can do years of good and make one mistake and it can ruin your life. That is how it is everywhere in societies.

He was yelling fire in a movie theatre.
Someone should have paid him a visit to check him out.

The fbi dropped the ball on the Florida kid.

yea, but if they didn't take this as a legitimate threat and then the worst case scenario happened, the president would use it a political ammo...


can't say this is 1st world problems, this is a united States of America problem...

a reply to: Bluntone22

Don't disagree, although I would say he was yelling it outside of the theater.

I'm curious to what they used to obtain the warrant.

a reply to: odzeandennz

Sure, this was a veiled threat. Due to recent actions, one that should be looked into.

However, as I've mentioned, a warrant and arrest? Granted, anything else other than what's in the article is up for speculation.

a reply to: JinMI

You do know he will get his day in court?

The first question I ask myself is, would a mentally stable person post that? The answer is of course, no they would not.
Second is, should a person who would post that have a gun? My answer is, no, he's not mentally stable.

What would be your personal solution? Ignore him or what exactly?

If they ignored it and he went on a shooting spree, who would be at fault?

a reply to: JinMI


I would think that his post should be enough for a search warrant.
But I'm not a lawyer.

a reply to: Blaine91555

You do know he will get his day in court?

I do. Will that too make the news cycle? Methinks not.

The first question I ask myself is, would a mentally stable person post that? The answer is of course, no they would not. Second is, should a person who would post that have a gun? My answer is, no, he's not mentally stable.

I'm not qualified to make such distinctions. Especially from only a few words, however I could deduce that it raises flags.

The rest, I've already addressed.

My guess is that charges won't stick, as the suspected threat is vailed. Probably not a good idea to make a threat and post a pic of the means by which you could follow through. Pretty sure this has always been illegal, just not very easily prosecuted

a reply to: JinMI

The law you linked to does seem to cover the arrest.

(a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to:

(1) cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;

(2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;

(3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building, room, place of assembly, place to which the public has access, place of employment or occupation, aircraft, automobile, or other form of conveyance, or other public place;

(4) cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service;

(5) place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury;  or

They had a warrant.

Detectives immediately initiated an investigation and obtained an arrest warrant for Rankin this morning.

Where did they do any wrong?

You can’t fix stupid.
Maybe just ban all social media so nitwits like this won’t have a platform to showcase their stupidity.

a reply to: Blaine91555

"with intent to."

That's why I posted the statute. I've no idea how they will prove his intent.

For clarification, beyond the linked article, I've no idea about what other evidence/history may have been taken into account to justify the warrant.

On its face, they saw this posting, and that's all they needed to obtain a warrant and arrest. That is dangerous...IF that is the only factors involved.

a reply to: JinMI



Aaaand free speech just died.

a reply to: JinMI

More than 20 arrests in the last couple of days, JinMi.

Link

One 19 year old girl was arrested for being complicit in a terroristic threat. She knew about a social media threat two younger girls were going to make to try to get the school to close for the day and didn't report it.

Yet...somehow...no LE could act on Nikolas Cruz's threat on youtube.

My children's school district got a threat and I nearly kept my kids home, but police apprehended the two guys responsible in the middle of the night.

I have mixed feelings about all of this. I don't support thought-policing, but I also don't believe we are being provided with the facts about certain school shootings.

ETA: I mean, if they want me to feel terrorized and don't want to inspire confidence in the police and FBI...then f* it. I'll throw my hands in the air and keep my kids home. I am pretty fed up.