8th Grader Charged With Terrorism

At age of 14 Thomas is facing terrorism changes. They grow up so fast these days. Must be something in the water.

MESA, Ariz. -- A middle school student who allegedly confronted a girl with a knife and was later found with a backpack full of restraining devices and weapons faces a series of charges, including terrorism, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said.

Thomas said Monday that the 14-year-old eighth grader at Powell Junior High in Mesa told police he planned to hold his class hostage.

The teen was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping, both Class 2 felonies. He also was charged with carrying a weapon on school grounds, a Class 1 misdemeanor, according to information from Thomas' office.

More at source

This child is a criminal, certainly, but not a terrorist.

NWO/Police State or whatever you want to call it...here it comes. Before too long picking your nose will be considered an act of terror. "Well, he could have been trying to detonate a bomb in his brain". /sarcasm

Where does it stop? With the current road we are taking, a lot of our individual freedoms are going to be lost.

Now I am not saying this kid shouldn't be locked away for a very long time, but in no way is he a terrorist. This is going to be an interesting ride for the next few years...hold on tight everyone.

County officials said two weeks ago, the teen had plotted a "Columbine-like" scenario, comparing his plans to the 1999 deadly shooting massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School.

The boy was arrested by Mesa police on March 23 at his home. Police said they discovered weapons in his backpack, including a loaded .25 caliber handgun with a full clip of bullets and one in the chamber, plus a box of bullets with about 28 rounds, Mesa Police spokeswoman Diana Tapia said.

Police also found three large knives, a lock, a metal chain and two rolls of duct tape in the backpack, Tapia said.

www.kpho.com...

Given the matériel this individual had on him and given the mayhem we have witnessed in the recent past on campus carried out by students, I don't think a terrorist charge is unreasonable.

It remains to be seen what the final charges will be after this case goes to the grand jury, but clearly this was a threat that needed to be taken seriously.



[edit on 2007/4/3 by GradyPhilpott]

My question will be, what in the heck is going on with our society and our children?

When this children start turning violent and is not only one isolated case but many . . . something is definitely wrong with our society.

Are we pushing our children to grow to fast too soon?

Or are we stopping our children from learning about life and consequences in the hope that they do not grow to fast?

Something is not working and we better start looking what is . . .soon, before we lose our youngsters to the criminal system.

I agree with Grady.

The article says he wanted to take hostages, so if that's true, he must have wanted something to secure their release...sounds like terrorism to me.

on the subject of Terrorist. He had weapons, planned hostages. the works, seem to me he was bent on feeling his class with terror and that girl. so doesnt that make him a terrorist? a terrorist isnt a term defined by a middle eastern with a stick of dynamite. Dictionary.com defination of Terrorist is


Definitions of terrorist:
noun: a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
adjective: characteristic of someone who employs terrorism (especially as a political weapon)


Like djohnsto77 Said "
The article says he wanted to take hostages, so if that's true, he must have wanted something to secure their release...sounds like terrorism to me."

Whatever he wanted for that release is the reason for terrorism. Society has failed our youth. sad.

I wish I could simply remove the word "terrorist" from our vocabulary, because it becomes increasingly misused, and used as a justification for almost anything.

In the past, pre-9/11 Terrorism was pretty much solely defined as something with political goals.

Call me crazy, but I'm not sure that a 14 year old really has political goals..

Originally posted by Inannamute
I wish I could simply remove the word "terrorist" from our vocabulary,

Funny you should mention that. You're wish may be coming true. The Army Times reports that the Armed Services Committee is banishing the phrase "Global War on Terror" from their budget.

The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget.

This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee’s Democratic leadership doesn’t like the phrase.
source

The word "terrorist" is a bit overused. This is just a case of domestic violice and as you pointed out there were no polotical motivations. Bank robbers that take hostages aren't labeled terrorist. They're just bank robbers with hostages. A terrorist needs an agenda beyond the crime he's commiting to truely be a terrorist.

[edit on 4-4-2007 by dbates]

Originally posted by rotting_in_paradise
on the subject of Terrorist. He had weapons, planned hostages. the works, seem to me he was bent on feeling his class with terror and that girl. so doesnt that make him a terrorist? a terrorist isnt a term defined by a middle eastern with a stick of dynamite. Dictionary.com defination of Terrorist is


Definitions of terrorist:
noun: a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
adjective: characteristic of someone who employs terrorism (especially as a political weapon)


Like djohnsto77 Said "
The article says he wanted to take hostages, so if that's true, he must have wanted something to secure their release...sounds like terrorism to me."

Whatever he wanted for that release is the reason for terrorism. Society has failed our youth. sad.

So the bully stealing lunch money from the nerdy kid between 1st and second period is a terrorist? I bet it is pretty scary for the kid getting jacked. Not only that but what kind of political objective could this kid possibly have? More turkey on the subs? Come on...

There are alot of laws introduced in the Patriot Act that we expected to be used on people from other countries to cause harm to this country.

Woe to us when those laws are to start being enacted on our own citizens for crimes which wouldn't have fallen under those terms previously. Particularly the laws which remove the rights to an attorney and such.

Ignorant kids like this is one of the main reasons why I Home School my 13 year old boy.
I hope they charge him with anything they can and permanently get him out of the public school system.

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
Ignorant kids like this is one of the main reasons why I Home School my 13 year old boy.
I hope they charge him with anything they can and permanently get him out of the public school system.

I agree, I would not put a child in the public school system for anything. They have drills in school and the kids have to hide under the tables in the cafeteria, how awful.

I agree that this kid needs to be severely disciplined and this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated but to enact the label terrorist is opening a whole can of worms and I don't think we will like the direction it could take in a broader spectrum.

Originally posted by PrepareForTheWorst

So the bully stealing lunch money from the nerdy kid between 1st and second period is a terrorist? I bet it is pretty scary for the kid getting jacked. Not only that but what kind of political objective could this kid possibly have? More turkey on the subs? Come on...

You're not being rational and you're creating one straw man argument after another.

A kid who steals lunch money would in most cases not come to the attention of police, but if he did petty larceny and maybe assault would be the worst he could be charged with.

However, if that kid brought a haversack full of loaded guns, enough ammo to hold police at bay, several knives and told his classmates that he would take the class hostage and start killing them if his demands weren't met, then a terrorist charge might be lodged.

What is worse about your straw man arguments is that no on knows if the terrorist charge will stick.

The grand jury might think just as you do and "no bill" the charge. Even if they give it a "true bill," the petit jury at his trial may return a "not guilty."

Hell, before it gets to trial, the DA might drop the charge in return for pleas of guilty to lesser charge.

Sometimes school officials and police go overboard with these cases, but the evidence as presented in this article suggests that this kid intended to cause great bodily harm to the staff and pupils of his school and tough measures needed to be taken.

To use this case as a sign that the republic is becoming a police state is ludicrous.

I too, fear a government with too much power. I do not poo-poo cases of abuse of police power and the diminution of Constitutionally protected rights.

I am a benefactor member of the National Rifle Association. I am a member of the NRA Golden Eagles, the Second Amendment Task Force, and the NRA James Madison Brigade.

I contact my legislators regarding issues that involve the abuse of power and the attacks on our personal liberties.

But, I am an activist who takes rational approaches to help keep America free.

Besides, helping to create hysteria, what do you do?


[edit on 2007/4/4 by GradyPhilpott]

I don't see anything in the article that says he had any demands to be met. Holding a class hostage does imply he wanted something in return, but nothing was mentioned to back that up.

I also noted that he was arrested at home and not at school.

I would like to know more about what actually was going on with this story. I am not in any way defending this kid, what he did cannot be tolerated.

But a terrorist?

Originally posted by interestedalways
I don't see anything in the article that says he had any demands to be met. Holding a class hostage does imply he wanted something in return, but nothing was mentioned to back that up.

You missed the point of the response. Mine was a hypothetical to counter a hypothetical by the poster to whom I was responding.

I also noted that he was arrested at home and not at school.

He showed the matériel to a classmate at school and the police went to his home later and found the items described by the classmate and arrested the subject.



[edit on 2007/4/4 by GradyPhilpott]

definition of terrist taken from wikipedia

Terrorism is a controversial and subjective term with multiple definitions. One definition means a violent action targetting civilians exclusively. Another definition is the use or threatened use of violence for the purpose of creating fear in order to achieve a political, economic, religious, or ideological goal

Source


he was planning a violent action targetting civilians exclusively.

not all terror acts need to be committed by muslims. not all terror acts need to nvolve suicide bombings or incendiary devices in public locations.


Edit: Just shortening the link to realign the page. (chissler)

[edit on 4/4/2007 by chissler]

that article mentioned the word terrorist in the headline and opening paragraph only....

The charges did not include terrorism and besides, what would you call it if someone held a class room of kids hostage?

I'm just glad that he was caught before he could "act".

[edit on 4-4-2007 by elevatedone]

[edit on 4-4-2007 by elevatedone]

Originally posted by elevatedone
that article mentioned the word terrorist in the headline and opening paragraph only....

The charges did not include terrorism and besides, what would you call it if someone held a class room of kids hostage?

I'm just glad that he was caught before he could "act".

[edit on 4-4-2007 by elevatedone]

[edit on 4-4-2007 by elevatedone]

Did you notice that he did not hold a classroom of kids hostage?

Do you understand the way the laws change as to the rights of the person being charged when they are charged under the laws enacted under the patriot act? Do you want your fellow countrymen to be denied legal representation and held in undisclosed places without notifying the families or others? It seems extreme to say this but it could easily happen once we start using this "card".

rotting_in_paradise
"..He had weapons, planned hostages. the works, seem to me he was bent on feeling his class with terror.."

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
"..A kid who steals lunch money would in most cases not come to the attention of police, but if he did petty larceny and maybe assault would be the worst he could be charged with.."

My initial thoughts on this article (as well as others that have come to light in the press in the light of Columbine) that perhaps this kid was considered the 'runt of the class' by his peers...picked-on, bullied either physically or worse, psychologically, to breaking point where he felt it necessary to return those feelings of terror and loss of control of his daily school-life to those in his class who meted out such behaviour towards him in the first place.

Had we such a free-gun-culture in the UK when I was a scrawny 5-foot-nothing 14 year old, having to endure physical and psychological bullying on a daily basis until i refused to attend school anymore, I can quite honestly say that at my very lowest times I would have happily filled my tormentors with hot lead. Those who bully, belittle, and abuse those weaker than themselves should be considered the REAL perpetrators of these such crimes, and deserve payback in-kind and in-full...no more and no less

[edit on 4-4-2007 by citizen smith]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Given the matériel this individual had on him and given the mayhem we have witnessed in the recent past on campus carried out by students, I don't think a terrorist charge is unreasonable.

It remains to be seen what the final charges will be after this case goes to the grand jury, but clearly this was a threat that needed to be taken seriously.

I agree that this person was disturbed and needs some serious help, however I fail to understand why this person is being charged with terrorism.

Dictionary dot com

From source link

ter·ror·ism The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons

THis kid seems to be a disturbed nut that needs a lot of help. Many times our youth are driven to extremes from things such as poor treatment from other class mates, dysfunctional home life, emotional issues, etc... I am not condoning his behaviour in any way, however if he can receive the help he needs while he is still young and actually live a productive life, then I am all for it. If you try him as a terrorist, he will have no rights and his entire life would be ruined. Using the logic that some are using in this thread, terrorism charges could be applied over a much larger group of offences - is that really where we want to head as a nation?