Man faces charges for threat made during funeral for police Sgt. Kenneth Steil

So,
Sgt Kenneth Steil was a very well decorated Detroit Police Sargent, who lost his life, due to complications from a gunshot wound, suffered in the line of duty. Sgt. Steil was apparently a very well liked policeman, known for helping the community. A link below, if you want to know a little more about the man. He seemed to be a great human and a great policeman.
Sgt. Steil

Now,
News Channel 'WXYZ' had a live stream of his funeral, so people could pay their respects.
One man, decided to do something completely different and now he is facing serious charges.
Man Facing Charges After 'Threat'

Here is my question,
Should this mans facebook post be considered a threat?
For those of you who cannot read the article... During the live stream of the funeral, a man posted
"maybe I should drop a bomb on the building to get rid of the rest of y'all" followed by multiple 'cry-laugh' emojis, along with "100" emojis and a numberblock, building and cop emoji, most likely symbolizing a bomb, building, and police.

In my opinion, this man should not have been charged with any crime, let alone one that will be investigated federally.
Apparently, this man has a pretty long rap sheet and a history of posting anti-cop rhetoric on social media, along with pictures of guns, drugs, gang affiliation, ect.
Hard as it is, I try to leave that alone when thinking about whether this is a valid threat or not.
With that said, this seems like a terrible attempt to look cool for his friends or troll, or a poor attempt at humor. Not a crime.
When I said this to people at work, who were watching the same news story, I was quickly showered with harsh criticism.
What about you, ATS... Am I in the wrong for feeling that this guy should NOT be charged with a crime?
When was the last time a serious threat had 6 'laughy faces' and a 'one-hunnid' emoji attached to it?

a reply to: o0oTOPCATo0o

1 step away from thought crimes really

As much I would like to see stupidity eradicated from humanity it's far from a crime

a reply to: o0oTOPCATo0o

Likely the threat charge will be dropped, but during the investigation information will come up that will lead to other unrelated charges they will use to prosecute him.

a reply to: o0oTOPCATo0o

You can't dismiss prior bad acts because that provides the nexus in the charge.

A threat must also need the alleged victim to feel as though the person making the threat has/had the ability to carry out the threat. This numbskull has pics w/"multiple firearms" to go along w/a lengthy criminal record.

If this were some 18 y.o. pimply faced teen who has PokeMon™ crap instead of dope and guns 'in plain view' (pics He posted; self claimed Certified Gang Affiliation)

Will the charge stick? It won't get to Court. 94% of the people incarcerated are there on a "plea bargain". This idiot will get some Community Service along w/a "court fee"..

Whose fault is this?

Sadly since 19 guys who couldn't fly a Cessna™ took over some commercial airliners and did maneuvers that 30 year Air Force pilots wouldn't even attempt and flew them into buildings, luckily leaving their indestructible Passports as evidence, the "Patriot Act" was passed and the rights of citizens lessened ever since...

a reply to: o0oTOPCATo0o

I respectfully disagree.

Lock him up.

Next case.

a reply to: Urantia1111

u forgot to state why he should be locked away, or charged with.

i think ill go bomb a puppy shelter

a reply to: Discotech

Agree completely

Inciting violence is pretty serious and depending on what they find is illegal. What will likely be done is to see if he has the means to actually do what he said or if his intent was likely to be carried out. If he has searches on his computer or phone about bombing or how to build or whatever then he should be charged and put away for a bit.

I had a stalker for about 4-5 years that made many threats...I had him locked up multiple times. He had many violent priors though. Haven't heard from him in around a year at this point though so guessing he is either still locked away or just moved on to the next person.

a reply to: JimNasium

Right,
But was it a valid threat??
There was no "i'm going to" or "Watch out because I am"

a reply to: odzeandennz

"maybe I should drop a bomb on the building to get rid of the rest of y'all" followed by multiple 'cry-laugh' emojis, along with "100" emojis and a numberblock, building and cop emoji, most likely symbolizing a bomb, building, and police.

That is a threat, should have been reported, investigated and acted upon. I'm glad it was.

i think ill go bomb a puppy shelter

Is also a threat, maybe that should also be reported?

he's a loser d-bag hate-spewing piece of sh# for sure, and IMO he probably *should* be in prison,
but what he's being investigated for is NOT a crime- he's exercising his freedom of speech to say dumb sh#. On the internet.

I'm all for punishing idiots- but not at the cost of MY right to freedom of speech, which any investigation based on someone talking sh# online is a clear violation of.

If the goobers won't respect the rights of the citizens laid out in the very documents that defined their power and limitations, then they have become treasonous and need to be called out as such.

Having said that, I personally don't like him (from what I've seen) and if we were living in a dictatorship where I had authority, I'd have him punished... but that's the *whole reason* we've got rights and laws here. To avoid personal jugement being used as the determining factor on if others get punished or not.

originally posted by: o0oTOPCATo0o
a reply to: JimNasium

Right,
But was it a valid threat??
There was no "i'm going to" or "Watch out because I am"

Let Me type how I think this went down...

Officer #1: "Hi Sarge, We need to be at the autopark at 10:30 to gather for the funeral procession.."
Sgt. Smith: "Thanks Frank. Can You contact 'Community Outreach' so they can handle the Press Release and Social media"?
Officer #2: "Sgt. Smith, We just got some douchebag contacting our farcebook™ page asking if He should bomb us at the funeral.."
Sgt. Smith" "What a stinker, our farcebook™ page? really? Go ahead and not even log out of farcebook™ and get a name and then run them for 'wants and warrants'...

The guns are the coffin nail. No guns and no prior acts and 'maybe' they'd just receive being "un-friended"?

a reply to: elevatedone

and who am i threatening exactly?

you should definitely report me to local authorities.
i think ill bomb my house

a reply to: lordcomac

Well said.
After some time to reflect and read what others have said, I feel like it was the right thing to do to investigate the hell out of the so called 'threat'
better safe than sorry..
Though, I still don't believe what he said was a crime, I think it is goods that he will be pulled aside, at the very least and studied to try and determine his intent.
From the looks of it, he will probably end up in jail sooner or later anyway. Or dead.
Dudes a scumbag.

Any and all threats against police need to be taken seriously and investigated at this point in USA history.

If they investigate him and he has bomb making materials or researched how to make a bomb... well then.. but if he hasn't and he just made an ignorant online statement then he'll be free to go.