E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Detroit police arrest four for threats against cops
Detroit police arrested four men for allegedly threatening on Facebook to kill police officers, police Chief James Craig said Sunday.

One of the men reportedly posted: “All lives can’t matter until black lives matter. Kill all white cops.”

The arrests of the four African-American Detroiters follow Thursday’s slayings of five Dallas officers by a black sniper during a protest march. The man blamed for the killings and injuries to seven others reportedly told police he wanted to kill as many white cops as possible. With the Dallas ambush of police officers last week and calls for more cop killings, Craig said he’s taking seriously the social media threats that his staff uncovered.

Craig said he plans to contact federal, state and local prosecutors to determine what charges may be brought against the suspects.

“Social media is new territory, and while it’s been established that hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, we’re talking about people specifically saying on Facebook they want to kill white police officers,” said Craig, who said the Police Department’s counter-terrorism unit saw the alleged threats while monitoring social media.

“If someone threatens to kill the president, that person would be arrested and prosecuted. How is it any different when someone threatens to kill white cops?”

But one legal expert said it’s murky determining where free speech ends and illegal behavior begins.

“Certainly, posting that kind of thing on social media is a bad thought,” said professor Larry Dubin of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. “But having a bad thought isn’t necessarily a crime. There are a lot of issues at play here, and I think a lot would depend on what exactly was said.”

One of the Detroit men reportedly posted on Facebook that Johnson was a “hero” for killing the Dallas officers, and added: “He inspired me to do the exact same thing.”

Police said another man posted: “It’s time to wage­ war and shoot the police first.” The man told people to contact him to organize the effort to shoot officers.

The fourth suspect posted pictures and videos of officers being shot on his Facebook wall and wrote: “This needs to happen more often,” according to police.

Craig said Monday two of the four suspects are no longer in custody. The two others are in custody on unrelated misdemeanor warrants.
Posted by: Steve White 2016-07-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=461334