A Florida woman has been charged with making death threats against the parent of a child who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting massacre because she thought the attack was a hoax, federal authorities announced Wednesday.
Lucy Richards, 57, of Tampa was arrested Monday after a grand jury indictment on four felony counts of transmitting threats, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
The threats were made Jan. 10, according to authorities, and included messages that said, "you gonna die, death is coming to you real soon," and "LOOK BEHIND YOU IT IS DEATH."
Another threat said, "there's nothing you can do about it," according to court documents.
The indictment said the threats were made in Palm Beach County to a person identified only by the initials "L.P." Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Schall wouldn't say how the threats were delivered or provide more details, nor would she provide further details about why federal authorities said Richards thought the attack was a hoax.
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Don't quite understand how this prosecution can go forward with the new administration's view of fake news.
ReplyDeleteAs repulsive as the comments are, I don't see them as being a threat of imminent death. Stalking, yes. Harassing, yes.
ReplyDelete"You gonna die, death is coming to you real soon"
ReplyDeleteYeah, 2:00 pm, why would anyone see that as a death threat? Because it IS a death threat.
I agree with 2pm's thoughts on this. There is no statement of action by the speaker in either statement.
ReplyDelete"You gonna die" is a factually correct statement, and doesn't include any statement of what the speaker will do. And while "death is coming to you real soon" is a closer call, it could be a wackadoo's prediction of what god will do.
If you're going to prosecute someone for something they said, it should be right on point as a threat with no ambiguity, and not merely offensive.
This Wednesday marks four years.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/newtown-remember-shooting-15-minutes-silence-44126363