Man Arrested at Home For Calling Cops Racist on Facebook.

[SomethingFishy]

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/11/wisc-police-come-mans-home-arrest-him

In 2012, Thomas G. Smith had seen an Arena Police Department Facebook post thanking community members for helping to detain two black children. Smith responded with a profanity-laced message about how Arena officers were racists.

A federal lawsuit obtained by the StarTribune said that Officer Nicholas Stroik had deleted Smith's comments, and the comments of others who accused police of targeting suspects based on race.

Smith then received a call from officers, who wanted to know if he had posted the comment. Smith replied that he had posted the Facebook message, and that he had meant it.

That night, officers arrested him at his home in Arena. He was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful use of computerized communications.

More at the link...

The incident happened in 2012. Smith won an appeal in July and has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his civil rights were violated.. He damn well better win.. they came to his house and arrested him for calling them names. If this is now a crime (Inciting Violence? Really?) they are going to need a new prison wing for Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, Savage, Ingram, et al...

I guess we can add "unlawful use of computerized communications" to resisting arrest, disturbing the peace, blocking the sidewalk, public nuisance, jaywalking and unlawful assembly, as part of the list of bullshit charges cops use to harass you.

[SummerSnow]

1. But this guy didnt even get a visit from the police in Wisconsin after this....

GOP activist says escaped gorilla was "ancestor" of Michelle Obama
Posted: Jun 12, 2009 7:19 PM EDT
Updated: June 19, 2009 09:28 PM

By Logan Smith - bio | email

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A state Republican activist has admitted to and apologized for calling a gorilla that escaped from the Riverbanks Zoo Friday an "ancestor" of First Lady Michelle Obama.

A screen capture of the comment, made on the Internet site Facebook, was obtained by FITSNews, the website of South Carolina politico Will Folks.The image shows a post by an aide to state Attorney General Henry McMaster describing Friday morning's gorilla escape at Columbia's Riverbanks Zoo.

Longtime SCGOP activist and former state Senate candidate Rusty DePass responded with the comment, "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."DePass told WIS News 10 he was talking about First Lady Michelle Obama.DePass has been involved in state politics for decades, and helped elect Republican Governor Jim Edwards in 1974. He was an early South Carolina supporter of former President George W. Bush in 2000.

The comment has been removed from Facebook. DePass' Facebook page has also been deleted.

http://www.wistv.com/story/10526195/gop-activist-says-escaped-gorilla-was-ancestor-of-michelle-obama

[raging moderate]

3. Just the good ol' boys projecting again.

Dumping on other people the nastiness that is really more descriptive of them.

[raging moderate]

2. These cops are despicable bullies.

[lunasun]

4. OK then.....not !

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. He oughta charge THEM with malicious prosecution too.

[toddwv]

6. The prosecutors were right there in bed with these cops...

"Prosecutors asserted that his words had not been protect by the First Amendment of the Constitution because they could incite violence. Smith was convicted, and sentenced to probation with community service. "


Wow...

[DallasNE]

11. What?

"Could incite violence" sounds just like preventative detention to me. Where do you draw the line? And who "convicted" him, a jury?

This is not from the Onion, is it?

[toddwv]

12. IDK

I've heard he was convicted by a jury but haven't confirmed it.

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R

''The further a society drifts from Truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.'' ~George Orwell

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. ^ n/t

[vkkv]

8. Yeah, maybe it IS A GOOD THING that

2nd Amendment rights are lobbied for.

[SomethingFishy]

10. So he could pull his gun and get shot?

Your weapon isn't going to protect you from the police or the government.

[azmom]

18. It protected Bundy and his ill.

[SomethingFishy]

19. Yeah because the government didn't want another Waco on their hands..

If they want you they will get you, Do you people really have no idea what you are up against? You think bad press will continue to hold them back?

Do me a favor, save yourself, don't draw down on the government.

[davidn3600]

13. What was the actual post?

Did he suggest violence or make a threat in any way? Or did he just call them racist?

There is a pretty important difference.

[SomethingFishy]

16. According to the articles no threats.. just called them racist...

the posts were deleted so I guess there was no way to repost the original..

[newfie11]

14. Freedom of speech is gone now too!

WTH is next!

[onenote]

15. Here is the appellate opinion reversing the conviction

https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=115994

[Savannahmann]

17. Astonishing.

All these people swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, and none of them have read it.

Look, this guy may be a colossal ass. Almost certainly I'd never allow him into my house. But the First Amendment is sacrosanct IMO. We can not ever allow a little change to how vital it is. Because each one is used as a foundation for the next. The Police just didn't like someone heaping anything but praise upon them, and for once, the Courts seem to have reminded people that the Constitution is the highest law in our land, and we all must live by it.

I had a conversation earlier this week with a co-worker/friend. He was talking about replacing the flag in front of his house. He knew I had a flag pole from the previous owners. He asked why I wasn't flying an American flag. I told him because I could not abide what it has come to represent. He got irate. He got furious. He started lamenting all those who died for that flag. BTW, he is a Veteran. I calmly pointed out that when I was reaching my adult years, the flat stood for something, the principles contained in that Constitution, were embodied by the flag. That around the world, people knew that the Embassy where that flag flew would obey the law, always. Because our authority was derived from the Constitution.

When I was a boy, I remember hearing how the Communist/Soviet governments could and would raid your home without any judicial oversight. They could jail you, torture you into confessing, and then send you to prison. East Germany had so many secret police and informers that it was estimated that fully one tenth of the population was involved in surveillance of the remainder.

What has become of the United States is closer to that hated example. The flag has come to represent that might makes right. We have the power, and no one can stop us, and we will do whatever we want. Assassinate American Citizens? No problem, we have diminished the 5th Amendment to the point where a review by law is a man in a cheap suit nodding his head. The Fourth Amendment has been so reduced that we are now conducting warrants based upon hunches.

We have very few examples where someone, anyone in authority stands up and says no, this is wrong, and the Constitution says it's wrong. So while this is gratifying to one extent, it furthers my feelings of loss at all the ones we have talked about here, the ones where people saw constitutional rights eroded.

Debacles like this, where you have to speak to tell the police you are availing yourself of the right to remain silent. It seems that merely remaining silent is perfectly acceptable as proof of your guilt. http://www.naag.org/right-to-remain-silent-the-supreme-court-clarifies-miranda.php

[TeamPooka]

20. Gosh the police are soooo sensitive. Hurt feelings matter people!

[bvar22]

21. ....and the net draws a little tighter.

*