2 Mexicans deny terrorism, face 30 years for tweet

[Nuclear Unicorn]

Source: Associated Press

A former teacher turned radio commentator and a math tutor who lives with his mother sit in a prison in southern Mexico, facing possible 30-year sentences for terrorism and sabotage in what may be the most serious charges ever brought against anyone using a Twitter social network account.

Prosecutors say the defendants helped cause a chaos of car crashes and panic as parents in the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz rushed to save their children because of false reports that gunmen were attacking schools.

Gerardo Buganza, interior secretary for Veracruz state, compared the panic to that caused by Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds." But he said the fear roused by that account of a Martian invasion of New Jersey "was small compared to what happened here."

"Here, there were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children, because they thought these things were occurring at their kids' schools," Buganza told local reporters.

The charges say the messages caused such panic that emergency numbers "totally collapsed because people were terrified," damaging service for real emergencies.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/2-mexicans-deny-terrorism-face-30-years-tweet-171523436.html

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wow

30 years is too stiff but this is monumentally, insanely, enormously stupid.

No need for trial or sentencing, just make them appear at the next PTA meeting. I'm sure the parents will be more than happy to express their discontent.

[TheMadMonk]

1. Mexico where the kidnapping of children and attacking schools...

...is a way of life for an entire class of criminals.

Ex-teacher and radio "personality", he(they) knew exactly what they were doing.

30 years seems reasonably fair to me.

[IamK]

2. with good behavior they will be out in

25 - 27 years... seems about right... The Mexican prison experience will get them ready for hell...

[Nuclear Unicorn]

3. I don't know why that is a good thing

If their prisons are as deplorable as is being intimated such a thing would be an outrage in the US. Just because the prison is elsewhere in the world or the offenders are absolute jerks doesn't make that more acceptable.

[boppers]

4. For repeating (retweeting?) a rumor? Wow.

The article also inadvertently notes that if it *did* actually happen, the emergency system and civil order would partially collapse anyways.

[expatriate2mex]

5. He is CLAIMING he retweeted a rumor,

he said in the tweet his sister in law called him about it. He knew exactly what he was doing.

[boppers]

6. Check the pen register.

No call from his sister-in-law, done deal.... assuming that pens are kept in MX.

[expatriate2mex]

7. Yep, good point.nt

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. educate the innerwebz n00b plz --kbaithanx