McCarthyism: Alive and Well

[Blubbartron]

http://news.yahoo.com/teenagers-soci...131320139.html

The case of teenager Cameron Dambrosio might serve as an object lesson to young people everywhere about minding what you say online unless you are prepared to be arrested for terrorism.

The Methuen, Mass., high school student was arrested last week after posting online videos that show him rapping an original song that police say contained “disturbing verbiage” and reportedly mentioned the White House and the Boston Marathon bombing. He is charged with communicating terrorist threats, a state felony, and faces a potential 20 years in prison. Bail is set at $1 million.

Whether the arrest proves to be a victory in America's fight against domestic terrorism or whether Cameron made an unfortunate artistic choice in the aftermath of the Boston bombing will become clear as the wheels of justice advance. What is apparent now, however, is that law enforcement agencies are tightening their focus on the social media behavior of US teenagers – not just because young people often fit the profile of those who are vulnerable to radicalization, but also because the public appears to be more accepting of monitoring and surveillance aimed at preventing attacks, even at the risk of government overreach.

“When I was young, calling a bomb threat to your high school because you didn’t want to go to school that day was treated with a slap on the wrist. Try that nowadays and you’re going to prison, no question about it. They are taking it more seriously now,” says Rob D'Ovidio, a criminal justice professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia who specializes in high-tech crime.

Teenagers are generally blissfully unaware that law enforcement agencies are creating cyber units to track and investigate developing ways that criminals, or would-be criminals, research, socialize, and plot nefarious actions, from child molestation to domestic terrorism. The Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, fit this profile: Each maintained a YouTube page and Twitter feed that promoted the teachings of a radical Muslim cleric. alongside innocuous postings about music and sports. For law enforcement officials, filtering what does and does not constitute a threat is a delicate balancing act that, since the April 15 bombing, may be tilting to the side of additional caution over individuals' free speech.

“The danger of this in light of the tragedy in Boston is that law enforcement is being so risk-averse they are in danger of crossing that line and going after what courts would ultimately deem as free speech,” Mr. D'Ovidio says.

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Three people were killed and at least 260 injured in the two bomb blasts near the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15. Since then, questions have been raised about how authorities missed signals, especially after alerts from Russian intelligence, that one of the bombing suspects had become radicalized. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, killed after a gunfight with police, had been under surveillance by Russia for six months when he traveled there in 2011 and 2012, besides his activity on social media.

“The bottom line is that the public wants to know, after the fact, why [an attack] was not stopped.… Most Americans are prepared to maintain a sophisticated watch on this without [government] overreach, but most Americans also feel if these things can be stopped before they begin, they want to see that happen,” says Michael Greenberger, a law professor at the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security.

Some authorities say that zooming in on unusual behavior online fits squarely with how police have conducted random searches on the street.

“The greatest mystery in life is the human mind. We don’t know what other people do until it becomes known. Our job is to figure it out, but we need indicators to know something’s not right,” says Sgt. Ed Mullins of the New York Police Department, who is also president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, the city’s second-largest police union.

Using a zero tolerance approach to track domestic terrorists online is the only reasonable way to analyze online threats these days, especially after the Boston Marathon bombing and news that the suspects had subsequently planned to target Times Square in Manhattan, Mullins says. The way law enforcement agencies approach online activity that appears sinister is this: “If you’re not a terrorist, if you’re not a threat, prove it," he says.

“This is the price you pay to live in free society right now. It’s just the way it is,” Mullins adds.

That method can result in arrests of teenagers whose online activity may be more aptly characterized as stupid pranks.

In February, Jessica Winslow and Ti'jeanae Harris, two high school girls in Rapids Parish, La., were arrested and charged with 10 counts of terrorism each after they allegedly e-mailed threats to students and faculty “to see if they could get away with it,” detectives told a local television news station. “We take every threat in our schools as a credible threat, and I am happy to say we have made these arrests,” Sheriff William Earl Hilton told reporters.

In January, Alex David Rosario, a high school student in Armada Village, Mich., was charged with domestic terrorism after he allegedly threatened to shoot fellow employees at the Subway shop where he worked. He told police it was a joke. “We feel threatening to kill somebody is not a joke. It doesn’t appear the prosecutor takes it as a joke either and the judge certainly doesn’t,” said Armada Police Chief Howard Smith.

Then there is the case of Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, a Chicago-area teenager arrested last year after trying to join, over the Internet, a Syrian militant group linked to Al Qaeda. Last week, a federal judge allowed Mr. Tounisi home confinement while awaiting trial.

Militant and hate groups are known to use the Internet to lure teenagers “to gain their sympathy” through video games, music, or rhetoric that plays to themes of alienation, D'Ovidio says. Connecting with terrorists would have been impossible in the past, but today, as is alleged in the Tounisi case, anyone with a grudge or curiosity, or both, and an Internet connection can open that dialogue. Foolishly, the teens perceive that they are operating anonymously and within a safe environment, D'Ovidio says.

“We know these groups are catering and looking for these individuals," he says. "They create the right environment for experimentation for kids who may have a proclivity of being disgruntled toward the US government.”

Easy access to online media, plus the urge to rebel, is a combustible mix that should make parents vigilant, cautions Stephen Balkam, chief executive officer of the Family Online Safety Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington that wants teenagers to be better informed about the outcomes of what they post, tweet, or upload online.

“Every generation of teenagers has figured out a way of rebelling against their parents, or giving it back to ‘the man.’ What I think is unprecedented is the very ‘man’ and the system they want to rebel against can track them and find their digital footprints online,” Mr. Balkam says. “In a sense, it’s good that we can catch kids who are getting radicalized sooner than later, but by the same token, it’s a challenge for kids to grow and develop, which is their job as a teenager, if they are being scrutinized too much.”

There's a lot in this article that's worth discussing. For my personal thoughts:

A) Someone being arrested and charged for writing and performing a song (rap) he wrote is ridiculous. The mere fact that he was arrested has a chilling effect on speech. If the FBI wants to investigate (not interrogate) someone because they wrote a song like that, so be it, but interfering with someone's life who has not actually done anything wrong is seriously crossing a line. I'm not the biggest fan of rap, and calling it art pains me, but it is, and it needs to be fully protected from government restriction.

B) On the theme of government involvement, do people honestly believe that all crimes should be stopped? I can't say I know anyone who thinks that all (or even most) crime is preventable, and asking why two young men weren't stopped before their heinous act is just retarded on a level I can't describe. Do people not realize that asking for more prevention means "Big Brother" is only going to get bigger/worse, or do they simply not care? I, personally, am not comfortable with having the government track everything I say and do, and domestic terrorism is nowhere near frequent enough for me to accept that trade off.

C) The cop who said "prove you're not a terrorist" disgusts me. This is McCarthyism to a fucking T (for terrorist). I assume most people are familiar with McCarthyism and why it's terrible, so I won't get into that.

D) Has anyone heard of this claim that video games and music are being created to radicalize youths? I'm trying to figure out if they're referencing games in general (due to the trope of the reluctant, loner hero), or if people with radical agendas are actually producing really shitty games for people to play. I can only imagine how hilariously terrible they would be.

I was kind of surprised no one posted this already, so feel free to berate me if I'm overreacting or reading into things too much.

[Acevalefor]

Video games cause all violent crimes. They also cause teenagers to be terrorists.

[Tajin]

Kids are getting expelled for pointing finger guns to other students, this is not that surprising.

[Pharaun]

D) Has anyone heard of this claim that video games and music are being created to radicalize youths? I'm trying to figure out if they're referencing games in general (due to the trope of the reluctant, loner hero), or if people with radical agendas are actually producing really shitty games for people to play. I can only imagine how hilariously terrible they would be.

It's this, I remember reading an article a while back about how White Supremacist groups where using music and games as a way to target youth. I'll have to look and see if I can find it, but it's been over a year and I don't even remember the site I read it on. The article was more about the music side of things, but it did mention that they also made games that spread their message.

As for the free speech issues, this is clearly a case of the Government using mass hysteria to overstep its bounds and get the public to go along with it. The kid is stupid for making this song, but it in no way makes him a Terrorist and I hope that he can get competent representation to help fight this charge.

That being said, people really need to learn that sometimes just because you can say/do something doesn't mean it's a good a idea.

[Pharaun]

My internet decide to herp a derp...

[Kalmado]

In a few episodes of Gangland on Spike, when they've highlighted white supremacy groups a few have said they organize music events to reach out to new members. It's not surprising if they do attempt it in video games too.

Echoing kid is dumb to say anything negative regarding a recent tragedy. Whenever stuff like this comes up I think of Ice T for some reason.

[Churchill]

kid isn't dumb, can do whatever he wants.

[Ksandra]

@ video games created to make radical youths:

I think a few might be forgetting:

http://features.peta.org/mario-kills-tanooki/

Basically, PETA has been doing this for years. So ya, not surprising that others do it, too.


What they did to the kid wasn't right, though.

[ringthree]

That being said, people really need to learn that sometimes just because you can say/do something doesn't mean it's a good a idea.

That notion is far more chilling on free speech that morons screaming about terrorism all the time.

[mightyg]

Definitely an issue where there's a shitload of grey area. Kids can't fully understand how serious the country is taking terrorism and why. Especially in this age of the internetz and basically saying whatever we want. It's just way too easy to say something threatening and grind an entire area, campus, city to a halt. That cop quote though. Truly a shining beacon of justice and rule of law.

[Cadsuane]

What the fuck does this have to do with McCarthyism?

[zoobernut]

What the fuck does this have to do with McCarthyism?

Building up an extreme amount of public outcry and fear in order to justify police actions and treatments of citizens that violates the constitution? Arresting/accusing people of heinous and large crimes through loose connections.
That is what came to mind off the top of my head. Though I guess it is a little bit different since being a communist isn't inherently violent or sinister but being a terrorist is pretty bad no matter how you look at it.

[Blubbartron]

Building up an extreme amount of public outcry and fear in order to justify police actions and treatments of citizens that violates the constitution? Arresting/accusing people of heinous and large crimes through loose connections.
That is what came to mind off the top of my head. Though I guess it is a little bit different since being a communist isn't inherently violent or sinister but being a terrorist is pretty bad no matter how you look at it.

Precisely. It's fucking scary how close some of the red scare days are to current times. The TSA, Homeland Security, "prove you're innocent" mentality, etc etc.

[Tajin]

That tanooki game is hilarious

[Blubbartron]

Definitely an issue where there's a shitload of grey area. Kids can't fully understand how serious the country is taking terrorism and why. Especially in this age of the internetz and basically saying whatever we want. It's just way too easy to say something threatening and grind an entire area, campus, city to a halt. That cop quote though. Truly a shining beacon of justice and rule of law.

I'm a grown-ass man and I can't understand why people are freaking the fuck out over terrorism. The incidence of terrorism is so hilariously low that people should be ashamed about their behavior.

Personally, I've never believed in disrupting life over threats. The ones who actually do shit almost never make threats. The overwhelming majority are either cold, calculating psychopaths who wouldn't risk it or they just fucking snap one day and do something on the spur of the moment. That goes for effectively all forms of violent crime.

[archibaldcrane]

Completely fucking stupid arrest, music lyrics are clearly free speech.

[archibaldcrane]

btw
http://milblogging.com/popups/images...dle_finger.png

[archibaldcrane]

Although, it was a post on his facebook page.

Cameron D'Ambrosio, 18, an amateur rapper and Methuen High School student, admitted Wednesday to having written a post on his Facebook page that said,

"[Expletive] a boston bominb wait till u see the [expletive] I do, I'ma be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!" [sic]

, according to court documents, the Boston Herald reported.

[archibaldcrane]

Don't think this is the "problematic" video (not watching it), but here he is:

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Smells like teen spirit. Or like sedition. Or bad tendency. Or imminent lawless. Or Patriot Act. Pick a scent.