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Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

arstechnica.com

11–20 of 22 posts

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#11
post #8
post #6

"If anyone knows who this bitch is throw his info under this tweet." - it's not just "tweeting a cop's photo"

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

Worded as such it does appear threatening. If someone tweeted that about me I would feel worried about my personal safety and that of my family. The law specifically states that placing a reasonable person in fear for their safety via online communications is a crime.

If you're going to request personal information for a legitimate reason then you should word it in a non threatening manner.

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#12
post #8
post #6

"If anyone knows who this bitch is throw his info under this tweet." - it's not just "tweeting a cop's photo"

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

"...it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes."

And given the context of calling a police officer a "bitch", do you think the requester was doing so to accurately file a complaint... or doing so in the hope that armed with the cop's identity, somebody would engage in harassment of that man and/or his family?

Being charged with a felony for the tweet is absurd.

But painting this as an innocent request for information is almost equally so.

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#14
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

Worded as such it does appear threatening. If someone tweeted that about me I would feel worried about my personal safety and that of my family. The law specifically states that placing a reasonable person in fear for their safety via online communications is a crime. If you're going to request personal information for a legitimate reason then you should word it in a non threatening manner.

You aren’t a public official. Police officers are. You’re entitled to privacy. Police officers on official duties are not.

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#15
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

"...it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes." And given the context of calling a police officer a "bitch", do you think the requester was doing so to accurately file a complaint... or doing so in the hope that armed with the cop's identity, somebody would engage in harassment of that man and/or his family? Being charged with a felony for the tweet is absurd. But painting this a…

> And given the context of calling a police officer a "bitch", do you think the requester was doing so to accurately file a complaint...

To be honest, I read that tweet as fairly ordinary use of vernacular and I wouldn't assume malicious intent.

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#16
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

It's usually a request to get their address, get their family members fired, etc. BLM people on Twitter are truly disgusting.

What's the sample size of "BLM people" that you surveyed to come to this conclusion?

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#18
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

Worded as such it does appear threatening. If someone tweeted that about me I would feel worried about my personal safety and that of my family. The law specifically states that placing a reasonable person in fear for their safety via online communications is a crime. If you're going to request personal information for a legitimate reason then you should word it in a non threatening manner.

What is the threat?

Re: Five charged with felonies for tweeting or retweeting a cop’s photo

#19
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, it's not just a photo; it's also a request to identify a police officer, which has legitimate purposes. Unless you think that calling a police officer a bitch is a felony.

It's usually a request to get their address, get their family members fired, etc. BLM people on Twitter are truly disgusting.

“On twitter” is redundant
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