Secret Service: Facebook poll no threat to Obama

[snopes]

The Secret Service has determined that a juvenile was behind the online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_threat

[rhiandmoi]

A local talk radio host was having a major freakout over this, how whoever responsible should be punished to the maximum extent possible, this was the most offensive thing ever, etc. Which was amazing only in light of the fact that the day before he had a major freakout about how "crush" videos ought be constitutionally protected as free speech.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

A local talk radio host was having a major freakout over this, how whoever responsible should be punished to the maximum extent possible, this was the most offensive thing ever, etc. Which was amazing only in light of the fact that the day before he had a major freakout about how "crush" videos ought be constitutionally protected as free speech.

Oog... I'd never heard of "crush videos." Sigh... Gotta go renew my membership with the Humane Society...

Silas (more than slightly nauseated...)

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

Oog... I'd never heard of "crush videos." Sigh... Gotta go renew my membership with the Humane Society...

Silas (more than slightly nauseated...)

The sort of thing that makes you wish you had been diverted to a 'lemon party' video instead, eh?

[Troberg]

Originally Posted by snopes

The Secret Service has determined that a juvenile was behind the online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated.

As far as I can see, that's an opinion, and the government should not investigate opinions. If he was asking if people are going to assassinate Obama, then it would be justified with an investigation, but not when he is merely asking about the opinions on the subject.

I think the SS crossed a very important line here.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by A Turtle Named Mack

The sort of thing that makes you wish you had been diverted to a 'lemon party' video instead, eh?

I'd never heard of that, either, but, shrug: nobody got hurt in the making of the lemon party video, so, frankly, it doesn't bother me any.

Silas

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

I'd never heard of that, either, but, shrug: nobody got hurt in the making of the lemon party video, so, frankly, it doesn't bother me any.

Silas

Ahh, well, it used to be quite the internet sport to trick people into clicking onto a link that would actually take them to a 'lemon party' pic or video. I have heard of other sorts of images being used for the purpose, but I like the 'lemon party' example because it is so definitely the sort of thing that very few people would ever seek out other than humorously, it's not hurtful in the way a screamer or other scare image would be, and, as you say, no one was harmed.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Troberg

As far as I can see, that's an opinion

You obviously can't see very far.

[lord_feldon]

Originally Posted by Troberg

As far as I can see, that's an opinion, and the government should not investigate opinions.

How do they know it's an opinion if they don't investigate it?

[Avril]

Originally Posted by Troberg

As far as I can see, that's an opinion, and the government should not investigate opinions. If he was asking if people are going to assassinate Obama, then it would be justified with an investigation, but not when he is merely asking about the opinions on the subject.

I think the SS crossed a very important line here.

I don't, and I think investigations happen all the time that we don't know about. It being on Facebook made it more public, so we needed to be told.

It treads a line very, very close to treason, which is, as far as I can tell, still legally considered the most serious crime one can commit in the United States.

[lord_feldon]

Originally Posted by Avril

It treads a line very, very close to treason

It's not close at all, let alone "very, very close." There is a very high bar for treason in the US. Even going so far as to kill the president is not treason.

Originally Posted by US Constitution

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Avril

It treads a line very, very close to treason, which is, as far as I can tell, still legally considered the most serious crime one can commit in the United States.

Nope. It isn’t treason, but it does tread real close to other federal crimes - like threatening the life of an elected official.

[MapleLeaf]

So is it investigation-worthy if I were to say, "I think it would be better for America if Obama were assasinated"?

'Cause, while I certainly don't believe it, I'd say it to make a principled point.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by MapleLeaf

So is it investigation-worthy if I were to say, "I think it would be better for America if Obama were assasinated"?

'Cause, while I certainly don't believe it, I'd say it to make a principled point.

It depends on how and where you say it. If you mention it passively to a friend in a bar thats one thing (assuming that your friend knows your intent and wil not report you of course). Posting it on Facebook is another thing and might warrant a call from the Secret Service. The point is, they cant immediately tell if you are serious or not. Thats the point of investigation in case you are serious and might be inclined to act on it. The Secret Service are simply trying to determine intent when something was posted on a public forum.

ETA: The secret service’s job (at least one of them) is to investigate threats (no matter how benign) against the President and other elected politicians.

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by MapleLeaf

So is it investigation-worthy if I were to say, "I think it would be better for America if Obama were assasinated"?

'Cause, while I certainly don't believe it, I'd say it to make a principled point.

The Secret Service's job is to investigate all reports of threats to the president to determine if an actual threat exists.

So, if you said it and someone reported it to the Secret Service, it would be investigation-worthy because the Secret Service is required to determine whether a threat exists, and they do that by investigating.

What an "investigation" entails is another story. They would be justified in approaching you and asking you a few questions. They may not be justified in kicking down your door in the middle of the night and taking you off for interrogation and monitoring your finances for "suspicious activity."

In this case, they got the poster's contact information from Facebook and contacted the poster. They determined that the poster was a kid who did not mean for the post to be a threat or an enticement. Case closed.

[MapleLeaf]

Fair enough. In the words of one Mr. Sparkhammer, I can grok that.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by MapleLeaf

Fair enough. In the words of one Mr. Sparkhammer, I can grok that.

Just out of curiosity, is there a dedicated agency in Canada’s government that investigates threats against officials similar to the Secret Service (it doesn’t have to include counterfeiting which also falls under the Secret Services roles), or is it part of the RCMP? I am unfamiliar with Canadian law enforcement...

[Johnny Slick]

I knew a guy back in the 90s who would go around saying that he thought President Clinton should be killed. One day, he came in and said the Secret Service talked to him. I'm not sure if that guy was pulling everyone's leg or not (he was a bit of a right-wing nutcase but not the type who would go on and on about, for example, Randy Weaver and David Koresh like the rabid conspiracy types did at the time) but if not it goes to show that no, even making the comment in a non-Internet public place does not keep you from getting investigated.

Probably if you made a statement like that once or twice you'd be cool. If you go around saying it or asking pointed questions like that all the time... well, how *is* the Secret Service supposed to know you were joking all those times? Although most violent crimes are committed by someone close to you, the last time and perhaps the only time a Presidential assassination attempt was committed by someone semi-close to the office was when Charles Guiteau offed Garfield. *Every single other* Presidential assassination attempt has been perpetrated by a lone psycho (Hinckley, Czolgosz) or a small group of psychos (Squeaky Fromme). In order to protect the President, the Secret Service has to investigate stuff like this.

Now, why they are in charge of uncovering scams regarding counterfeit money is another question altogether...

[MapleLeaf]

Originally Posted by diddy

Just out of curiosity, is there a dedicated agency in Canada’s government that investigates threats against officials similar to the Secret Service (it doesn’t have to include counterfeiting which also falls under the Secret Services roles), or is it part of the RCMP? I am unfamiliar with Canadian law enforcement...

We have CSIS, but I honestly don't know if they would investigate something like that. The RCMP sounds more likely. Although, seeing as we've never had a prime ministerial assassination, I'm not sure something like the OP would be treated as seriously here as it would be in the US.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

...
Now, why they are in charge of uncovering scams regarding counterfeit money is another question altogether...

That was their original function (or at least close to it). The protection function was added later (after the assassination of McKinley) because there were a paucity of federal agencies with law enforcement experience (the FBI and other agencies like it did not exist at the time). I suppose those duties could have gone to the US Marshals, but perhaps there were not enough of them to go around. See the wiki article for the history.

Nick