It’s tragically coincidental that on the same day Jody Lee Hunt went on a shooting spree in Monongalia County that left five people dead including himself, the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments on when a threat on social media rises to the level of a crime.
The high court is considering the case of Anthony Elonis. He was convicted in 2011 and served three years in prison for posting threats to his estranged wife on his Facebook page in the form of rap lyrics after she obtained a protective order.
“Fold up your (order) and put it in your pocket. Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?” Elonis wrote. His attorneys argued Elonis was just venting, that the threat wasn’t real. Some free speech advocates have sided with Elonis because they don’t want Internet content regulated.
However, law enforcement and victims’ rights groups contend that the government has a right to hold people accountable for their words if they rise to the level of a “true threat” as determined by a reasonable person. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Past Supreme Court rulings have said the government can prohibit such threats, but it hasn’t always been clear what they are.”
And that’s where it gets tricky.
In the Monongalia County shooting, Jody Hunt’s final Facebook post sounded like a suicide note laced with what could be construed as threats. “This was not a plan, but a struggle to see that those who strives (sic) to hurt me receive their fair pay of hurt like I received,” he wrote.
“I’m sure I will be remembered by not what good I did, but the devastation I caused to a few people’s lives… I except (sic) my actions were wrong, but in my eyes just,” he went on to write.
We know now those were the thoughts of an evil man intent on murder, but would they rise to the threat level necessary for an arrest if the police had been aware of the posts before Hunt went on his violent spree? How are the police supposed to determine whether someone is intent on shooting people or just shooting off his mouth?
In the Elonis case, he posted this comment after being visited by a female FBI agent: “It took all the strength I had not to turn the b—- ghost. Pull my knife, flick my wrist and slit her throat.” He didn’t follow through on his alleged threat.
Hunt’s posts were less specific, yet he shot to death four innocent people.
Social media give everyone a platform to air their views, and in a free country we protect speech, especially unpopular speech, from government interference. But that has to be balanced with the government’s responsibility to provide security for the country, for its citizens and their property.
Finding that equilibrium is the ongoing challenge.