18 Yr Old Kid Face 20 YEARS In Prison For Misconstrued Rap Lyrics
IRS Targeting Patriots, Fast and Furious, Boston Bombing Martial Law, and no one is going to prison, but this kid is somehow the "The Enemy"
http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/teenager/
After you read this kid's story, you'll think twice about what you post on Facebook. (And that's the problem.)
Meet Cameron D'Ambrosio. He's 18 and lives in a small town outside Boston. He wants to be a rapper and calls himself "Cammy Dee" in his YouTube videos.
Oh, and he's been locked up without bail for weeks -- facing terrorism charges and 20 years in prison -- all for something he posted on Facebook.
On May 1st, Cam was skipping school and messing around online. He posted some lyrics that included a vague reference to the Boston Marathon Bombing and called the Whitehouse a "federal house of horror." Shortly after that he was arrested and charged with Communicating a Terrorist Threat, a felony that carries 20 years in prison.
The post contained no specific threat of violence against any person or group of people, and in the context of the rest of the lyrics and Cams' rap persona, it was clearly nothing more than a metaphor. A search of Cam's house found NO evidence that he was planning any violence, but a judge still ordered him held without bail for the next 3 months, pending trial.
Slim chance of a fair trial.
It's not a surprise that the judge in the case felt pressure to come down hard on Cam, since the local media has been quick to sensationalize the story and demonize a harmless teenager.
Before charges were even formally filed, local newspapers were already posting pictures from Cam's facebook and pointing to "disturbing" posts like "Fuck politics. Fuck Obama. Fuck the government!" and "satanic" imagery (like some image from a metal band's poster.) All of this is free speech that is 100% protected by the 1st Amendment.
But Fox News went so far as to say that Cam's facebook profile had images that they "couldn't show on TV." They and other media outlets frequently and intentionally printed only a small section of the lyrics that Cam was arrested for allegedly writing, and took them out of context to make rap metaphors sound like a real threat.
The media printed:
"(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I?ma be famous"
The actual line is:
"(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I?ma be famous rapping"
Notice something? The context completely changes the meaning of the line. Suddenly something that sounds like a threat of violence is clearly just bragging about how good Cammy Dee is going to be in the rap game. Last we checked, teenage dreams of grandeur were not a crime.
Here's the full text according to techdirt of the lyrics Cam posted that are in question.
?I?m not in reality, So when u see me (expletive) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the white house, Don?t (expletive) cry or be worried because all YOU people (expletive) caused this (expletive).
(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I?ma be famous rapp
After you read this kid's story, you'll think twice about what you post on Facebook. (And that's the problem.)
Meet Cameron D'Ambrosio. He's 18 and lives in a small town outside Boston. He wants to be a rapper and calls himself "Cammy Dee" in his YouTube videos.
Oh, and he's been locked up without bail for weeks -- facing terrorism charges and 20 years in prison -- all for something he posted on Facebook.
On May 1st, Cam was skipping school and messing around online. He posted some lyrics that included a vague reference to the Boston Marathon Bombing and called the Whitehouse a "federal house of horror." Shortly after that he was arrested and charged with Communicating a Terrorist Threat, a felony that carries 20 years in prison.
The post contained no specific threat of violence against any person or group of people, and in the context of the rest of the lyrics and Cams' rap persona, it was clearly nothing more than a metaphor. A search of Cam's house found NO evidence that he was planning any violence, but a judge still ordered him held without bail for the next 3 months, pending trial.
Slim chance of a fair trial.
It's not a surprise that the judge in the case felt pressure to come down hard on Cam, since the local media has been quick to sensationalize the story and demonize a harmless teenager.
Before charges were even formally filed, local newspapers were already posting pictures from Cam's facebook and pointing to "disturbing" posts like "Fuck politics. Fuck Obama. Fuck the government!" and "satanic" imagery (like some image from a metal band's poster.) All of this is free speech that is 100% protected by the 1st Amendment.
But Fox News went so far as to say that Cam's facebook profile had images that they "couldn't show on TV." They and other media outlets frequently and intentionally printed only a small section of the lyrics that Cam was arrested for allegedly writing, and took them out of context to make rap metaphors sound like a real threat.
The media printed:
"(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I?ma be famous"
The actual line is:
"(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I?ma be famous rapping"
Notice something? The context completely changes the meaning of the line. Suddenly something that sounds like a threat of violence is clearly just bragging about how good Cammy Dee is going to be in the rap game. Last we checked, teenage dreams of grandeur were not a crime.
Here's the full text according to techdirt of the lyrics Cam posted that are in question.
?I?m not in reality, So when u see me (expletive) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the white house, Don?t (expletive) cry or be worried because all YOU people (expletive) caused this (expletive).
(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I?ma be famous rapp
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