So if I put on a nazi blog that said something akin to um I’m going to kill all of you… Given I don’t know who they are beside username and where they are at would I be arrested? How is that different from what the 20 year old did? He was just more specific as far as I can tell.
People seem to forget that death threats are serious shit. It’s illegal to make them, and “psych, joking!” Isn’t going to get you out of trouble.
And yes, a threat to a group of nazis is still communicating threats, and someone doing it could face consequences. It’s all about whether or not you get caught, and if whatever prosecutors have jurisdiction decide to follow up or not.
See, free speech doesn’t mean you can say anything you want without consequences. It’s about preserving a fundamental right to not be persecuted for your beliefs, political or otherwise. There’s history behind the way the U.S. First amendment is written. And it isn’t really about protecting all speech and expression, only wide swathes of them. People, however, persist in thinking otherwise.
Threats of violence and harm weren’t protected, ever. Not in the bill of rights, not in the Magna Carta, nor in any other body of laws I’ve ever heard of that are older.
In other words, it’s okay to say you hate someone and wish they would die, but not that you’re going to make it happen. Which is a gross oversimplification, but that’s the gist. One is an opinion, the other is a threat that has to be taken seriously.
first rule of actually commiting (useful, impactful) violence…don’t tell anyone online or otherwise not down for carrying it out that your going to do it.
you live in a police state where practically everything online is being watched and catalouged 24/7, act like it.
the bar for violence is incredibly low, long as you just…stfu and don’t straight up tell people your going to do X, you can probably get away with it with a little bit of planning and common sense
Even saying you wish someone dead is inadvisable. It’s not illegal to say you wish someone dead but it does make you likely to be a suspect if they die under suspicious circumstances
Free speech: “I think nazis and their modern counterparts should be killed”
Direct threat: “I am going to kill these specific people”
… and many shades in between, where you don’t know how you get judged.