Posted on 07/08/2013 10:08:30 AM PDT by beaversmom
Just days after multiple news outlets reported the story of a Texas teen jailed for making a sarcastic threat online, a Mississippi mother facing a nearly identical situation gave an exclusive interview to The Daily Caller News Foundation about her son’s lengthy incarceration.
Josh Pillault was arrested last October for threatening to kill people and destroy buildings. At the time of his arrest, he was 19-years-old, and an avid video game player.
The threats were made while he was playing “Runescape,” an online multiplayer fantasy game. Another player began antagonizing him, and eventually told him to kill himself.
Irritated, Pillault said he would kill not just himself, but also take out the local high school. He also mentioned Columbine — the name of an infamous school shooting — according to reports.
It was the response that the other player had been hoping for, according to Pillault’s mother.
“His gleeful last words to Josh were ‘Knock, knock!’ which is a reference to the feds he sent our way,” wrote Stacey Pillault in an email to TheDC News Foundation.
Federal authorities raided the Pillault home a few days later, arresting Josh. He has been in jail ever since.
His lawyer argued that the threat was “idle or careless talk, exaggeration or something said in a joking manner.”
Josh possessed none of the materials he would need to carry out such an attack, nor was there any good reason to believe he was serious, said his mother.
“His doctors have said he wouldn’t hurt himself or anyone else,” she wrote. “We actually have teachers who were willing to testify that they knew it wasn’t a true threat as soon as they found out it was Josh. Even his fellow inmates and guards have commented on how they can’t believe he is still in there.”
Josh turned 20 in December — behind bars. As of next week, his incarceration will have lasted 9 months.
“Instead of being home with his family, he spent his birthday and the holidays behind bars,” wrote his mother. “We all worry about him constantly. I barely sleep anymore because I am worried about him.”
Josh was adamant about maintaining his innocence, but the family eventually decided that the odds of a conviction were simply too high. On June 20, Josh plead guilty, hoping for a lighter sentence. He is now awaiting transfer to a federal prison, where medical experts will evaluate his mental condition. Sentencing should take place a few months from now. Josh could get 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.
The Pillault case mirrors the case of 19-year-old Justin Carter, who has been in jail since February due to threats he made over the Internet after playing an online game. When another player called Carter insane, he made a sarcastic comment that he was crazy enough to attack a school. Immediately afterward, he wrote that he was just kidding.
Still, a Canadian woman saw the threat online, and reported it to Texas authorities, who arrested Carter for make threats of a terrorist nature. He has been in jail ever since, and faces an eight-year sentence. Like Josh, Justin celebrated his birthday in jail.
The arrests raise questions about balancing safety and sensibility. Authorities in the Carter case mentioned the recent shooting in Newtown, Conn. — where two dozen people were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary — as one reason to be extra vigilant when threats are made.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/02/second-teen-spends-months-in-jail-for-video-game-threat/#ixzz2YTUrCyct
Related story (different teen):
Teen jailed for sarcastic remark beaten up in jail, now on suicide watch
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3040330/posts
Previous thread regarding Justin Carter:
...Teenager JAILED for posting ‘joke’ threat on Facebook after row with an online gaming partner
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3037804/posts?page=1
Those doing the Chicago slaughters don’t spend that much time in jail...
Not reaally sarcastic comments, now are they.
More along the lines of terroristic threats...
I guess I don’t have much sympathy for them.
I’m sorry, a “threat” is calling a school and threatening them with violence. Random utterances are not threats.
The lengths these zero tolerance crappy rules (note, NOT LAWS) of you can’t say anything that can perceived as a threat is going to far. I hate the term ‘slippery slope’ but here it is.
One day, you might be out discussing politics when you say something like “I can’t stand Obama, I wish we could get him out of office now” and it be overheard and perceived to be a violent threat to the President.
I know it’s not exactly like this story, but some idiot being goaded into saying stupid stuff shouldn’t warrant a 10 year prison sentence.
More along the lines of terroristic threats...
I guess I don’t have much sympathy for them.
somethings FReepers type everyday in regards to actions by our government or to police. If you think this stops at vidiots on XBox you're woefully mistaken. This is one small step in the process of incarcerating dissenting views on the Internet.
At some point, they’ll have to be released, and whether or not they commit mass murder, the folks in charge will be forced to admit that it’s all just a big guessing game, just like gun control.
Second mistake right there.
First mistake was being too stupid to control himself and posting the comment in the first place.
Smacks of zero tolerance policies in which bread is treated as a weapon and lands the perp in jail. Without reason and common sense there can be no justice. Speech crimes are antithetic to a free people in a free society. Barring evidence of guilt or intention this is tyranny.
One day, you might be out discussing politics when you say something like “I can’t stand Obama, I wish we could get him out of office now” and it be overheard and perceived to be a violent threat to the President.
I agree autumnraine with all of that. You said it very well. That's where all this is heading. In so many facets of life. Man/woman. Children making a mere mention of a gun let alone talking about how they like to go out to shoot or hunt or believe in 2nd amendment. People talking politics. What you say online or utter to a neighbour or coworker. Just like in this story, there will be someone out there that's vindictive or no common sense who will turn you in. I've seen it happen in two instances to two people I know. One could have been fired. One was arrested.
And has been for a number of years. At least some people are waking up to it, but alas the vast majority remain stupid complacent and happy that the tyrant is giving them what other people worked for.
This shows how law enforcement is powerless to catch real violent criminals. In order to get the numbers up they arrest innocent people saying things within the context of a game.
To prove they are incompetent and powerless, there is a facebook page that says to remove living heads from living non-believer necks (not their exact words)
I told FB about it, and FB deliberately refused to delete the page.
Yeah, for now. They may be complacent for a little while longer, but we are all gonna go to swirl the drain.
I agree that was a big mistake!
Online petition for other boy, Justin Carter, in similar circumstance:
Release My Son Justin Carter - In Jail For A Facebook Comment
http://www.change.org/petitions/release-my-son-justin-carter-in-jail-for-a-facebook-comment
“Still, a Canadian woman saw the threat online, and reported it to Texas authorities,”
Naturally it was not PRISM or NSA or FBI or CIA or DHS that picked this up. I thought I’d read an earlier article suggesting that these events were examples of government monitoring.
But if the official Reality is that it was a civilian acting on her own, well, that’s Official Reality.
Not to mention a kid arrested for wearing an NRA shirt.
It’s becoming even worse than the spying neighbors in the Gestapo era.
Exactly! No liberty minded person should take these things lightly, but especially not conservative liberty minded people. We will be the first to be rounded up!
I guess people just found freedom scary and desired the "safety" of tyranny.
Only after the government has looted enery last dollar saved in private savings, bank accounts, pension plans, etc and squandered it on it's beloved poor who for the most part are poor solely because of their own actions and lack of iniative.
We work and someone else gets the benefit. Nice racket. The two best things about government work are you spend other peoples' hard earned money, and you never have to face any significant consequences for anything that you do. You can literally get away with murder. Police kill people because "he made a threatening gesture." No Zimmerman circus for them. ANd as far as fiscal malfeasance, doesnt even register. There is never any personal liability for wasting our hard earned money.
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