Posted on 02/20/2010 7:53:57 AM PST by BIOCHEMKY
Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - A poem has landed a Louisville man behind bars.
It’s a poem Secret Service agents say was about assassinating President Barack Obama.
Federal authorities say Johnny Logan Spencer junior posted it on a white supremacy website.
The arrest came as a result of a complaint filed by a Secret Service agent this week.
The document says that Spencer knowingly made a threat against the president which he communicated to others in other states.
His attorney , Laura Wyrosdick, says that while what Spencer said in the poem in question was offensive, it's not illegal.
The original version of the poem called "The Sniper" debuted on a white supremacy site called newsaxon.org.
“That's not freedom of speech, that's threatening someone's life and it's sad that he feels that way,” says Spencer’s sometimes neighbor.
Spencer was arrested earlier this week on three felony charges.
Secret Service agents believe he tried to incite violence by distributing his poetry amongst members of the National Socialist Movement, who don't believe people of color should be allowed to be citizens or hold office.
Spencer's attorney says there was never any threat.
“It was in fact art, as offensive as some might find it. That's why it's protected under our first amendment,” says Wyrosdick.
So who is Spencer?
Online, he goes by the nickname Pain 1488.
According to websites, 14 stands for the 14 words of the white supremacist slogan and 88 refers to 88 words in a chapter of Adolph Hitler's ‘Mein Kampf’.
Spencer has a minor criminal history including convictions on drug charges and escaping home incarceration.
He doesn't have a job, has repeatedly violated parole and doesn't have a permanent home.
But those who know him don't believe he's dangerous, or even a racist.
“My sister, she has mixed children. His brother has mixed children and he wasn't raised that way you know? He was raised around blacks and whites all his life,” says Paul McGill, Spencer’s cousin.
His attorney points out that if he was going to act on a threat, he would have by now.
“I think that it's vague. I think that there's absolutely no immediate ability to incite violence. The fact that this poem was written in 2007, posted in 2007, I this think this is a misunderstanding,” says Wyrosdick.
The judge in the case will decide sometime next week if the U.S. attorney established probable cause in the case.
He ruled that Spencer could be released into electronic house arrest after meeting certain conditions.
He'll likely be released on Monday.
The poem “The Sniper” can be read at the link.
I am confused by the title. It looks like it says the poem was posted in 2007.
but no where in the article does it say that
so what does 2007 mean in the thread title?
Oh where to start? Assasination Of George W Bush-Toronto film award winner... No one went to jail. But we must protect das Chosen one.
Have they locked up the Playwright who’s play was about assassinating President Bush??
Have they Locked up the Director and/or Producer of that LOUSY FILM about President Bush being assassinated??
in a word ... NO!!!
Bill Maher is still running around free.
never mind’ I see it in the article
so how can it be ABOUT odumbo?
it is not and he will be freed
The article states, 4th line from the end, it was written and posted in 2007.
I know it says it was published in 2007
I don’t know how I ignored that the first time. Stupid me
The poem is sick but it clearly was not about odumbo.
As of now we still have freedom of speech and that includes this idiot being able to post his sick rantings.
The SS should have better things to do unless they really think that this scum knew in 2007 odumbo would become President in 2009
On July 11, 2007, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams gave the keynote speech to the International Women’s Peace Conference in Dallas, Texas, and said (to laughter and applause from the audience):
“I mean right now, I could kill George Bush, no problem. No, I don’t mean that. I mean — how could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that.”
They must perpetuate the narrative - anyone who is strongly against Obama must be a white supremacist homicidal hater monger.
If all they've got is from 2007 there must not be many examples around to make their point.
Where’s the ACLU when you need them?
Doesn’t this man have 1st Amendment rights?
Is there any DUE PROCESS here?
Was the Poem “any good” ie DID IT RHYME?
On August 4, 2000, when Bush won the Republican nomination (but before he was president), Craig Kilborn on CBS’s The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ran a graphic of the words “SNIPERS WANTED” under George Bush as he gave his acceptance speech. Although CBS belatedly apologized five days later, Kilborn was never investigated, questioned or punished, and continued to host the show for four more years.
So, according to this article - all we need to do is file a complaint in federal court, and the SS will necessarily arrest the individuals in question, else they will necessarily need to drop charges against this man.
His poem is offensive, but not illegal or threatening.
Baby steps. This is another one...
There is no denying that the poem was offensive. There is no denying that this guy is a dirt bag and should probably be serving a jail sentence for something or another...
But this goes too far. By a long shot, no pun intended. Especially for a Country predicated upon the ideal of freedom.
Just pointing out “selective enforcement” and the hypocrisy. Apparently, if you’re a “somebody”, that doesn’t qualify you for arrest.
What about the First Amendment?
What about the movie that came out a few years ago about killing bush?
What about firing the whole govt.
” The fact that this poem was written in 2007, posted in 2007, I this think this is a misunderstanding,” says Wyrosdick”
The government has their panties in a bunch over a POEM that was written AND posted in 2007 2 YEARS before Obama was even POTUS.
Meanwhile the guy who posted the poem is put under house arrest in 2010, three YEARS after the posting!
exactly
I wonder if this was initiated by the SS or if it was forced on them. The publicity is great for odumbo as it is another way to paint conservatives as racist even tho this POS is not a conservative but a loon
odumbo and MSM will paint him as one just like they are doing with the commie who flew his plane into iRS offices.
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