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Feds drop case against man accused of posting Facebook threats to Trump
Sun-Sentinal ^ | January 19, 2017 | Paula McMahon

Posted on 01/24/2017 1:49:50 PM PST by SSS Two

A Broward man who was accused of posting Facebook threats to kill or harm President-elect Donald Trump was released from jail Thursday after federal prosecutors dropped the allegations, jail and court records show.

Kevin Keith Krohn, 59, who was never formally charged, was released just one day before Trump's inauguration.

He was arrested Dec. 21 at his Pembroke Pines home after law enforcement informed the U.S. Secret Service agents who protect Trump about the postings.

Agents said that Krohn wrote, "I'm just glad Obama didn't take all our gunz! I see a good use for one now," above a picture of Trump that read, "He's not my president / He's an enemy of the state."

Agents said Krohn posted another comment: "The EXPEDITER of Trump! He will never last long!" above a picture of a man in camouflage holding a scoped sniper rifle.

Krohn responded, "Keep yer eyes open!" when another Facebook user asked what he meant. 

Krohn, who has a history of arrests, did not seek to be released on bond and remained jailed on the allegation from Dec. 21 to Jan. 19. He told the agents who arrested him that he did not intend to threaten Trump and that his comments were merely an expression of his First Amendment rights to free speech.

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
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To: DiogenesLamp

Again, look for ways to expand our #FirstAmendment rights, not ways to restrict them.


41 posted on 01/24/2017 3:08:11 PM PST by SSS Two
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To: SSS Two
Look for ways to expand our #FirstAmendment rights, not ways to restrict them.

Exactly. Allowing people to threaten the President without consequences is a guaranteed method of getting our rights restricted.

42 posted on 01/24/2017 3:08:33 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: DiogenesLamp
Allowing people to threaten the President without consequences is a guaranteed method of getting our rights restricted.

Not if we can stop people like you from getting their way.

43 posted on 01/24/2017 3:09:44 PM PST by SSS Two
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To: SSS Two

So is there anything that could be said that you consider not free speech. Or perhaps you could define political hyperbole?


44 posted on 01/24/2017 3:13:13 PM PST by HARRY TUTTLE (Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. R. E. Lee)
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To: SSS Two

Not really


45 posted on 01/24/2017 3:15:33 PM PST by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Nifster

Not a very thoughtful answer.


46 posted on 01/24/2017 3:17:43 PM PST by HARRY TUTTLE (Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. R. E. Lee)
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To: SSS Two

Threats of death to others, especially a President should not be considered free speech. There are some restrictions on free speech that need to be there; the old example of shouting fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire is a good example as is this. It is not an infringement of free speech to arrest someone for threatening a President; in fact if it is determined they were not serious they are always released- meaning it wasn’t their speech that was the issue, it was the perceived threat.


47 posted on 01/24/2017 3:18:00 PM PST by Tammy8 (Please be a regular supporter of Free Republic !)
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To: HARRY TUTTLE
So is there anything that could be said that you consider not free speech. Or perhaps you could define political hyperbole?

I will defend Free Speech law as it exists. I oppose attempts to restrict existing Free Speech.

48 posted on 01/24/2017 3:18:19 PM PST by SSS Two
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To: SSS Two

Your interpretation of how it exists.


49 posted on 01/24/2017 3:23:16 PM PST by HARRY TUTTLE (Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. R. E. Lee)
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To: SSS Two
Free Speech protections do not permit threats of violence.

Someone can utter such speech, but they can also be arrested and prosecuted for it.

The Right to Free Speech has never included making threats of violence against another individual without facing legal liability. Such speech is, indeed, considered a form of violence itself.

Nobody is allowed to threaten someone else with violence, in the absence of a clear justification for doing so.

What this person did was a potential crime, at the very least, and is precisely the reason that the gentleman in question ended up spending the night in jail.

Cooler heads obviously prevailed on all sides, but speech which threatens criminal violence against another individual or group should result in arrest and/or prosecution, whether you consider it "Free" or not...

50 posted on 01/24/2017 3:28:38 PM PST by sargon (LS sez: "The Uniparty Establishment has NO idea what's about to hit them!")
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To: SSS Two

Stupidity at this level ought to hurt.


51 posted on 01/24/2017 3:30:05 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: SSS Two
Not if we can stop people like you from getting their way.

Okay, I see now why people don't feel compelled to waste time with you.

I am of the Burkean school of conservative thought, and anarchy begats fewer rights than does civilization. You cannot have civilization without inherent restraint of bad behavior, and as Burke said, "and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. "

52 posted on 01/24/2017 3:31:42 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: sargon

more specific definition to your reply for others.

Legal term Assault and Battery

Two separate offenses against the person that when used in one expression may be defined as any unlawful and unpermitted touching of another.

Assault is an act that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent, harmful, or offensive contact. The act consists of a threat of harm accompanied by an apparent, present ability to carry out the threat.

Battery is a harmful or offensive touching of another.

The main distinction between the two offenses is the existence or nonexistence of a touching or contact.

While contact is an essential element of battery, there must be an absence of contact for assault.

Sometimes assault is defined loosely to include battery.


53 posted on 01/24/2017 3:33:00 PM PST by Covenantor (Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern. " Chesterton)
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To: HARRY TUTTLE
Your interpretation of how it exists.

I defend the COURTS' interpretation of the #FirstAmendment from people who want to constrict the Freedom of Speech.

54 posted on 01/24/2017 3:34:28 PM PST by SSS Two
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To: SSS Two
Crude political hyperbole is not a knowing and willful threat against the President of the United States.

It's quite debatable whether the speech in question was merely "crude hyperbole". It's certainly not cut and dried enough to justify your snotty antagonism.

You're skating on thin ice, and if you don't start displaying a little more civility, you're likely to not be around here much longer.

So if you'd like to remain a member in good standing in this community, I'd suggest you tone down your conceited, smart aleck insults...

55 posted on 01/24/2017 3:34:49 PM PST by sargon (LS sez: "The Uniparty Establishment has NO idea what's about to hit them!")
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To: DiogenesLamp
I am of the Burkean school of conservative thought, and anarchy begats fewer rights than does civilization. You cannot have civilization without inherent restraint of bad behavior, and as Burke said, "and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. "

Whatever. As long as you understand that you want to restrict Free Speech rights in pursuit of your civilized world. In my civilized world (USA c. 2017), we don't imprison people for their political expression, no matter how crude. Imprisoning people for political beliefs seems a little uncivilized to me.

56 posted on 01/24/2017 3:40:33 PM PST by SSS Two
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To: sargon
It's quite debatable whether the speech in question was merely "crude hyperbole".

It seems quite remarkable that the US Attorney dropped the case as fast as he could though, doesn't it? This case really wasn't a close call at all.

57 posted on 01/24/2017 3:43:34 PM PST by SSS Two
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To: SSS Two
It seems quite remarkable that the US Attorney dropped the case as fast as he could though, doesn't it? This case really wasn't a close call at all.

Great. Opinions differ. It doesn't mean you have to go around gratuitously insulting other members' knowledge of or reverence for the Constitution. Civility really is more effective when trying to educate someone...

58 posted on 01/24/2017 3:46:39 PM PST by sargon (LS sez: "The Uniparty Establishment has NO idea what's about to hit them!")
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To: SSS Two
Whatever. As long as you understand that you want to restrict Free Speech rights in pursuit of your civilized world.

No sir. I deny with your attempts to force a faulty and incorrect definition on me. It is *YOU* sir who are attempting to restrict freedom by attacking part of it's foundation.

You are trying to fabricate a false and deadly "freedom" to indulge what is obviously an extremist libertarian streak in yourself. You are the sort that will throw a rock at the Hornets nest and then blame the Hornets for stinging you.

"Freedom" is a civil construct, and within the scope of our society it implies a set of generally understood rules regarding personal space and bodily integrity.

Threatening the life of a governing official exceeds the framework we know as "freedom" within a civil society.

To give you a better grasp of the concept, only a King is "free" to do whatever he wants. Normal people must respect other people's right to live and be "free" too, and threatening to kill them is a breach of the implicit contract that civil society exerts on it's members.

If you want to behave like a barbarian, it is reasonable to treat you like one and toss you in a cage. You breach the social contract and your loss of freedom is on you.

59 posted on 01/24/2017 3:50:28 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: sargon
It doesn't mean you have to go around gratuitously insulting other members' knowledge of or reverence for the Constitution.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I've encouraged people to find ways to expand Freedom of Speech rather than restrict it. Is that insulting people's reverence for the Constitution? I'd argue that I'm encouraging people's reverence for the Constitution by advocating for the #FirstAmendment.

60 posted on 01/24/2017 3:51:18 PM PST by SSS Two
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