Posted on 09/08/2013 5:18:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Before firing off that next email to an elected official, you’d better cross your fingers and hope the politician is not feeling anxious about your message.
A judge in Oklahoma Friday ordered the co-founder of the Sooner Tea Party to be tried on felony blackmail and computer crimes charges for sending an email to a state senator who said he felt threatened by its tone, The Associated Press reported.
The judge ruled that probable cause exists that Al Gerhart committed the crimes when he sent an email allegedly designed to intimidate Oklahoma state Sen. Cliff Branan, the Republican chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.....
(Excerpt) Read more at bizpacreview.com ...
Gerhart’s email demands that Branan give the measure a hearing, “or I will make sure you regret not doing it.”Sounds like First Amendment protected speech to me.“I will make you the laughing stock of the Senate if I don’t hear that this bill will be heard and passed,” the email said. “We will dig into your past, your family, your associates, and once we start on you there will be no end to it.”
anything to silence dissent
OK, it would be interesting to see the full text of that email.
If there is nothing overt in there, then they have criminalized our right to petition our government for redress of wrongs.
But, if there IS anything overt in there, then some folks need to cool their jets ....
Sounds like what the NSA is doing to each and every one of us as I type.....
Not a helpful report. What a dunderhead, but acting like a criminal enterprise is gravy for the media dogs and a set back for a near flawless performance by TP.
We’ve beat back outright lies and innuendo perpetrated by the Pelosi styled media. Sadly a bone has been thrown to them. Just, dang.
Did Sooner Tea Party co-founder go too far with the tone of his email?
No. The email is political speech protected by the First Amendment. (78%, 527 Votes)
Yes. The email was over the top and amounts to blackmail. (22%, 148 Votes)
Total Voters: 675
I have been expecting this...Obumbo’s war on the true patriotic Americans. He can not have them messing with his turning the USA into the USSA, the new Marxist state.
yeah, protected speech. But if your estimation of the “honorable” senator is so low, don’t waste your time on threats. Just start the investigation. Period.
I don’t see what is criminal about that threat. Every political consultant does what this guy threatened to do. How about if he said “I will hire someone as good as Lee Atwater to oppose you”? Last I checked, it’s not illegal to investigate a man, or his family, or his dog, so how can it be illegal to threaten to do so? This guy calling the cops is reason right there to get rid of him.
Just warning everyone to back off.
“anything to silence dissent”
___________________________________________
Will Free Republic be next?
My wife is from Russia, and we have Russian TV on our cable. They have a special going right now “US on the doorstep of Fascism?”
What a joke. There is nothing in there that could be construed as a physical threat.
>>“It just kind of got the hair up on the back of my neck,” he said. “It was not your normal email. He had woven family into the email. My two young children are out of bounds.”<<
I agree with the Senator. Family is out of bounds. He tried to blackmail him and deserves to be punished.
Not next but on the list.
What’s his crap about voting against HIS will? He is supposed to represent the will of the PEOPLE not his own desires!
A “Rolodex of crazy people.”
Really?
Who has this "Rolodex of crazy people?"
Who puts a name in it?
Who specifies the classification?
"The senator (Sen. Cliff Branan) told an investigator" is not evidence nor is it proof of any crime.
It is simply someone’s opinion.
.
So “the Chicago way” can only be used by democrats.
We’d better learn to fight as dirty as them, or we’ll get
nowhere. For future reference, probably better to just
implement the threat, not announce it with a paper trail.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.