Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Rapp Song Puts Massachusetts Teenager Behind Bars Without Bail for Weeks -- Facing Terrorism Charges and 20 Years in Prison


Fight for the Future reports:

Meet Cameron D'Ambrosio. He's 18 and lives in a small town outside Boston. He wants to be a rapper and calls himself "Cammy Dee" in his YouTube videos.

Oh, and he's been locked up without bail for weeks -- facing terrorism charges and 20 years in prison -- all for something he posted on Facebook.

On May 1st, Cam was skipping school and messing around online. He posted some lyrics that included a vague reference to the Boston Marathon Bombing and called the Whitehouse a "federal house of horror." Shortly after that he was arrested and charged with Communicating a Terrorist Threat, a felony that carries 20 years in prison.

The post contained no specific threat of violence against any person or group of people, and in the context of the rest of the lyrics and Cams' rap persona, it was clearly nothing more than a metaphor. A search of Cam's house found NO evidence that he was planning any violence, but a judge still ordered him held without bail for the next 3 months, pending trial.
Tim Cushing at TechDirt writes:
The police also went to his home and seized D'Ambrosio's Xbox and laptop, but were apparently unable to find anything to indicate the teenager was anything more than a mouthy misanthrope. So, they've decided to "dig deeper into his Facebook account."

Tom Duggan, president and publisher of The Valley Patriot, dug a little deeper himself, and reported back (breathlessly) about the "horrors" he found. (All quotes are verbatim, I shit you not.)
D’Ambrosio also had disturbing photos and posts on his Facebook page including “Fuck politics, Fuck Obama and Fuck the government!!”

He also had a “disturbing satanic photo posted as well as a photo of himself on a “Wanted Poster” that reads “Wanted Dead or Alive” a quick perusal of his Facebook page shows D’Ambrosio’s unusual interest in gangs, violence and a criminal lifestyle.
Wow. It's like reading a report from Morality in Media. A teen who wants to stick it to the Man with f-bombs and exclamation points? Do tell! An "unusual" interest in gangs, violence and criminals? Does this make him more or less disturbing than a large majority of the teen population? Looking at his page, I notice D'Ambrosio also has an "unusual" interest in scantily-clad females, video games, Monsters University, puppies, "Fuck Drugs Enjoy Life," the National Guard, tattoos and Mario. And as for the whole "disturbing satanic photo" -- a.) Duggan is about 30 years too late to join the satanic panic, b.) the "photo" isn't actually a photo and c.) it's at least as comical as it is disturbing.
Cushing has a complete blow-by-blow, here.

2 comments:

  1. My heart goes out to this kid.

    I can't believe we are at the stage where teenage angst is becoming a terrorist offense.

    Things many of us have been guilty of 30 years ago or more as teens...fighting, drinking, contempt for adults/authority....can all now be "life changing" events for teens today when the "law" gets involved...marking them for life via gov't databases/records.

    Gov't has become ruthless towards our own children for things that more than 30 years ago might have ended with an ass kicking from Dad, grounding, after school chores, financial restitution, etc....but certainly not prison time and a criminal record.

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  2. Apparently D'Ambrosio has been in trouble before for making specific threats, although not against the gov't. That's no reason to lock him up or charge him with any crime, obviously, but it does make him a less attractive figure to rally behind. Very unlike Adam Kokesh, who has consistently and effectively advocated for liberty and peaceful civil disobedience -- and was also recently arrested for exercising first amendment rights.

    It's gratifying to see that the "free Adam Kokesh" fund exceeded its initial fundraising goal and he will be able to retain a lawyer of his own choosing.

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