NyPo reports:
Police in the Netherlands have arrested a 14-year-old girl on suspicion of threatening American Airlines in a tweet.Here's NyPo with the blow-by-blow:
Police spokesman Roland Ekkers said the girl, who has not been identified for privacy reasons, turned herself in to Rotterdam police in the company of a parent Monday and is now being interrogated.
The tweet posted Sunday said it came from an al Qaeda member in Afghanistan named Ibrahim and threatened to “do something really big on June 1.” But the account’s handle came with the nickname “Sarah” and a profile image of a young woman.
The trouble for Sarah came Sunday, after she thought it would be a hoot to tweet a threat from her @QueenDemetriax account to attack a plane.
“@AmericanAir. hello my name’s Ibrahim and I’m from Afghanistan. I’m part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I’m gonna do something really big bye.”
The reply from American Airlines made it clear that the company was not amused.
“@QueenDemetriax_Sarah, we take these threats very seriously. Your IP address and details will be forwarded to security and the FBI.”
Oops, Sarah seemed to quickly realize the prank went way too far. The tweeter soon had the mother of all online meltdowns, writing:
“@AmericanAir omfg I was kidding.”
‘My account got hacked okay I didn't tweet anything—
demetria (@QueenDemetriax_) April 13, 2014’
“@AmericanAir I’m so sorry I’m scared now.”
“I’m not gonna tell my parents, they’ll tell me to delete my acc omg that would be the end of my life.”
Sarah (@QueenDemetriax_) April 13, 2014’
Sarah, who claims to be a Demi Lovato fan from the Netherlands, first tried to claim a friend hijacked her account.
But by the end of the string of apologies, Sarah saw a silver lining by realizing the Twitter blunder had attracted thousands of new fans.
“Wow bc of this I gained 1k followers,” Sarah tweeted, eventually ending the day with nearly 30,000 new followers.
‘Wow bc of this I gained 1k followers—
demetria (@QueenDemetriax_) April 13, 2014’
Note well: The muscle tools of the state will never go after the real government criminals, but they have no problem going after the helpless and naive. Lie about the reasons for going to war with Iraq, no problem. Plot a coup in Ukraine and blame it on Russia, no problem. Be a dumb kid sending an ill-advised tweet, and the state's muscle will want to talk to you.
The State is, in essence, violence. Who resorts to violence? Bullies. Ideally, even in a Natural Law framework that accepts the existence of a minimal State, the power of the State cannot legitimately exceed the limits imposed by Natural Law Rights. Usurpation, therefore, is nothing more than some faction or individual(s) attempting to bully others. The State is an ideal vehicle for using the organization and power of numbers to bully others with some amount of impunity, which is what makes it attractive to cowardly collectivists, sadists, officious busybodies, scolds, snoops, sneak-thieves, and other types of statists. Politics is nothing more than glorified bullying. Scratch a bully and find a coward, without fail. Why does it surprise anyone that the actions of those who serve the State are so often patently cowardly? If these people were possessed of courage, integrity, initiative, and real empathy, they would be out in the private sector attempting to solve problems and advance themselves through voluntary cooperation.
ReplyDelete"The kind of man who demands that government enforce his ideas is always the kind whose ideas are idiotic."
-- H. L. Mencken