FSU student receives misdemeanor charges after making threats on Xbox Live

Oh, sure, not like people trash talk on the internet all the time. And on Live, too. You would, literally, have to be a moron to take a threat seriously during a game on live. I mean, really, it seems far more likely this guy only got reported because the reporter wanted to knock him down a peg for being rude online; the most heinus of crimes. This is what the internet is for, slandering others anonymously. A retarded reaction isn't going to stop it, and it's certainly not the kind of reaction i'd like to see

banhammer IRL!

Exactly, I dont know why so many people whole heartedly agree with what happened in this story.

I once got in trouble in my middle school for talking about paintball AFTERSCHOOL and OFF CAMPUS. A student who I didn't get along with, and was a well known attention whore, said I was making threats about bringing a gun to school. Instead of checking to make sure what was really said, they took her word as fact, and terminated my transfer.

This kid really does seem like a dumb ass, but I would like to know if these two got into an argument online, and the other player reported him because he wanted to be funny/win the argument/screw with the other kid

Thought police isn't a very good argument. The concept of the thought police is taking a small detail and creating a huge conspiracy out of it, assuming they know what you're thinking. Making detailed threats on how someone is going to commit a crime isn't remotely close to that. Planning a crime is a criminal offense in and of itself.

You don't see a problem with making an explicit, detailed threat to kill a large group of people? This isn't thought policing. The kid deserves everything he gets.

Also note that he isn't even being charged with making the threat, since the police have sensibly determined that it wasn't serious (as it wasn't his school). He's being charged with disrupting the schools' operation, because his threat caused them all to go into lockdown.

This is a textbook case of justice served, or it will be if he's convicted.

The guy might have been joking but clearly others took it seriously. This is setting the tone to let people know that this sort of threat is unacceptable.

I support it.

No reason to have some internet tough guy spout off a bunch of crap to you and make you stressed out as you turn off your xbox, wondering if 'XxX_HEDSNOT_XxX' was serious or joking, and if he knows where you live... This sort of thing can help people hold their tongue a little bit, as they realize it can be taken seriously, like bomb jokes at the airport.

Pulling out the classic for this one (no, it's NOT Rick Astley):

http://tinyurl.com/ykplwl

@ bluebreak:

It was his school, the guy who made the threats and shared the plans was a student at FSU, it wasn't the guy who reported him's school though, the guy that reported him probably didn't even know him as he was described as "a teammate".

My mistake. In that case, I'm actually surprised he's not being charged with something more serious.

well based on the quality and amount of the evidence, maybe that's all they could charge him with for a sure "conviction"... Or perhaps there are mitigating circumstances... who knows. My guess is that a serach of his living space and interviews with people he knows make it seem more like a joke than a real threat. If they found real evidence of him preparing to commit this crime, I'd imagine he'd be getting way more pounded by the law..

What ever happened to good old police work and a little bit of investigation before declaring a complete lock-down of a school? Seems way too knee jerk of a reaction to me. There was no clear evidence this kid was going to do anything. They searched his living quarters: no weapons, no planning material. This is a classic case of over-reaction by Big Brother who knows what is best for us.

None of us knows what this kid said to make the presumption he made "a well detailed, well-thought out, threat against his school to random strangers." Until we're told further by news outlets, it looks like LEO took the words of one gamer 2400 miles away and immediately acted without further investigation.

Anyway... looks like most of you disagree with me here and would rather see a pro-active police force. Just remember that they usually start trampling on your rights in their attempts to be pro-active.

School lockdowns seem to be way overused in the US. But this situation seems to be exactly what they were created for.

There is a difference between someone LYING and saying cwolf267 was gonna shoot up the school, when he didn't say that, and someone actually saying, in detail, that they planned to do it.

I don't support school lockdowns just because someone gives an offhand remark about hating their teacher, or even wishing they were dead. But if someone says, in a wy that isn't CLEARLY a joke, that they are gonna do something serious then I'm very happy people still even care enough to worry about it and do something about it.

The correct thing to happen is for the police to investigate, and then, if it turns out it was just a joke, let him go.

People seem to feel that police should only take action when their is proof someone is guilty. Personally I think police have just as much responsibility to prove people innocent as guilty.

Check up on it. If its serious, do something. If it isn't don't. Thats common sense.
(but it doesn't mean i support people panicking and reporting people for every little imagined deviation from the norm.)

On the topic of how school lockdowns can be silly, I have a small anecdote to share.

I live in California, and in this area we recently had a fairly powerful earthquake. When it started, I dove under the nearest table. This is what I was taught in school when I was young.

I later spoke to my high school aged niece, and she said that she didn't know what to do when the earthquake started. It turns out that at her school, they didn't do earthquake drills. However, they regularly ran drills for school lockdowns.

Statistical chance of experiencing a shooting rampage at school in California: nearly 0%.

Statistical change of experiencing an earthquake during your life in California: nearly 100%.

FYI: Although he called himself an "anti-human humanist", he clearly wasn't a humanist. That was one of the oxymoronic terms he coined to describe himself, however you could not describe him as one, as the term is contradictory. All of the titles he gave himself were oxymoronic in nature.

there is no way i could have said it better. +1

Very true...even joking about making such threats is bad etiquette. However, I'm very concerned about the civil liberties being violated here.

Considering other posts made, it's very obvious that even harsher conversations occur on XBL every minute. How much longer before jealous gamers fabricate threats?

I am still in awe as to how the police were able to get all of this guy's information so quickly. I wonder how they verified the complaint, how Microsoft provided the contact info, and how the arrest was carried out.

While I'm glad that there was an overreaction rather than no reaction...it's hardly refreshing to know that people who've never met you, can put you in jail.

What civil liberties? Nowhere in your constitution is the right to make death threats protected.

yea thats what i thought at first. i go to Salisbury University which is an in-state rival of Frostburg State University. didnt realize this hit so close to home (well if you call a three hour trip to the mountains close).

it is nice to see that there are some decent people scattered among the assholes on this internet though.

Another problem with VT is that the school was a gun free zone, meaning not even schol security could have a gun. I think the rule that if you have a CWP and still can't carry on school grounds is retarded. At the very least the security guards should be carrying. I mean, I don't see how firmly yelling "Stop" is really going to stop a gunman who has already killed.