Justin Carter, 19, of Austin, Texas |
A desperate father from Austin, Texas, is
pleading for the release of his teenage son who is now facing eight years in
prison for making a sarcastic comment on Facebook.
A recent ABC report says Justin Carter was
still 18 years old in February when, according to his father Jack, he got into
an argument with someone over an online video game called "League of
Legends."
"Someone had said something to the effect
of 'Oh you're insane, you're crazy, you're messed up in the head,' to which he
replied 'Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a
school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,' and the next two
lines were lol and jk.," said the senior Carter.
While 'LOL' is online speak for "laughing
out loud" and "jk" means "just kidding," local police
treated the post as a terroristic threat after they were alerted by a Canadian
woman who saw the comment.
According to Justin's father, the woman
alerted police about the comments after she googled his son and found an old
address showing that he lived near an elementary school.
Police arrested Justin and he has been in jail
since March 27, according to Jack. He's charged with making a terroristic
threat and faces eight years in prison.
"These people are serious. They really
want my son to go away to jail for a sarcastic comment that he made," said
Carter.
Well aware that the situation comes just
months after the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in December 2012,
Jack thinks the response to his son's comments is over the top.
"Justin was the kind of kid who didn't
read the newspaper. He didn't watch television. He wasn't aware of current
events. These kids, they don't realize what they're doing. They don't
understand the implications. They don't understand public space," he said.
Family and friends of Justin have since
started an online petition on change.org calling for his release and a change
to the investigative criteria for terroristic threat laws.
"Release Justin Carter from jail. Too
many teenagers are being arrested, jailed and having their lives forever
altered because of anti-terrorism laws and investigations that impede their 1st
Amendment right to freedom of speech," notes the summary of the petition
which as of Thursday afternoon had 700 signatures. They are hoping to get
4,300.
Justin's father is now warning everyone to be
careful of what they do or say on social media.
"If I can just help one person to
understand that social media is not a playground, that when you go out there
into social media, when you use Facebook, when you use Twitter, when you go out
there and make comments on news articles, and the things you are saying can and
will be used against you," he said.