Federal agents now using Urban Dictionary to bust criminals
By James Brady RyanSeptember 1st, 2011, 12:30 pmComments (7)
Federal agents have arrested an Indiana man, Justin Kemble, on a pair of felony charges after Kemble threatened a man from a local gun store who reported Kemble to the ATF. Kemble — rather stupidly, it should be said — came into the Midwest Gun Exchange and asked one of the employees if it was a problem that his gun's serial number was filed off. (Um, yes. And why point it out?) The employee told his boss, his boss told the feds, and Kemble lost his illegal firearm that he pretty much surrendered, for some reason. But was Kimble okay with this? No! And like all people who want to stay out of trouble, he decided to go on a Facebook posting spree, starting off with "ATF just took 1 of my guns :(." Sad face, indeed.
It's not yet possible to be arrested for ridiculous emoticon use, though, and it was when Kemble decided to post on the wall of Midwest Gun Exchange that his troubles began. (Well, different troubles began. That gun thing had already happened.) Because even if they didn't quite know what he was saying when he wrote "that 1 fag in there got my pistol confiscated, i got plenty of other guns but i want to murk that cocksucker," they figured it probably didn't mean "cook a nice meal." (Context clues probably helped, though I know more than one person who uses "cocksucker" as a term of endearment.)
Naturally, the ATF agents turned to the only reliable source for definitions: Urban Dictionary, where they found out that "murk" means "to physically beat someone so severely, they end up dying from their injuries." And so Kemble was arrested for making death threats. Oh, Justin: if only you had gone on to the site and added a thirtieth or so definition, like "to buy someone a kitten" or "to crochet someone a hat." Maybe that would have been enough to save yourself. (Probably not.) But it looks like protesters and flash mobbers aren't the only ones using non-traditional media to get the job done anymore.
Comments ( 7 )
A fine example of Darwinism at play. They say good things come in threes so maybe those sympatico bedfellows evil, idiocy and hubris are civilization's shed skin.
That's site pretty sweet. By which I mean:
Adj.
An intensive used to express satisfaction, acceptance, pleasure, excellence, exaltation, approval, awe, or reverence. When used individually, the level of satisfaction expressed is most often directly proportionate to the duration of the vowel sound.
Uh, saying "I want to X, Y, Z" is not a crime.
Prepare to lose in court ATF!
When you are speaking about causing the death of a witness against you in a legal case, it most certainly IS a crime.
@ Taupe: (from Wikipedia)
Criminal threatening (or threatening behavior) is the crime of intentionally or knowingly putting another person in fear of imminent bodily injury. "Threat of harm generally involves a perception of injury...physical or mental damage...act or instance of injury, or a material and detriment or loss to a person."[2]
So yeah...it is a crime.
Threatening someone with physical harm is a crime, and to do so in a recorded public forum just makes it easier to convict you.
For example, the Michigan Penal Code 750.122 prescribes up to 10 years for people who threaten witnesses. Granted, the idiot in question did not threaten a witness, but he did threaten someone following a police action.
Hopefully this dumbass will just get a few months in jail as a sober reminder not to be such a dumbass in public in the future.
My only issue is did he REALLY threaten anyone? saying "I want to ______" is not the same as saying "I'm going to _______". Many times people have pissed me off to the point of thinking/saying "I really want to punch his lights out" but that doesn't mean I have the intention of doing it.
Add a Comment