Teen Arrested for Posting Rap Lyrics on Facebook, But Grand Jury Refuses to Indict

Grand juries are famously accused of a propensity to indict a ham sandwich if a slick D.A. tells them to, but a Massachusetts grand jury has wisely declined to indict Cameron D'Ambrosio, a teen arrested for posting rap lyrics on Facebook that were thought by cops to constitute a "terroristic threat."

center for rights

Rolling Stone with the good news:

Cameron D'Ambrosio, 18, was arrested in Methuen, Massachussetts on May 2nd after posting a rap verse on his Facebook wall that contained the line, "fuck a boston bombinb [sic] wait til u see the shit I do, I'ma be famous for rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me." The high school student has been held in jail since then without bail. "There will be a bail hearing this afternoon, after which point he will probably be released, is my educated guess," says Essex County DA spokesperson Carrie Kimball Monahan.

Prosecutors sought to charge D'Ambrosio with threats to make a bomb or hijack a vehicle, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison….

D'Ambrosio was arrested after his fellow students alerted a school police officer, who then contacted the Methuen police. The police issued a somewhat alarmist statement on their website and Facebook pages with the headline "Methuen High School Student Arrested!!!" Local police chief Joseph Solomon failed to mention that D'Ambrosio is an aspiring rapper when talking with the media – making his Facebook post sound more like a straightforward statement of intent than a provocative lyric…..

Several observers noted that D'Ambrosio's amateur status likely contributed to the decision to arrest him. "If he were successful, he probably wouldn't have been charged," adds the ACLU's Segal. "Whether or not you're a terrorist shouldn't come down to how good of a hip-hop artist you are." In this case, it seems the grand jury agreed.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Holy shit, it appears a certain police department is overstaffed if they have time to get worked up about this. And I am always amazed that self-serving as fuck prosecutors keep getting elected.

[Duke]

Well gee whiz Fist, are you saying that you're soft on crime?

[Episiarch]

As if I needed further evidence that prosecutors and the police are utter vile scum who will attempt to ruin someone's life for even the tiniest gain for themselves. Any prosecutor who would pursue a case like this is a fucking sociopath.

[creech]

and a seeker after higher office.

[TMLutas]

If you can't get an indictment on a terroristic threat charge soon after a major terrorist incident in the affected city, really, how good a prosecutor are you?

This is FAIL on all levels.

[Mad Scientist]

What good is it to become a government agent if you can't stuff your boot up someone's ass and make them beg for more?

[mr lizard]

Is the little shit free yet? Good job up there Massholes, you chose to pick on a very unsympathetic target and still got stuffed in round 1. Better start writing a check with the people's money.

[Auric Demonocles]

If someone where to arrest Doherty for not posting alt-text, I would indict.

[mad libertarian guy]

Subjunctive FAIL.

[anarch]

Whassa matta you?

It's the subjunctive of locational interrogation.

[Suthenboy]

I didnt catch the whole thing, I was distracted. I had turned on the TV, which I rarely do, and just caught the tail end of an interview conducted by Sheppard Smith of an ex NSA deputy director.

There were quite a few fireworks as Smith repeatedly asserted that the administration and the NSA were acting illegally, unconstitutionally, and were, in his words, "telling bald faced lies".

Anybody catch that?

[Suthenboy]

oops. wrong thread.

[Anonymous Coward]

You never thought that hip hop would take it this far
Now I'm in the limelight 'cause I rhyme tight
Time to get paid, blow up like the World Trade

-Juicy by Notorious B.I.G.

Biggie Smalls was a fuckin' terrahist! And if ya don't know, now ya know!

[Nikki says you caddie well]

And all because in '88, he sold more powder than Johnson & Johnson. Terrorism financed by illegal drugs!!!

[Sevo]

'Well, I had a better year than the President.'

[generic Brand]

No, he just sold talcum powder to a lot of people who have really bad rashes.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Now that the Supreme Court of the US has "incorporated" most of the rights in the Bill of Rights against the states, maybe it's time to incorporate the right to a grand jury. You know, not being brought to trial for a "capital or otherwise infamous crime" (basically a felony) unless a grand jury indicts or presents you.

If a panel of your fellow-citizens can't find probable cause to put you on trial, you shouldn't be on trial. Period.

[Sevo]

Eduard van Haalen| 6.7.13 @ 4:05PM |#
"Now that the Supreme Court of the US has "incorporated" most of the rights in the Bill of Rights against the states, maybe it's time to incorporate the right to a grand jury."

Right now, I'd settle for a federal government that didn't violate the BoR on a consistent basis.

[Zeb]

Holy shit, he is still in jail? That is just fucked.

[Aresen]

This is your government on Patriot.

[creech]

Hey, and I thought Obama was just rhetorically linking himself to Abe Lincoln.

[Number 2]

Are you serious...twenty years in prison for "threatening" a bombing or to hijack a vehicle? Even without any proof that the threatening party is attempting to, or is even capable of, carrying out the threat?

That's the scandal.

[Michael S. Langston]

I'm curious - has there been a case where a bomber or other terrorist went on facebook to publicly threaten those they intend to harm prior to carrying out the harmful interactions?

Though after the government has decimated so many of our Constitutional Amendments - it really shouldn't be a surprise to know they care as little about free speech as they do about freedom from unreasonable searches or the ability to defend one's self.

#Land of the free?

[Who needs a reason?]

Maybe people who write stuff like that shouldn't go to jail for 20 years. Probably they just need to be beaten until there is some minor permanent damage.

[Inigo M.]

Well, it's a good thing he didn't post lyrics from that Alabama3 song that was used as the theme from The Sopranos:
"Woke up this morning,
Got yourself a gun;
Your mama always said you'd be
The Chosen One"

Clearly, that would have been construed as a threat to the president.

[ARog]

"If he were successful, he probably wouldn't have been charged," adds the ACLU's Segal. "Whether or not you're a terrorist shouldn't come down to how good of a hip-hop artist you are."

Since when was talent the same as success? They're obviously not mutually exclusive but one could be forgiven for thinking so based on what gets played on the radio.