Woman jailed after using shooting suspect's catchphrase as insurance company denied claim. - eviltoast
  • NostraDavid@programming.dev
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    7 days ago

    See, telling your supposed enemy your intentions was the first mistake. If you didn’t intend to go through with it, then it was just an empty threat. Either way it’s dumb.

  • shiroininja@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Threatening the hospital that was denying my father care, leaving him to die, was the only way I got into the literal board room to reason with them. I got them to resume treatment after they dicked around for a month and he refused to leave because he was going to die if he left.

    He still died because he was so sick at that point that they couldn’t do the procedure he needed when he first arrived.

    So I threatened them in 2010, and I’d fucking do it again now for my child. We are supposed to stand up for our loved ones.

    • obre@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      It’s disgusting. There needs to be legal recognition of all that is at stake for patients and their families. The denial of necessary care is structural violence and should be treated as such by everyone.

    • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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      got them to resume treatment after they dicked around for a month and he refused to leave because he was going to die if he left.

      I had to play this card once, too. I was in the cardiac unit for 28 days, and they were going to send me home because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and the insurance decided I wasn’t worth the expense anymore.

      I refused to leave until they gave me a diagnosis, because i would have just died otherwise.

      Pretty sure the healthcare system still wants that.

      • shiroininja@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Financial extermination. But threat of violence would’ve been my next step in trial and error. It’s my family… I’d do anything for them. People even told me I should’ve. It was a tough situation and I was young. A little younger than Luigi.

  • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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    8 days ago

    I imagine the “Delay, Deny, Depose” didn’t get her in trouble nearly as much as the “You people are next” part. Yeah, that’s a bit hostile there.

    • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Please, marginalized people get more explicitly threatening crap said to them all the time and people rarely get arrested or charged for that. She’s being charged because the system wants to make an example out of her. The judge basically said so himself at the bail hearing,

      “I do find that the bond of $100,000 is appropriate considering the status of our country at this point,” the judge said.

      • ArtieShaw@fedia.io
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        8 days ago

        Ouch. “This place is a shit show,” the judge said. (Not really, just fixed it for him).

      • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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        7 days ago

        They need to appeal this. Clear judicial error. If he wouldn’t have done this 3 weeks ago legally he can’t do it now.

      • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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        7 days ago

        100k for a threat made in reaction to what was likely fear for her life, or the life of her loved one.

        It’s pretty amazingly cruel.

      • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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        7 days ago

        Not saying you are wrong about the marginalized, but in this case she made, what could be considered threatening, a call to a health care provider that was not only actionable, but entirely recorded.

        “The system” won’t make an example out of her, “Exhibit A” will. That’s the difference.

        • Serinus@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          It’s both.

          $100k bond for a threat that is neither specific nor credible is absurd.

          If it were a first time offender threat against a normal person (which is more specific), at most it would result in probation and a restraining order.

    • zaph@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      I’ve met victims of domestic violence who were threatened much worse than “you guys are next” so I’m not buying this as anything other than the system trying to use her as an example.

      • tamal3@lemmy.world
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        Oops, I completely misinterpreted your comment. Not sure what etiquette says, but I feel silly and am removing mine.

        I agree that this person saying “you guys are next” is not a threat to the degree that it should be chargeable, and that she’s being made an example of.

        • zaph@sh.itjust.works
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          Just want to point out that your example implies domestic violence is a lower level of violence, and as such this shouldn’t count as a real threat?

          Reading comprehension ain’t for everyone.

          Edit: on some reflection that might be a rude reply if you don’t already know that domestic violence threats in the US are largely ignored.

          • tamal3@lemmy.world
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            Thanks for the reflection edit! I don’t think I’m stupid, but you’re right that I didn’t read your comment correctly. Do you want me to remove my original reply?

            Edit: decided to remove

        • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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          8 days ago

          I recommend doing it like I did below the horizontal lines down there 👇

          btw, tap me 4 formatting tip

          To strike through, use ~~ before and after the offending text:

          ~~This text would be strike’d~~
          



          The United States has the most equitable healthcare system on earth.

          Edit: sorry about that, cat stepped on my keyboard

        • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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          8 days ago

          For something really embarrassing -

          Original embarrassing comment:

          I hate Star Trek

          Newly edited comment:

          edit: removed opinion I reconsidered

    • frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io
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      8 days ago

      There’s no direct threat there more than saying the boogeyman will get you. People threaten marginalized communities like this on TV, radio and social media every day with no impunity because it’s just vague enough not to count because stochastic terrorism is totally cool for SOME people.

      • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        First amendment doesn’t cover true threats. So it all kinda depends on context and whether who it was said to felt as though they were in real danger.

        • frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io
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          Bullshit. Denying life saving care is a much much much more direct threat to life, as are abortion denials. The concept of a true threat depends mainly on whether you are an acceptable threat maker or not.

          • meco03211@lemmy.world
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            Except if you are actively dying and I refuse to help in my personal capacity, I’m not threatening to harm you. I’m just not helping you from imminent harm (presuming I didn’t cause that imminent harm). Now if you’re on fire and I’m currently watering my lawn with the hose when you ask for help, it’s shitty of me to not help. But if you’re in a gunfight with someone and you’re asking me to render aid as they are still a threat, sorry pal.

            E: Apparently some ignorant idealists don’t like making a distinction. Tough shit. From a legal standpoint, that’s how it works.

            • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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              Now if you’re on fire and I’m currently watering my lawn with the hose when you ask for help, it’s shitty of me to not help.

              Inaction is still an action. If you have the ability to save someone and you let them die, you may as well have started the fire yourself.

              The only real point you have is that you don’t render aid when there’s an active threat.

            • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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              I’m just not helping you from imminent harm

              Doesn’t the law protect that in some way? I thought medical professionals were compelled to save lives first and then “worry” about costs later with the Hippocratic Oath and all. Or maybe it’s limited to some instances? Idk, I’m not from the US and our system works way differently.

              • meco03211@lemmy.world
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                That is a “good Samaritan” law. They can compel you to help, but that could be calling law enforcement. That’s also why in my examples the gunfight still had a deadly threat. No laws compel you to put yourself in danger to help.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          That doesn’t seem like a true threat to me.

          https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-1/true-threats

          A person speaking out of anger who the person does not have a real reason to fear and believe they’ll follow through is not a true threat. Saying “you’re next” is clearly hyperbole. There’s no chance she loses this case. They’re just trying to make an example out of her for the moment to scare other people.

          You might say it is a true threat in and of itself. There is very good reason for people to believe the state will arrest more people who use this speech. They’re assuming this is true, because they want them to fear them in order to stop them. This is what we call terrorism, except it’s the state doing it so I guess it’s totally fine.

        • samus12345@lemm.ee
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          8 days ago

          Even more importantly, it matters who you’re threatening. Your wife? Meh, no biggie. An insurance company? Straight to jail.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Talk to any call center worker at any shitty company in the US and they’ll tell you they’ve heard the same thing or worse before. This isn’t new for shitty companies at all, they’re just trying to make it seem like it’s new in response to this situation and not something that they’ve been ignoring for decades.

      • dan1101@lemm.ee
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        Do not threaten commerce, they don’t tolerate that. The money must flow at all costs.

    • Wogi@lemmy.world
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      Clearly she was saying that they were next to receive a gift basket for all their hard work in denying claims for profit

    • robocall@lemmy.world
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      I can agree with your statement, but is it an act of terrorism? I don’t think her threat should be categorized as terrorism.

      • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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        I don’t think it’s terrorism either as I understand. Terrorism targets citizens for leverage.

  • Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Remember this the next time the cops tell someone they can’t do anything about a stalker or angry ex threatening to kill them until they actually act. They can do something. They choose not to.

    • joker125@lemmy.world
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      Funny part is insurance companies hear worse than this all day long however this is their trigger.

      L O L

      • shadowfax13@lemmy.ml
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        previously it was at some poor customer support agent in a 3rd world country, now the danger is to the mega donors oligarchy club members.

        won’t be tolerated.

    • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      You people are next

      Yea this part is not gonna look good in court.

      Just those 3 words without adding more would sound less bad, might not have gotten out of the arrest, but adding “You people are next” just ensured the arrest and charges.

      • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
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        8 days ago

        Yet, if some citizen tells another citizen directly, “I’m going to kill you until you are dead,” and that second citizen then goes to the police to report it, the police will respond, “we have no proof other than your hearsay, person one has to actually commit some act of violence before we can even issue a restraining order (worthless) let alone do any ‘police work.’”

        This is how it acts in citizen-to-citizen interaction in the real world. A business gets special treatment versus a citizen, yet again.

        (Regardless of how crass or inappropriate her angry comment was. Remember: America lets Nazis exist because “free speech” - it’s a huge hypocrisy.)

        • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          8 days ago

          In the Article:

          According to the affidavit, 42-year-old Briana Boston used the phrase during a call with BlueCross BlueShield about a denied claim.

          Her problem is that she said it over the phone, every company records all phone calls, they always have an automatic voice saying “this call will be recorded for quality and training purposes” that makes anything you say after implied to have given consent for the recording, bypassing any two-party comsent laws.

          I don’t dispute the fact that corporations and rich people have preferrential treatment, but having evidence like a phone call recording is what’s ultimately gonna get law enforcement to act.

          If you have a video of someone saying “I’m gonna get my gun and shoot you until your’re dead” to your face, that would probably have higher chances of getting law enforcement to act rather than just a “he said she said” heresay. No guarantees that they’ll act (cops are mostly lazy and don’t wanna do their jobs), but its much much better than just you claiming they threatened you without providing any evidence.

          • dan@upvote.au
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            that makes anything you say after implied to have given consent for the recording, bypassing any two-party comsent laws.

            That… doesn’t sound like two party consent to me. Are you saying that I can tell someone “I’m recording this call” and they don’t have to actually consent, they just have to not mention it?

            • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              You can’t secretly record phone calls in two party consent states. But you can say “Just so you know, this phone call is being recorded” and if they continue to talk, they are implicitly giving consent. At least that’s how it always have worked, otherwise it would’ve been illegal for basically every company to record phone calls. Every called customer service for any reason? Notice how they all tell you that the call is recorded? Its been like this since I ever learned about phone calls. If it’s illegal, you’d be hearing about lawsuits all the time.

              • dan@upvote.au
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                Makes sense. I don’t usually call customer service - I tend to use email or social media where possible, so that I have everything in writing with timestamps, just in case I need to refer back to it or use it as evidence.

                Does that mean I can also record them?

                • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  You can. I’d also say “Just letting you know, I’m recording this phone call” just to be on the safe side.

                  I mean you could always make illegal recordings and you won’t get arrested, its just that it might not be admissible in court.

                  And if you live in a one-party consent state, its always legal to record, even when the other person is in a two-party consent state, even without informing or getting consent.

              • Vespair@lemm.ee
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                But you can say “Just so you know, this phone call is being recorded” and if they continue to talk, they are implicitly giving consent

                Which makes it kind of bullshit and not two-party, since in many cases this is effectively the only means of communicating with these companies. There is no real option to not consent, especially in the case of healthcare companies, since it’s not like a person can just choose to not have a body with real medical concerns (and in the US you legally can’t even go uninsured without penalty). Calling this “two party” at this point is a fucking joke.

                • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
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                  You can literally choose to not say anything about threatening or murdering someone over a recorded call.

              • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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                And if you hang up you can’t deal with the claim denial. So really, wouldn’t that start to tread the line of coercion? If you don’t consent to being recorded we’ll continue to deny healthcare.

            • _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              Some states you don’t even need that. I live in a one-party state, so I wouldn’t need to tell someone they’re being recorded, as long as I knew they were.

        • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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          If you have a recording of someone threatening to kill you, the police can absolutely act.

          Threatening to kill someone unless they give you what you want is not protected speech. Otherwise, you could walk into a bank, demand they give you money under threat of violence, then walk out having committed no crimes.

          • InputZero@lemmy.world
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            I’m sorry to say, but that’s not necessarily true. It would need to be a police recording or record of someone threatening you for them to actually have to do anything. You could walk into a precinct with a bona fide video of someone making a serious threat to your life and the police typically won’t do anything about it. That same person could make a clip about murdering you and post it online with a clear plan to kill you and the police still wouldn’t have to act. All of that is hearsay, regardless of how serious the intent is and the police can choose to ignore it. Unless it’s someone worth helping, someone who might be able to make a sizable donation.

            • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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              The police doesn’t have to act if a person drags another person into the precinct and murders them in front of all the cops according stupid US courts (Warren v. District of Columbia).

              That’s why 2a and self-defense are such important rights. You want to be safe? Better take care of it yourself (or elect a 3rd party that will change the status quo, but fantasy solutions don’t count).

          • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
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            Remember the time Lemmy was so outraged at the elections that they, un ironically, became Unabomber stans

      • Verqix@lemmy.world
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        She didn’t say she was going to be involved in whatever the “next” thing ment. Might have been a heart-felt warning against vigilantes.Also, the “next” thing might well have been “…to get much needed care denied”.

        Legally this is so flimsy it’s a waste of time. Looking at wording from politicians there’s way more direct calls to violence which will never be prosecuted. In practice it shows the pull of big corporations with cops, and inconveniences the life of an already inconvenienced person.

      • SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip
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        I was literally told by some dude that “if I see you again, I’ll fucking kill you” while I was walking my dog at night around my town’s library. I told the police and they didn’t do jack shit. Whereas this lady gets a hit by a $100,000 bond?

      • gift_of_gab@lemmy.world
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        It’s weird, because I took it to mean that the people she’s talking to are going to be denied insurance in some way next.

        I mean we can assume, and it’s fairly likely, that it was a reference to the assassination, but American court is fucked if this is enough.

      • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
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        Fear can be a very powerful motivator, as everyone one rent check away from the street knows. It’s time for the leeches to feel some of that fear

        • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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          You need to reread what the judge said when he set her bail. When the rich become afraid for their lives they send their law enforcement after those people they are afraid of and they fill the jails that they own with the people who have inspired their fear.

          All this fervor is not going to result in a changing of healthcare. Not with our newly minted Republican Congress and a douche canoe for a president. No all of this is going to result in a curbing of our free speech rights and a deadlier police state than we already live in. To say nothing of what’s going to happen to our voting rights in the next 4 years.

  • Pandantic [they/them]@midwest.social
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    From the article’s source article:

    “She’s been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better that you can’t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we’re not going to follow up and put you in jail,” said Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor.

    I thought we had a legal definition of a real threat, and this isn’t it.

  • Erasmus@lemmy.world
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    After being charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, a judge set Boston’s bond at $100,000.

    “I do find that the bond of $100,000 is appropriate considering the status of our country at this point,” the judge said.

  • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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    Attorneys have said the insurance industry uses a “delay, deny, defend” tactic to withhold health care services.

    Jailed for using words to describe what insurance companies do?

    Judge is trying to fill their year-end quota.

    • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      “Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next,” she allegedly said near the end of the call.

      Let’s be real, the “You people are next” is probably the reason for jail.

      • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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        7 days ago

        “You people are next…”

        “… to hear from my lawyer!”

        “… to get bad press once I go to the newspaper.”

        “… <insert anything that doesn’t mean physical violence.>”

        I hope we don’t jail people based on what we think they meant.

        • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          police jail people for even less than that, they will lie and frame innocent people to put them in jail

          She repeated the phrase written on the bullet casings used in the killing of an insurance CEO and then said “you people are next” on a phone call with her insurance - it’s clearly a threat given the context of the phrase and the killing. Denying that context is one of the less defensible positions here. What is more defensible is that her threat is clearly empty and the law has stricter requirements about what constitutes a crime.

          • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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            She repeated the phrase written on the bullet casings used in the killing of an insurance CEO and then said “you people are next” on a phone call with her insurance - it’s clearly a threat given the context of the phrase and the killing.

            Here’s the thing, at least this is how I view it:

            Is it reasonable to believe she can actually carry out this threat? If not, then jail is waaaaay overkill. Shit, we have violent offenders and drunk drivers around here who don’t see the inside of a cell at all.

            This woman, denied insurance for either a health matter that her or a loved one is going through. She’s a middle-aged woman who doesn’t own a firearm, and is likely very frustrated for being put in a health (or financial) crisis by the denial of her insurance provider.

            Did she say “you people are next” in reference to the putting down of another insurance company CEO? Of course. Do people say things like that all the time out of frustration with no way they could realistically or literally carry out the threat? ALL THE TIME.

            This is an example of the justice system taking the side of a business, and not a person. It’s shameful, and this judge likely hasn’t considered the harm caused by insurance companies - actual harm, that actually kills real life people!

            Anyway, I don’t agree that she should have been arrested and jailed. I can empathize with her frustration, because I have sick American friends who always get shit on by their insurance company, delaying treatment or arguing against their doctor’s recommendations.

            • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              7 days ago

              Did she say “you people are next” in reference to the putting down of another insurance company CEO? Of course.

              Right, so not what you said originally, which is that she meant something else and the sheriff who ordered her arrest was just jumping to conclusions, a conclusion you now agree with.

              Anyway, I agree with you that it is an injustice that she was jailed, and I think we are all empathizing with her right now. We would all like the police to take more seriously dangerous stalkers and protecting people, and not serving as the militant arm of the 1%. Unfortunately, the police are an institution that historically have been put in place by the 1% to protect their interests, and there is a long-standing legal ruling that the police are not there to “protect and serve” (the common citizen).

              • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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                6 days ago

                Right, so not what you said originally, which is that she meant something else and the sheriff who ordered her arrest was just jumping to conclusions, a conclusion you now agree with.

                That could still be true, though. That’s the thing… you can’t make assumptions about other people’s intentions, even if the context seems to point one way in hindsight.

                From the article: “She reportedly said she used the phrase “because it’s what is in the news right now.””

                She may not have even known the full extent of the context, like someone repeating a meme without knowing the origin story.

                The officers interpreted what she said as an actual threat of violence, which is completely outrageous.

                After being charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, a judge set Boston’s bond at $100,000.

                The judge made a HUGE FUCKING LEAP here! She had neither the means nor the intent to “conduct a mass shooting”, any more than if she claimed she would “nuke” their building.

                This judge is either being paid by the insurance company, or is acting in poor faith.

                Unfortunately, the police are an institution that historically have been put in place by the 1% to protect their interests, and there is a long-standing legal ruling that the police are not there to “protect and serve” (the common citizen).

                I couldn’t agree more, especially as it’s applied to this story.

      • Oijkuij@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Let’s say an elected official or candidate (bless em if any would actually do this) says this phrase in a speech. Would they be arrested? Or would they be given an interview for them to explain themselves, where they deftly state “obviously I’m not talking about doing it myself - but generally speaking these companies are heading in a concerning direction”. There would be debates over it, some people would be upset, but the story would fade and the politician would likely move on as well.

        Say that phrase with Trump’s voice in your head and it sounds like much of his political speech.

        Regular folks must be a lot more careful with their speech in the US, far less of it is free.

      • 4lan@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Sure that’s the reason but is it a justification?

        Do you know how many people are saying shit like this everyday all day?

        This is the police protecting corporate America over the working class.

        I guarantee they are taking orders from the oligarchs. Squash any talks of more execution

        • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 days ago

          that’s true for everyone in jail :-) but it’s also not the most proximate cause, it’s more like a background requirement, a necessary but not sufficient condition

  • Spacehooks@reddthat.com
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    8 days ago

    Nothing like jail time to radicalized someone more. Judge is playing 5d cheese by providing motivation.