18 year old Cameron D’Ambrosio was arrested for threatening to commit an “act of terrorism”.
Cameron D’Ambrosio, an average Massachusetts teen trying to make his way through high school, was put in jail for over 2 months without bail. He was charged with making a bomb threat after the horrific Boston marathon bombings, offensive enough to make people angry. This “terrorism act” was a line of lyrics. He posted a message onto his Facebook and friends reported him to the school principal. After the principal was warned of D’Ambrosio’s threat, police picked him up and confiscated his laptop and Xbox. They found no evidence whatsoever of explosives or weapons (“The Inquisitor”).
D’Ambrosio Facebook post read, “f*** boston bombinb wait till u see the s*** I do, I’ma be famous for rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!” Because of D’Ambrosio’s Facebook post, prosecutors argued that he was indeed a danger to the public and needed to be held without bail. D’Ambrosio’s post did in fact refer to the Boston Marathon bombings which I think is what sent people over the edge and caused a few political figures to act harshly. D’Ambrosio was put in jail, I believe, without reasonable cause.
Bombings and random killings have horridly become somewhat of a common occurrence. Death and causing people harm shouldn’t be something anyone would joke about. There are definitely consequences to these words written by D’Ambrosio out of context. His Facebook post was argued to be simply an obnoxious rant rather than a serious threat. D’Ambrosio made no specific threats against the school or to any individuals, but he did mention killing people and referred to the Boston Marathon. The White House concluded it was disturbing enough for the police to get involved. D’Ambrosio’s attorney argued that the charges against him were unfounded since D’Ambrosio made no specific threat in his post and that the post was not criminal in nature.
D’Ambrosio’s nature is to me curious. He seems to be a normal teenager struggling to fit in and get along with his peers. He proves to be passionate about music and is an aspiring rapper and has many rapping videos posted on YouTube. In one article I read it showed that D’Ambrosio had several accounts of similar strange behavior. He was arrested for threatening to stab and kill his sister in a fight over $20. He was charged with assault and battery and making a threat to commit a crime, but the case was dismissed just weeks before he was arrested on the new charges. He also threatened in 2011 to shoot two eighth-grade students but said he just kidding (“The Inquisitr”). News The judge definitely took this behavior into account when deciding his fate.
With these outbursts aside, I think his “terrorist act” is an innocent misunderstanding. Like we discussed I class, it was proven that the words he wrote were not written with intention to harm anyone or harm anyone’s reputation. The worst part of D’Ambrosio’s case was that his first amendment rights were violated and he was not given a fair trial. Many people were outraged how quickly D’Ambrosio was locked up. Many people petitioned to get him out and that he was wrongly accused.
D’Ambrosio’s entire post read:
“All you haters keep my f***** name outcha mouths, got it? What the f*** do I gotta do to get some props and s*** huh? Ya’ll wanme to f*****g kill somebody?…when u see me f***** go insane and make the news…Don’t f****** cry…f*** a boston bominb wait till u see the s*** i do…”
These words are not extremely comforting but in no way to me seen as threatening. You have to be careful about what you write. You have to be careful what you write about anywhere, especially social networks. Our rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press cannot be violated by anyone. Our safety is very important but so is our constitutional right to be free.
“Cameron D’Ambrosio Teen Terror Rapper Case Will Go Forward, DA Says.” The Inquisitr News. N.p., 4 June 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Zetter, Kim. “Teen Jailed for Rap Lyrics Posted After Boston Bombings.” Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 02 June 0013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
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hannah marie 