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Teen Questioned for Online Bush Threats Upset by the war in Iraq, Julia Wilson vented her frustrations with President Bush last spring on her Web page on MySpace.com. She posted a picture of the president, scrawled "Kill Bush" across the top and drew a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand. She later replaced her page on the social-networking site after learning in her eighth-grade history class that such threats are a federal offense.
It was too late. The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two Secret Service agents. The incident has upset her parents, who said the agents should have included them when they questioned their daughter.
"They yelled at me a lot," she said. "They were unnecessarily mean." 
"I wasn't dangerous. I mean, look at what's (stenciled) on my backpack - it's a heart. I'm a very peace-loving person," said Wilson, an honor student who describes herself as politically passionate. "I'm against the war in Iraq. I'm not going to kill the president."
Spokesmen for the Secret Service in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., said they could not comment on the case.
Wilson and her parents said the agents were justified in questioning her over her MySpace.com posting. But they said they believe agents went too far by not waiting until she was out of school.
They also said the agents should have more quickly figured out they weren't dealing with a real danger.
Ultimately, the agents told the teen they would delete her investigation file.
I smell b.s. The girl claims to be "a peaceful person." But she didn't take the site down because of some epiphany that violence was wrong. She took it down, by her own admission, when a teacher told her it was illegal. Granted, its highly unlikely she would ever try and kill the president. However, "peaceful people" usually don't set up websites about killing anyone. Obviously, the kid was trying to be "cool" and "edgy" and got caught. Now she's playing the "ooh, I'm just widdle girl" card. Instead of whining to the media she should be thanking the Secret Service for letting her off with a warning.
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Agreed. She & her parents should be very thankful that their were willing to delete her investigation file. It sounds like her parents should have done some yelling at her to.
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She ought to have known better than to say that in her My Space page. Common sense should have prevailed, even if she was unaware that it is a federal offense to say what she said online.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok. 
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Fuck that! She's in 8th grade, for fuck's sake! Besides, I love how the Gestapo took the time to jump on an 8th grader. Yeah, she's a real threat...  And, btw G....adding emoticon's to the article pretty much screams your natural knee-jerk bias...
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She was old enough to make a death threat Prom. The gestapo would have made the little girl dissapear instead of just yelling at her.
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I fail to understand how simply saying something like that (or rather, posting it on the web) is considered a "death threat"? Also, why is it a "federal offense" to say something like that? Wouldn't that be a violation of free speech?
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Freedom doesn't mean you get to do or say whatever you want. In this case, this girl unmistakenly threatened a President. Unless she's mentally retarded, at the age of 14 she should know what she was expressing. She did a bad thing & hopefully learned something she should have already known in the first place.
I can't remember which President was assinated but I believe it was after an assination that this became a federal offense. (hazy memory & could be wrong on that) It was long before 9/11 though.
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Probably Kennedy.
So, hate groups like the Clan and all those Nazi fucks can scream they want to kill {Insert Racial Slur Here} at the top of their lungs, and it's their right as "Freedom of Speech". But, if someone expresses the same thing about a President they view as a dictator, then, it's a federal offense?
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The Klan and Nazis aren't (in the situation you present) threatening an individual person with death. That's the difference.
As a general rule, a variety of state and federal laws prohibit direct threats against a particular person. It doesn't have to be a president, per se.
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I'm not an expert on the law but I think your right Prom. Look at it this way though, the feds have to check these things out. The girl in question took it down when she learned it was a federal offense. If she had never put it up, time & money wouldn't have been wasted checking it out. If it wasn't a federal offense, there would probably be more non-serious ones that the feds would have to investigate. No matter how you feel about a President, they're the leader of this country & their life is more valuable to the country as a whole.
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What about "Fuck Bush"? Can people say "Fuck Bush" without the Secret Service questioning them for threatening to rape the president?
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Quote:
Im Not Mister Mxypltk said:
What about "Fuck Bush"? Can people say "Fuck Bush" without the Secret Service questioning them for threatening to rape the president?
Yes, because how would they know if you were speaking politically?
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Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
I can't remember which President was assinated but I believe it was after an assination that this became a federal offense. (hazy memory & could be wrong on that) It was long before 9/11 though.
it may have been an attempted one that caused it to become a federal offense like the attempts on ford or reagan, or even the numerous threats nixon got.
Bow ties are coool.
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How does the law apply to living ex presidents? Or deceased presidents?
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It applies to living presidents, I think, and to the immediate family of deceased presidents. I'll have to look it up.
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