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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20963
[Legal]
Date Posted:
8/1/2009
4:57:21 pm EDT
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Views: 2,723
RSS: 12,143
Comments: 6
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Man's Rap Song Called A Threat To Cops, So He's In Jail For 2 Years
Author: Orlando Sentinel Source: Orlando Sentinel
Title: MAN'S RAP SONG CALLED A THREAT TO COPS, SO HE'S IN JAIL FOR 2 YEARS
Hardly anyone had heard Antavio Johnson's lyrics until they landed him in prison.
Now his words are getting the attention of free-speech advocates across the nation.
Johnson's friends and family say he was frustrated with the Lakeland police a few years ago when he recorded a violent rap song that called officers by name and threatened to shoot them.
Those words, they say, were meant only as a creative outlet and not intended to be made public or acted out.
"We don't punish for bad thoughts in America," said Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Our Constitution forces us to make a distinction between ugly and hostile thoughts and words, and credible threats of violence."
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Community Thoughts: There are 6 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Not A "True Threat" | Aug 4th. at 2:05:11 am EDT
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me
It's interesting that the poll linked to this story and sponsored by a major Florida paper shows nearly two thirds of readers recognize that a two year old song's lyrics are protected speech, even if over a third are so misguided as to not get the distinction between highly protected speech, and the requirement for actual intent to perpetrate wrongful violence for a criminal threat to exist.
Larry Walters was a good choice for legal comments in this story. He's one of the premier 1st Amendment attorneys in Florida, a state where his services are far too often needed. He clearly recognizes what the cops involved, and other government agents including the prosecutor and judge, were legally obligated to accept when they instead perpetrated this violation of rights by malicious prosecution. Assistant State Attorney Chip Thullbery is quoted in a Fox News report saying, "These were specific threats made to specific people for all the world to hear." That is simply not true, when the lyrics expressed a grievance against corrupt government actors, including naming some of those, but did not amount to a promise to act in any criminal manner (as evidenced by the fact that Antonio had not when the song was noticed, years later) . The actions of Polk County Sheriffs are consistent with other electioneering by or under the direction of Grady Judd, whose entire department likely deserves to be fumigated and eradicated based on its history as what are rightfully serial felon RICO patterns against many citizens.
[Web LINK]
Sadly, cop killa rap is all too often a perversely legitimate expression of just how abusive cops and so-called justice system backers act, in most cases using Constitutionally unsupportable drug and other laws to discriminate against blacks and other targets (as was the history of this song) . It does often express a deep and intense sense of outrage, that would be difficult to motivate or justify were cops to simply stop acting as either violent jackboot fascists, or willing mercenaries for crooked legislators and unConstitutional laws.
[Web LINK]
[Web LINK]
Corrupt violent thugs, eg cop gangs in blue and their mob bosses providing funding, marching orders, and court lynchings, are exactly the "domestic enemies" who Thomas Jefferson explicitly stated needed to be periodically eliminated from abuse of power, by extermination since he forecast that the "soap" and "ballot" boxes would not be fully effective at holding officials in power in line with our nation's rules for them. If this case were seriously about real crimes, it's doubtful so many law professors and civil libertarians would be discussing it, including Eugene Volokh's highly respected law blog:
[Web LINK]
In Polk County Florida, it's clear there are many reversals as to who's on which side of the county prison bars. It cannot matter in terms of Constitutional law if grievances against wanton and malicious conspiracies to systematically violate citizen rights are framed in terms that might be used on a law blog or at a Board meeting of a public interest civil rights organization where most people have post-grad degrees and professional careers, or as NWA is well known for pissing off both FBI and local cop shops alike, "Fvck the Police!"
Whenever someone is on a jury for an accused cop killer (who wasn't ganglance murdered by the gang in blue without ever being subjected to a trial) , there are important questions we should always ask. Regardless of any laws that pretend cops can do no wrong and are exempt from 2nd Amendment or more general self defense rights of citizens, was the cop acting in ways that were legitimately violent felonies backed by lethal arms, as cop actions outside Constitutional or lesser laws unavoidably are? Did the accused really perpetrate a crime, or does he deserve an award for public service against corrupt government agents and their abuses? Fully Informed Juries might well shock cops and state attorneys if they answered such questions responsibly.
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| I'm Not A Rap Fan, | Aug 3rd. at 9:41:57 pm EDT
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Medea (Somewhere, Massachusetts) - Email Me
I personally find rap to be extremely boring. But someone apparently thought this guy was highly motivational.
I always believed that we had Freedom of Speech in America. Just because someone writes stupid lyrics doesn't mean he's going to go out and shoot cops. But there are some real dummies who may take it as an anthem and do precisely that. So is there any good solution here? No.
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| Yeah..... | Aug 3rd. at 9:33:26 pm EDT
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nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me
Ok, so the lyrics are "hateful" -- but so what? I do not see where Antavio Johnson is calling for anyone else to go out and kill a cop.
And has no-one else even noticed the words "The following lyrics are excerpts from the rap song "Kill Me a Cop," written and recorded by Antavio Johnson" at the top of the page? EXCERPTS, meaning some of the lyrics have been left out.
When someone publishes excerpts of a book, it doesn't mean the entire book has been published. If the selected book excerpts happen to make it look like the book is saying "Kill all the white people", does that ****really**** mean the book is all about getting people to go out and kill "white people"?
So, just what has been left out of the lyrics -- and is the person who has published these EXCERPTS trying to hide something?
ll I see is a "poem" written by an angry young man, trying to work out his anger without harming anyone else. i.e., he did not kill anyone just for "getting his timing wrong".
--nasionnaich .....next y'all will be hollerin, for folks to be put in prison just for sayin' "someone oughtta smack him upside the head" when they see someone doin' somethin' they don't like. watch out, though - if such a law got passed, the one goin' to prison might be you.
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| Yes, They Are Hateful. | Aug 3rd. at 10:26:07 am EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
The lyrics are hateful when they promote the killing of anyone. He might not actually go out and do it, but it is promoting the possibility that others will take the song to heart and actually carry out such a threat.
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| I Think The Lyrics Of Songs Go To Far | Aug 2nd. at 5:43:05 pm EDT
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Grey Wolf (Parkville, Maryland) - Email Me
I do believe those lyrics are hateful and wrong. Here is a link to the words.
[Web LINK]
Here in the States we have become afraid to speak out against those who talk hate IF it isn't politically correct.
A black rapper can promote cop-killings, shooting whites because the white devils have it coming, or overthrowing the government to put blacks in power and be praised for speaking out, BUT if someone talks about stopping the violence having everyone work together they are denounced for 'trying to hold the black man down'.
Look at the lyrics and substitute 'Black drug dealer' for the officer's name and switch ni@@a for cop. That rap would get a white person arrested for promoting hate crimes.
Find More info -- HERE
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| It's A Bit Short On Crucial Details | Aug 1st. at 10:32:45 pm EDT
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nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me
Ok, so the guy wrote a rap song when he was a teenager -- so what? A lot of teens write stuff that can be taken as a direct threat against someone.
What I want to know is "Who decided to post the lyrics on that Myspace page" and "Just what are the lyrics". I want to read the lyrics for myself, so I can decide for myself just how "violent" and "threatening" they really are.
Anybody got a link to those lyrics?
--nasionnaich
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