Student Facing Terroristic Threat Charges After Decorating High School Bathroom With Laughable 'Satanic' Graffiti

from the HOW-DO-YOU-PENTAGRAM dept

Today's "terroristic threat" is brought to you by a very disappointed Satan.

Apparently, this graffiti first appeared in a Brownsboro High School boys restroom before making its way across Facebook (as one's graffiti does), where it was spotted by an increasing number of concerned parents and students. That groundswell of social media handwringing culminated in this:
School and law enforcement officials received information about graffiti on a bathroom stall at Brownsboro High School on Tuesday afternoon and investigated the matter. On Wednesday, the high school student was detained at the beginning of the school day and was questioned. The student was later charged with terrorist threat on a public entity, a third degree felony.
The Athens (TX) Daily Review's coverage provides more color commentary from a concerned parent.
Stephanie Teel shared her concerns, and a photo on the Chandlerslist Facebook page.

“Today someone wrote on the walls starting 10 students would be sacrificed on 11/6/14. It also had writings about Satan as well as hell. I was informed it's been going on for the past couple days,” she wrote. “With all the school shootings in the past, I don't believe this is something to be taken lightly or joked about especially by a school official whom we trust with our children's safety daily.”
At which point, the school district leapt into action, painting over the graffiti and asking students not to talk about it. Oh, and they sent the cops after the unnamed student, who will undoubtedly soon be graced with a name because of this decision:
At the beginning of the school day Wednesday, the student, who is being considered an adult instead of a minor, was immediately detained.
That escalated quickly. KLTV's coverage includes this not-quite-accurate description of the graffiti/threat:
Pictures of the graffiti show images of a pentagram and words printed in and around it mentioning Satan and sacrifices. The graffiti depicted a pentagram and had phrases including "I will sacrifice 10 students" and "Satan is God".
A pentagram it ain't, at least not in the classic Satanic sense. For comparison:


And if there's something referencing the death of "10 students," it can't be found in this "heavily circulated" photo, which only shows the phrase "sacrifice the children."

If the unnamed student was hoping to impress the Dark Lord with his restroom wall tribute, he couldn't have done much worse than this Lone Star State approximation littered with quasi-Satanic afterthoughts -- something about as "threatening" as anything shown by Count Floyd and as "Satanic" as Simon Milligan and man-servant Hecubus. Someone bored and stupid made this, and now they're facing felony charges… as an adult.

Hopefully, an investigation is also underway, rather than some sort of railroading. Third-degree felonies are punishable by fines up to $10,000 and sentences of 2-10 years. Texas is a bad place to be caught uttering terroristic threats. Just ask Justin Carter, whose online trash talk netted him $500,000 bail, time in solitary confinement (for his protection) and acts of violence from other inmates. As Tamara Tabo points out at Above the Law, terroristic threat laws steamroll the Constitution in their zeal to bring "terrorists" to justice.
Politicians and prosecutors trumpet terroristic threat laws as tools for the swift intervention of authorities, allowing law enforcement to prevent horrendous crimes. Sure, they make things easier. Ordinarily, if someone tips off the cops that someone else was talking about committing a crime, the police investigate. They could make an arrest later, if their investigation revealed that necessity.

With terroristic threat laws, the suspicious talk itself is the crime, not just evidence of plans for one. The cops can arrest for the threat charge and investigate the possible underlying violent scheme later. Meanwhile, the accused is not simply enduring the inconvenience of a police inquiry. He is locked up. Even if he is ultimately acquitted or charges are dropped, months of lost liberty is too high a price for using gauche language or failing to understand his audience’s sensitivities. It’s too high a price when police could have investigated the old-fashioned way.
Maybe this will all shake out in a few days. Maybe the cops did capture someone who needed capturing. Or maybe the swift overreaction of students, parents, administration and local law enforcement -- all primed to believe another school shooting is constantly just around the corner -- will see someone harshly punished for the crime of being stupid in public.
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Filed Under: graffiti, pentagram, satan, schools, threats
Companies: brownsboro high school


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  1. icon
    Rikuo (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 2:36am

    Fucking hell, anything and everything is being treated as a terrorist charge over there.
    I wonder what would happen if I was still in school. I remember being in Business Studies class, and being given the assignment of writing up documentation for a fictional company. My company was a fictional black market arms dealer willing to sell weapons to anybody. My teacher loved it. These guys wouldn't.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Ninja (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 2:58am

    Re:

    LMAO, epic win! I did something similar but my company aimed at giving support to ascending villains that did not possess the revenue to maintain fully equipped evil lairs. The fun!

    We'll need to start appending the phrase "THIS IS A JOKE, NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY" to our joking so the thin-skinned and the ones that are incapable of humor due to fear won't freak out...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 4:22am

    I think they just went after this kid for his religion.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    David, 11 Nov 2014 @ 4:38am

    Don't mess with the blockwarts

    or the Gestapo will get you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Call me Al, 11 Nov 2014 @ 4:50am

    Re: Re:

    Ah but then the terrorists will use the same phrase...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    MadAsASnake (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 4:59am

    Of course they go after them. It's another "terrorist threat" neutralised. They add that to their count and roll that out as why we all need all our communications spied on all the time.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:05am

    But what if they school failed yo press charges? You'd hear the religopus nutjobs break out the tired 'WAR ON CHRISTMAS/CHRISTIANS' false narrative, doubly so because this was in Texas.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    not again!, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:06am

    21st century 'witch' hysteria

    These public panic crazes seem to come and go in cycles. Today everyone constantly fears dying in an international terrorist attack or mass-shooting at school, even though they're exponentially more likely to get hurt or killed in the kind of "routine" road accident that never makes the evening news. A few hundred years ago it was all about witches, the evil hidden hand behind everything that ever went wrong, and it became priority number one to root them out and when identified ... burn them at the stake.

    Almost a quarter-century ago the mass hysteria was about Satanism-infested Day Care. And we knew it was indeed real because 3 & 4-year-old children nationwide always cracked (under high pressure interrogation techniques) and admitted they were forced to participate in these satanic orgy rituals. Scores of these satanic pedophile childcare providers went to prison, busted by the testimony of well-rehearsed 3 year olds.

    And just like the 16th century witch hunts, these crackdowns aparently worked, because, just as fast as that epidemic sprang up, these nationwide satanic childcare rings disappeared off the face of the earth, and not a single one has emerged since in the last 20 years.

    But now, who knows, maybe Satanism is finally back, and if so, it must be fought with a zero-tolerance approach, and anything with the most subliminal, barely-there hint of Satanism must be fought with nothing less than full scorched-earth tactics.

    And we must remember that these fire-and-brimstone tactics always work, because after all, how often do you hear about witches today, 400 years after they were successfully eradicated? Or even Satanic daycare providers? Case closed. Mission accomplished ... now on to find the next dragon to slay.

    http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/01/fran_and_dan_keller_f reed_two_of_the_last_victims_of_satanic_ritual_abuse.html

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Bob V (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:07am

    Kids have a bad habit of modeling their behavior on the adults around them. They just don't have the life skills yet to understand the adults around them are complete morons. What worries me is what will the "Great State of Texas" look like in 20 years when these kids have taken over and the morons are in nursing homes being taken care of.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:12am

    Why were they notified of it by outside sources, shouldn't they have a regular inspection of restrooms, like after every break, to make sure no pupils are hiding in there, or worse still, hanging in there?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Cow-herd, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:16am

    Any Excuse is a Good Excuse to Expel Morons

    The kid involved may have had a history a mile long of mischief, class disruption, bad attitude, and pharmaceuticals. Finally they got him. Hurray, makes it better for those remaining who value the opportunity to learn.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:18am

    Just another in a long trail of attacks upon public education.

    1) Start a private "charter school"
    2) Put your puppets in places of authority within public school system
    3) Muck up the works
    4) Cause confusion and mis trust
    5) Profit!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:19am

    Doesn't the Bible talk about swarms of locus attacking and disease killing millions of people. I find that pretty terrifying. Was the Bible written by terrorists? It's a good thing they're no longer alive, they might be prosecuted.

    Isn't Satanism protected under freedom of religion?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Sheriff Fatman, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:34am

    Re:

    "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." -- Matthew 10:34.

    Sounds like a terrorist to me.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:43am

    The stars at night, shine big and bright. *clap clap clap clap* Deep in the heart of Texas!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:45am

    Who are the real terrorists?

    It seem that more terrorist acts are committed by officials then students these days. The many incidents like the pop tart gun, finger point gun with sound effects and finally the superintendent diorama depiction. All with gross over reactions are certainly terrorist actions that get explained away by idiotic platitudes that boil down to "think of the children", by all means think of the children that they harm with slander, defamation, arrest, illegal interrogations and finally token petty punishments. All done by stupid thin skinned bureaucrats afraid of their own shadows if they don't put a stop to these rebellious acts. Your all just self important wimps, grow a pair and get on with your life. Nobody has been killed by a pop tart or a "pew" sound and dumb adolescent scribblings are just more graffiti. I don't think even Texas has a law against Satan any more then Christ, that would be religious discrimination. Will these same officials be eager to charge a christen evangelist student as an adult, with terrorist acts, fat chance. Maybe we could clean up roaming bands of evangelist that lay siege to our neighborhoods, they are all in God's army after all, what more do you need to know.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:52am

    Actually, he's being charged with patent infringement. The government has a monopoly on satanic rituals.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    John Cressman, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:53am

    Another foiled terrorist plot!

    Who wants to bet that this gets added to someone's tally of "foiled terrorist plots"...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. icon
    MadAsASnake (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:55am

    Re:

    As well as patent stupidity?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    John William Nelson (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 6:06am

    All of our children will be felons . . .

    If this type of attitude at schools continues—the blindly obey or I will ruin you attitude of administrators—then all of our children will eventually be felons.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 6:09am

    Re:

    Or how about Christianities version of ISIS/ISIL/DAIISH the Crusaders some of whom were equally viscous to the current crop of zealots.

    It gives the Campus Crusade a new meaning.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 6:50am

    This zero tolerance shit is so far out of hand it isn't even funny, and for school administration to even consider a form of rebellion by a permanent marker 'terroristic' in any means only shows how fucking stupid our general populace is and how the terrorists already won.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 6:51am

    Re:

    Isn't Satanism protected under freedom of religion?


    Perhaps, but writing graffiti in the bathroom is not protected. If nothing else it's vandalism.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 6:53am

    The correct solution eluded them

    "Here's a bucket and a sponge. Go scrub the wall, kid."

    Problem solved.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 7:00am

    But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    What do you think the kid's intentions were when he wrote that? Do you perhaps he intended that some people be afraid? Maybe even to the point of inducing... terror? Why else would he write "sacrifice the children"?

    With terroristic threat laws, the suspicious talk itself is the crime, not just evidence of plans for one.

    Yes, it is, and that's how it should be because, as you say, that IS the crime. If you call in a bomb threat, it doesn't matter whether you actually have a bomb. (OK, it DOES matter quite a bit, but you get my point - the threat itself is the crime.)

    I'm sympathetic to the idea that this particular incident should not rise to the level of a third degree felony, however. The "threat" wasn't very threatening. We have degrees when it comes to things like theft - shoplifting a candy bar does not get a kid the same charge as stealing a car.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 7:11am

    Re:

    Yeah, one thing that watching real life crime shows has shown me, the greatest miscarriages of justice always occur when religion gets involved.

    ESPECIALLY when religion is involved because someone decides "a Satanist must have done this".

    A few big examples of this are the Memphis 3 (police decided Satanists must have killed young children simply because satanists were in the news a lot lately there), and the Texas guy who was executed for setting his house on fire to kill his children in a satanist ritual (despite all the forensic fire experts who looked at the case debunking the prosecution's entirely theory).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    alternatives(), 11 Nov 2014 @ 7:14am

    10 students would be sacrificed on 11/6/14

    At least we all know the day of Common Core testing

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 7:40am

    In all this hysteria over the "terroristic implications" of this young person's message, a simple fact was overlooked - "sacrifice", "forever" and "children" were all spelled correctly, and while punctuation was lacking, overall, those who seek to punish the artist will at the least be able to stand before Lord Satan and say "the education system works!".

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 7:46am

    Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    "Why else would he write "sacrifice the children"?"

    Maybe because it was Halloween a few days ago and he OD'ed on horror flicks just like kids (and some adults, ahem) do? Couldn't be that simple. Must be terroristic.

    Wait a minute, are zombies terrorists? Vampires? Ghosts? Arrest Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and all TV broadcasters promoting terrorism and stuffing it down the throats of Innocent Children. Think of the children!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. icon
    mr. sim (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 7:59am

    his parents need to sue the heck out of the school for suppressing his religion. now i know the kid probably isn't a "literal" satanist but the school can't prove that and i'm tired of some middle management idiot doing shit like this.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 8:23am

    Re: Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    Maybe because it was Halloween a few days ago and he OD'ed on horror flicks just like kids (and some adults, ahem) do?


    So you're going to blame television?

    Wait a minute, are zombies terrorists? Vampires? Ghosts?


    I think zombies, being brainless, lack the requisite intent, even though they do terrorize people. Vampires tend to not try to scare people (they're more of the charm-their-victims type), so although they might commit murder, they probably would not be terrorists. Ghosts sometimes to try to scare people, but the literature is inconsistent on whether they can have intent or are just following instincts. I'm not sure how you could arrest one, anyway.

    Arrest Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and all TV broadcasters promoting terrorism and stuffing it down the throats of Innocent Children.


    Hey, YOU'RE the one who just claimed that television was responsible. Don't blame me when you follow your own logic to its conclusion and don't like it.

    And also, they aren't "stuffing it down the throats of innocent children". Simply offering those movies doesn't rise to that level. Anyone is free to watch or not watch - including the vandal who you think was influenced by the watching. If the broadcasters were to tie children down and force them to repeatedly watch, then they would absolutely be responsible - but that doesn't tend to happen too often.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. icon
    Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 8:41am

    "...being stupid in public."

    Yeah, I was a teenager once myself. That didn't use to be a crime.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. identicon
    drummer315, 11 Nov 2014 @ 8:59am

    Re:

    And yet, it still is not a threat caught by TSA!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. icon
    John Fenderson (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 9:23am

    Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    "What do you think the kid's intentions were when he wrote that?"

    To be rebellious and shocking.

    "Do you perhaps he intended that some people be afraid?"

    No.

    This general sort of graffiti has been happening for as long as there have been walls and markers. To call this "terroristic" is ludicrous. It's clearly not even a serious threat.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. icon
    G Thompson (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 9:39am

    Re: Any Excuse is a Good Excuse to Expel Morons

    Are you trolling, stupid, or both?

    I and 6 billion other humans would most definitely choose BOTH!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  36. icon
    G Thompson (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 9:43am

    Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    I gather with your warped and convoluted logic that you are now going to go to every church, mosque, temple, synagogue, prayer meet and have them all arrested as well.. Since they too spread words and philosophies that are INTENDED to make people fear.

    While you are at it arrest every bureaucrat and politician.

    Oh and YOURSELF since you make me afraid of the intelligent quotient of the human race if your one of it's shining examples of whatever the fuck you think you are.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  37. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 9:51am

    Re: Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    Calm down. As I said, I was playing devil's advocate.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  38. icon
    John Fenderson (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 10:19am

    Re: Any Excuse is a Good Excuse to Expel Morons

    "The kid involved may have had a history a mile long of mischief, class disruption, bad attitude, and pharmaceuticals."


    If that's the case, then why not expel him for those things? There's no need to use bullshit charges to address problem students.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  39. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 10:22am

    Re: Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    I don't think the graffiti shown rises to the level of a true threat, but either there's more graffiti not shown or someone horribly misquoted what the graffiti said (there was something about a specific number of children being sacrificed on a certain date, but that's not in the picture shown here.)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  40. identicon
    IStoleThis, 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:19am

    Re: Re: Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    So you saw an argument, where one side was the Devil, and you thought to yourself, "Hey, that guy could totally use an advocate!"

    link to this | view in thread ]

  41. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:29am

    Re: Re: Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    ------THE JOKE----->

    YOUR HEAD

    Recommended course of action:
    Lift hand and apply palm to face.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  42. icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:54am

    Re: Any Excuse is a Good Excuse to Expel Morons

    The kid involved may have had a history a mile long of mischief, class disruption, bad attitude, and pharmaceuticals...

    ...and tax evasion!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  43. icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:55am

    That's not how you summon Satan!

    You just play Stairway to Heaven backwards!

    I suspect that's now a crime too.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  44. icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:58am

    Re: All of our children will be felons . . .

    I think they already are.

    The gods are petty and spiteful. Pray they do not notice you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  45. icon
    art guerrilla (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 12:55pm

    Re:

    excellent, thanks...

    except i think it is not 10 students being sacrificed to the false-gods of common core, but several millions...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  46. icon
    tqk (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 1:16pm

    Re:

    I think they just went after this kid for his religion.

    I was just concerned about his freedom of speech.

    And no, I don't consider this vandalism. A few drops of acetone on a rag, and the wall is as it was. He didn't damage it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  47. identicon
    PRMan, 11 Nov 2014 @ 1:17pm

    Re:

    And maybe for threatening to "sacrifice children". I get it. Not everything is a threat.

    But this IS A THREAT.

    Maybe just drawing a pentagram is not a threat (threatening because it's a gateway for demons, perhaps, but that's another story). Saying "Satan is God", as much as I disagree as a Christian, is not a threat. Saying, "I'm going to sacrifice children" is a threat and should be dealt with as such.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  48. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 1:21pm

    No problem if it was a freemason symbol...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  49. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 1:24pm

    The kid's "pentagram" looks like something from something from the old Voltron.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  50. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 1:47pm

    Re: Re:

    "Saying, "I'm going to sacrifice children" is a threat "

    But that statement was NOT made. Look at the photograph. It says "Sacrifice the children" (sounds like a quote out of some schlock horror book or movie to me), nor is there ANY mention of 10 children.

    Topping it all off, in the second link, one of the parents is quoted as saying:

    "BISD officials were notified, and the solution was to paint over the image,"

    Was to PAINT OVER the image, this implies it has already been painted over? Sounds like destruction of evidence. How about the felony trial if the image no longer exists?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  51. icon
    Rapnel (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 1:48pm

    Re: Any Excuse is a Good Excuse to Expel Morons

    "value the opportunity to learn"? are you kidding me with that? Well don't look now but there appears to be no shortage of folks remaining that do not value learning.

    and since when, on any sane plane, does mischief, class disruption, bad attitudes and pharmies equate to bullshit terroristic threat charges, several grand and two to 10 years?

    Yesh, there are definitely morons that need expelling, expunging, exorcising and some extreme displacement-ing far away from any schools for children.

    It's a pity we sacrifice life so readily, isn't it? That can't end well.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  52. icon
    Rapnel (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 2:08pm

    OK, since clearly the identity of the child is known could someone please tell me what has happened to handling this on an appropriate level? What's wrong with "Clean it, take three days to think about it and take a few sessions with counseling services (read: not the police)" before any sort of escalation? Why are we always so fucking willing to break people? Are people really that damn scared of dying, death and destruction that they'll preempt the prospects of a normal adult life for a child and all those around them? For the likes of this? A marked up bathroom stall? I really think we need our collective heads examined, quickly, or we truly are fucked. Is our government responsible for this shit? Because if it is then it's well past overdue for a reality check.

    Living life under some phobia of perishing in a terror "attack" is not freedom, by any measure. Whoever thought or continues to think that our current state of affairs qualifies as the American Dream needs a padded cell. And that before shit gets real real.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  53. identicon
    Mark Wing, 11 Nov 2014 @ 2:38pm

    If I were the dark lord, I would be sorely disappointed with such an obviously half-baked attempt at bringing my glory to the masses.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  54. identicon
    Zonker, 11 Nov 2014 @ 2:46pm

    Actually, the graffiti appears to be a pentacle (circle around the star) rather than a pentagram, and as depicted with the point facing up is used as a symbol of protection from evil much like the cross does when facing up. To be "satanic" or "evil" it would have to be inverted, just like an inverted cross. So technically, the graffiti would be protecting the students rather than threatening them.

    Second, the most the student would be guilty of is a Class C Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief under Texas law:
    You may be in court to answer to criminal mischief charges if the prosecution has reason to believe you did any of the following:

    Intentionally or knowingly damaged someone else’s property
    Intentionally or knowingly tampering with someone else’s property causing loss or substantial inconvenience, or
    Intentionally making marks, graffiti, inscriptions, or drawings on the property of another.

    ...

    Class C Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief

    Your criminal mischief charge may be a Class C misdemeanor if the damage done is valued at less than $50 or causes a substantial inconvenience to others. Class C misdemeanors are punishable by a $500 fine.
    But since the student was not charged with criminal mischief, he should walk free. Based on the evidence here, no specific nor credible threat has been made to any specific person which could meet the requirements of a felony "terrorist threat" charge. First and Eighth Amendments would bar the prosecutions case here if the Constitution still had any legal relevance today.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  55. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 4:08pm

    Re: Re:

    That isn't a threat is a political statement of advocacy. See also "eat the rich".

    I will say that sacrifice the children works great as a satirical response to whatever screws over kids and their future, to point out that they are indeed already sacrificing the children in acts of utmost selfishness.

    School to prison pipeline? "Sacrifice the children!".
    Cash For Kids Scandal? "Sacrifice the children!".

    link to this | view in thread ]

  56. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 5:38pm

    Re: Re:

    And that justifies charges of terrorism how?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  57. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2014 @ 6:03pm

    Re: Any Excuse is a Good Excuse to Expel Morons

    Hurray, makes it better for those remaining who value the opportunity to learn.
    How does punishing this kid make it easier for the other students to move to a different state?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  58. icon
    G Thompson (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:50pm

    Re: That's not how you summon Satan!

    It's a crime to play it forwards too.. Or should be!


    *Thinks of the sign in Wayne's World and agrees*

    :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  59. icon
    Bergman (profile), 11 Nov 2014 @ 11:59pm

    Re: Re:

    A pentagram is a symbol of protection against demons/evil. For it to be a threat it would need to be inverted (pointing down instead of up). But even then, it's still a religious symbol and probably protected speech.

    But I agree, stating he will sacrifice children is at least vaguely threatening. It's not necessarily explicitly threatening however, since sacrifices take many forms -- you could sacrifice someone's self-esteem by heckling them, for example.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  60. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 13 Nov 2014 @ 1:51am

    Re: But to play devil's advocate (or is this the opposite? Now I'm confused.)

    What do you think the kid's intentions were when he wrote that?


    To jot down his idea for book or movie. Why are they destroying his copyright protected works?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  61. identicon
    daniel miles, 13 Nov 2014 @ 5:22am

    far too many things for this to be taken seriously...

    1, as said above, the "pentagram" is not in the satanic design, it is in the typical wicca arrangement (not the reversed version of a majical symbol denoting the opposite values)

    2, pentagram is and never will be truly associated with satanic worship, the pentagram is an ancient occult symbol for the 5 forces of nature in one design. much like yin-yang shows duality in unity..

    3, again press and "school officials" have added negative based perceptions based on no truth there is no writting saying "i will sacrifice 10 students" i bet none of the "officials" have actually looked at the picture...

    4, school quickly painting it over and telling students not to talk about it... very much like how in the re-editing of the bible, magical practise and knowledge was outlawed for fear of the populace learning the truth about the universe (spirit and everything else we deem supernatural (if it is expressed on this planet, it is part of the universe...))

    5, powers that be, illuminati, nwo etc ALL are aware of how they are loosing power and grip on the "percieved reality" they have pulled over our eyes. they are scared. they are frantically trying to maintain control and things like thie and ebola are how it is done.. dont let them win guys, we must reclaimn our knowledge, we must reclaim our power..

    May the force be with you all..
    Namaste

    link to this | view in thread ]

  62. identicon
    Defiant, 13 Nov 2014 @ 8:13am

    Bathroom Graffiti

    Shouldn't be a terror charge, obviously...but the kid should get nailed for destruction of property and vandalism. WE pay to have that stuff repainted and repaired.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  63. icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 13 Nov 2014 @ 12:24pm

    The Pentagram as a Satanic symbol

    Whether or not the pentagram is acknowledged by any given Satanic church, or Satan-centric religious practice (yes, there are some). It is used by several christian organizations as the sign of their adversary, many of whom are willing to interpret any pentacle or pentacle-like image (such as some expressions of euclidian geometry) as indication of the presence of the enemy, and in cases like this, that is its power.

    Essentially it's similar to if the lad drew (badly) a swastika on the wall.

    This should still serve as no reason to accuse him of terrorism or anything more than tagging (mild vandalism that warrents an hour or two of cleaning duty), but in societies that are dominated by Satan-fearing Christian religious groups, I can see how this could lead to overreach by those in power who are insecure of the respect they get.

    And yes, regarding it as anything more than a mere scribble chills free speech.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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