California child death threat case shows heightened fears by authorities in digital age

[rachel1]

LOS ANGELES — Rants, racist remarks and menacing words permeate the Internet these days, so why did police decide to arrest a Yale dropout for investigation of making online death threats against children and hold him on a bail amount usually reserved for suspected killers?

Authorities said they considered several factors in the case against 21-year-old Eric Yee, who was arrested last week after commenting about a story on ESPN’s website about the cost of new Nike sneakers named after LeBron James.

Authorities claimed Yee said he wouldn’t mind killing children, and there were unregistered weapons in the Santa Clarita house overlooking two schools where he lived with his parents.

ESPN is based in Connecticut, where police said the posting that led them to Yee also referred to a shooting that would be like the one in Aurora, Colo., where 12 people were killed and 58 others injured during a screening of the latest Batman movie.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/calif-man-held-on-1m-bail-after-espn-post-says-he-wouldnt-mind-killing-local-school-kids/2012/09/18/d8cadb02-01f8-11e2-bbf0-e33b4ee2f0e8_story.html

So, someone who threatens to commit murder on the Internet will face charges while another person can slander people on the basis of religion and knowingly incite riots but will NOT face any charges?

No wonder this country's legal system is a basket case.

[JoeyT]

1. The first paragraph is kind of confusing.

The "for investigation" part made me think Yee was helping parents track down people that threatened their kids for a minute.