A local situation is generating some chatter around the state, and on local blogs, but not at the Herald. (
10/02/2008 NOTE: See the clarification from Sam Taylor in follow-up post below.)
Recently, Blaine resident Jeffrey Gargaro was reading and commenting on Bellingham Herald blog site, regarding the recent Skagit County shooting rampage, which ended in the deaths of six people. While commenting, Gargaro seems to have abandoned all common sense, and threatened a shooting spree of his own at Sunset Square. Gargaro, and his attorney Jeffrey Lustick are pointing to a First Amendment right to free speech, claiming that Gargaro was just expressing an opinion on current society's propensity to blame inappropriate behavior on anything other than the choices of the perpetrator.
I get that. I do. And I agree that in the views of a significant segment of society, nothing is anyone's fault anymore. Every perpetrator is suffering from a syndrome, or an influential childhood, or a chemical imbalance, or a disorder, or a disease of alcoholism, or a drug addiction, or a societal disadvantage, or... fill in the blank.
So, I get it, but still, what Gargaro said on the Bellingham Herald blog site was just foolish, in my opinion. In his irritation with some of the prior posts, Gargaro lashed out with the following: "
Also to all of you who blame drugs ... shut up as well. You know what, I am going to go shoot up Sunset Square today ... just for the hell of it. No drugs, no mental illness ... you can blame today’s episode on video games and George Bush's example of 'pay back' to society.” Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror and admit you're looking at a dumbass. That was a dumb post to make. Criminal? I don't know. But dumb? Yeah.
Interestingly enough, according to the Associated Press, the rant above was spotted by an officer in St. Louis who reported the post to Bellingham Police. As a result, Whatcom County Prosecutor, Dave McEachran, has charged Gargaro with felony harassment, which means he could be facing up to five years for this inane comment. That strikes me as a bit excessive, so I really doubt it will come to that.
Granddaddy of the local bloggers, John Servais, is taking the Herald to task for routinely allowing such inflammatory comments, and anyone with a history of reading the Herald blogs knows this to be true. Few local blogs allow excessive profanity, racist, sexist or derogatory comments, or threats to the health, safety or welfare of others. We certainly do not allow such comments here, but they are fairly commonplace at the Herald, so Servais has sufficient ammunition to make his case.
Did anyone actually believe that Gargaro was headed out to Sunset Square to shoot up the place? Likely not anyone beyond the local police force, who understandably had to treat it as a serious threat. Another reason it was likely not treated as a serious threat by the general public is because it was not reported. The Herald removed the post, but did not report it to anyone. Even if they had, it's unlikely many (if any) would have viewed it as an actual threat. I didn't see it myself, and didn't even hear about it until sometime afterward.
McEachran's position is that Gargaro's intent is irrelevant, because what he wrote was indeed worded as an imminent threat. I guess, technically, that's correct. He didn't pose it as a hypothetical, but said, "This is what I'm going to do."
I'm not an expert on the law, so I can't really comment on it from that angle. It will be fascinating to watch this play out. The trial is scheduled for November.
Mark Twain wrote:
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on.
Mark Twain
Baron Miller wrote:
Grace ruins the idea that you are fully in charge.
Baron Miller
