This is a free country, and we are entitled to freedom of speech. But don’t mistake that freedom for meaning that you can say whatever you want, whenever you want. It may come as a surprise, but there are limits to what a person can say, and threatening a police officer’s life is actually against the law, even if you never intended to act on your words. And as one Detroit-area man recently discovered, threatening a police officer on Facebook will get you into a lot of trouble.
In December, during the flood of public outcry about the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, 29-year-old Alvaro Eduardo Guzman-Telles apparently posted on his Facebook wall that he intended to behead the New York City Police Officer who placed Garner in the deadly chokehold. The officer in question is Daniel Pantaleo.
According to Detroit U.S. District Court records, Guzman-Telles posted the following statement on his Facebook wall: “I’m going to personally kill and behead Daniel Pantaleo.” Investigators have also said that a separate post on his wall instructed readers to “Kill all cops on sight. No matter the circumstances.”
Young man apparently suffers from Asperger’s syndrome
When FBI investigators questioned Guzman-Telles’ family members, his mother claimed that she has seen the posts and told him to delete them, but to no avail. His father explained that the young man apparently suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, which is part of the autism spectrum disorder, and often results in difficulties with non-verbal communication (body language and social cues) and social interactions.
According to the FBI, Guzman-Telles has three handguns registered in his name, but has no criminal record. He is facing a charge of using interstate communications to make threats, which is a five year felony under federal law.
We would like to remind all Michigan residents that while we encourage everyone to carefully consider all their options when making decisions, and to formulate an individual opinion on each issue presented to them, don’t let your anger or outrage at social injustice get the better of you. Think before you speak or commit words to a page. The brief satisfaction gained by threatening someone, even if you think they deserve it, isn’t worth a possible prison sentence. Guzman-Telles is finding that out the hard way.