…And this is what we get.
Earlier this month, after posting threats to police officers on Facebook, a 23-year-old resident of Washington State was taken into custody.
Jaydin Ledford is a self-described Marxist.
Way to go, Left.
In all fairness, it should be noted that, according to Newsweek, Jaydin “also claims to ‘speak for the trees.'”
Nevertheless, his incendiary posts included a death threat actually calling by name Spokane Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich:
“Ozzie Knezovich is gonna get a bullet in his skull.”
As reported by The Daily Wire’s Ashe Schow:
[Jaydin] also posted multiple death threats against cops after members of the police force publicly denounced a recently passed gun control bill (I-1639) which expands background checks and prohibits anyone under 21 from buying a semi-automatic rifle, among other things. The National Rifle Association has already filed a lawsuit against the law.
Incredibly (and stupidly), Jaydin wrote this:
“[S]heriffs that are non compliant will be shot. By me.”
Another post:
“I really want to kill a police officer.”
Therefore, on February 20th, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Department took Jaydin into custody. He was charged with harassment and then turned over to federal custody.
He’s being charged with cyberstalking, defined as “any course of conduct or series of acts taken by the perpetrator on the Internet that place the victim in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to the victim or the victim’s immediate family.”
In the wake of the last few years’ mass shootings and ignored online red flags, Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told Newsweek he hopes the word gets out that online bullying won’t fly anymore:
“I’ve lived under multiple death threats. This individual needs to be located. This individual needs to be charged and held accountable. And maybe if we start doing that, maybe we will send a message to everybody across the board who wants to bully or [be] a keyboard warrior that you’re not going to get away with it.”
Murderous threats shouldn’t be taken lightly. But now, what will become of Jaydin? Will he be shaken straight? Will he receive help dealing with a mental illness? What should happen?
Will he end up involved in a worse crime in the future, at which point the world will look back and shake its head at his 2019 arrest? It’s a tricky situation.
No one can be locked up indefinitely for threatening violence. Yet, putting someone intent upon violence back in the free world is, in some cases, clicking a stopwatch. Hopefully, in Jaydin’s case, his words were nothing more, he’ll get help, or he’ll find a peace that transcends the deadly engagement he’s wished for.
-Alex
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