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Sooner_Havok
6/25/2009, 01:42 PM
What do you guys think about this? Does this guy have the right to go on air and say the things he did, or did he cross a line?


Hate blogger Hal Turner arrested for alleged threats to judge

In the news again, Hate blogger Harold "Hal" Turner was arrested at his home today in North Bergen on federal charges filed in Chicago alleging he threatened to assault and murder three federal judges there because of their ruling upholding a handgun ban, officials said.

"We take threats to federal judges very seriously. Period," said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois of the comments posted by Turner on his blog earlier this month regarding Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed," Turner wrote on June 2, officials said, adding that Turner listed names, photos, phone numbers, work addresses and room numbers of the three judges.

A photo of the building where the judges have offices Turner posted on his Web site included circles and arrows marking "anti-truck bomb barriers," officials said.

Turner is due in court tomorrow in Newark on these charges.

On Monday, Turner, 47, was arraigned in Connecticut on charges of inciting injury to three state officials there. In that case Turner urged his readers, also on June 2, to "take up arms" against officials championing a bill to give lay persons more control over finances in Catholic parishes and suggested the officials should "Obey the Constitution or die."

Turner, arrested at his North Bergen home June 3 on the Connecticut charges, did not enter a plea and his next court appearance was scheduled for July 14.

The charges in Connecticut carry a possible sentence of 1 to 10 years in prison upon conviction and the federal charges filed today carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine, officials said.

In the past, Tuner has advocated spitting on Jews and carrying out "good old vigilante justice" against "Negroes."

soonerfan28
6/25/2009, 01:47 PM
Yea he deserves to go to jail for telling people to "take up arms". If he wants to speak his hate then let him, but when you tell people to basically go kill these folks then thats where the line should be drawn.

sooneron
6/25/2009, 01:50 PM
yep and removing him from North Bergen to prison would be a move up...

Sooner_Havok
6/25/2009, 01:53 PM
Yea he deserves to go to jail for telling people to "take up arms". If he wants to speak his hate then let him, but when you tell people to basically go kill these folks then thats where the line should be drawn.

I just think it is getting harder and harder to draw that line. You have people going online and on air talking about others and running right up to that line, stopping just short of saying "They deserve to die." Things is getting fuzzy these days as things get more and more polarized.

NYC Poke
6/25/2009, 01:59 PM
I don't really see this as a left vs. right issue. While the blogger may consider himself a 2nd Amendment advocate (and, therefore, "right"), Fitzgeral, Easterbrook, Posner, and Bauer are all conservatives and Republican appointees. This is a case of someone yelling "fire" in a crowded theater.

Sooner_Havok
6/25/2009, 02:06 PM
I don't really see this as a left vs. right issue. While the blogger may consider himself a 2nd Amendment advocate (and, therefore, "right"), Fitzgeral, Easterbrook, Posner, and Bauer are all conservatives and Republican appointees. This is a case of someone yelling "fire" in a crowded theater.

Not saying it was a left right issue, I just wanted to get the thoughts of the people on the left and right about this.

I think we can all agree this guy stepped over the line, but I was wondering where we place the line? Do O'Reilly or Olbermann ever cross that line in there attacks?

NYC Poke
6/25/2009, 02:11 PM
I think we can all agree this guy stepped over the line, but I was wondering where we place the line? Do O'Reilly or Olbermann ever cross that line in there attacks?


I think those guys are smart enough to realize where the line is. They're inflammatory, sure, but they stop short of advocating action. It's a subtle, but important, distinction.

eta: I don't approve of either of those guys. I wish they'd just go away.

Pricetag
6/25/2009, 02:22 PM
I think the guy could have gone as far as saying that they deserved to die. When he gave out all the specific information about them, that's when he crossed the line.

TUSooner
6/25/2009, 02:23 PM
he threatened to assault and murder three federal judges there because of their ruling upholding a handgun ban, officials said.

"We take threats to federal judges very seriously. Period," said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois of the comments posted by Turner on his blog earlier this month regarding Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed," Turner wrote on June 2, officials said, adding that Turner listed names, photos, phone numbers, work addresses and room numbers of the three judges.

A photo of the building where the judges have offices Turner posted on his Web site included circles and arrows marking "anti-truck bomb barriers," officials said.

Thats over any line you want to draw.

AlbqSooner
6/25/2009, 07:51 PM
^^^This