.. and no, it has nothing to do with the "police state" in America.
Like many around the nation, 24-year-old Zachary Benson got really drunk the night of the election. He took to Twitter in the early hours of Nov. 9 to air out some frustrations and got carried away — tweeting out that his life's mission now is to assassinate the new President-elect. Seems harmless, right? We've all been there …
Except, he now faces 5 years in federal prison for "making threats against the president and successors to the presidency," or so claims an affidavit included in the criminal complaint.
Per the report, Benson specifically tweeted:
"My life goal is to assassinate Trump. Don't care if I serve infinite sentences. That man deserves to decease existing."
You see, threatening the man Donald Trump like that, while still slightly illegal, wouldn't be of any concern to the U.S. Secret Service. But as a President-elect Trump, it's the faction's sworn duty to protect him by any means possible. Becoming the leader of the free world has perks that go along with it.
So Benson was charged, and could spend an egregious amount of time behind bars for being frustrated. This has nothing to do with a new and impending "police state" either, as this happens quite often in the new age of electronic media.
A 61-year-old Bedford, Oregon, man was recently charged with the same thing by the F.B.I. — quoted as saying he wants to "punch Obama in the nose" if he ever sees him. He's since plead not guilty to the charges of threatening the President of the United States and using an interstate facility to transit threats. His case is pending.
Most threats against people in power have little validity (just eavesdrop on anyone in a Starbucks if you don't believe it), but the federal government has a duty to protect those that are in charge. It's not shy about making examples of people like Benson, either. Best thing to do is keep any emotional rants offline.
Besides, if there's any viable reason we should all wish Donald Trump a healthy and completely alive presidency, it's this very real, very frightening threat to the wellbeing of the United States of America:
Leave a Reply