Eric Lach, writing for TPM Muckraker, reports that Samuel Bradbury of Pine Village, Indiana has posted threats to kill West Lafayette, Ind. police officer Troy Greene, Tippecanoe County Sheriff Tracy Brown, Tippecanoe County Judge Les Meade, and Indiana Supreme Court Loretta Rush on Facebook on June 19. He said he was part of a group that intended to blow up the Tippecanoe County courthouse with thermite.
Police in West Lafayette got a tip about the post on June 21, and, that night, they executed a search warrant at Bradbury’s house. According to the affidavit, officers searching Bradbury’s room found three 115 gram bags of aluminum powder and three 345 gram bags of black iron oxide — both substances used to make thermite.
The post was bracketed by “disclaimers” – at the top and bottom of the posts, he claims that the threats were a free speech exercise. Bradbury claimed ties to the Las Vegas cop killers, Jerad and Amanda Miller. He now faces both state and federal charges related to the threats.
If that was meant to be “satire,” he’s doing it wrong.
Seems legit…threaten public servants with forcible felonies…say you “didn’t mean it” and walk on the charges. It’s a bold move. Let’s see how it works out for him. I’m guessing a one way ticket to Terre Haute for a long time.
Edited to embed the video instead of just a link — Doug
I’ll go out on a limb and just say thoughts are not crimes and neither is speech. Had a client recently who in a delusional fit said he was going to blow up the school. Of course, he was not, but the FBI arrested, charged, and accepted the plea bargain to a FELONY, despite his mental illness.
My experience, both working for the government and with the government now, is that they are little too sensitive to things which are in poor taste. And, Doug’s last comment is correct: this is not good satire
Tim, this is a huge problem with all kinds of predictions. There are people who we believe are dangerous, and they are. There are people who we don’t believe are dangerous, and aren’t. Then the problem: the people who we believe are dangerous, but aren’t–the ones who people like to write off as a rare mistake. And then people who we believe aren’t dangerous, but are–the ones the media beats on. This a a problem in medicine, psychology, law and every other profession where people expect folks to make predictions. The masses expect perfection nobody is right 100% of the time. Then we have the police who seem to think that all are murderers until proven innocent. Not sure how much that protects us from the ones who we think are bad but are not, but it sure contributes to a lot of innocent people being treated as guilty.
This story is as fictional as Sam Bradbury’s fictional post. He did not write it for your view, only shared with friends, didn’t contact the alleged victims. There was nothing illegal in his families home. What a way to treat a brothers family, spreading gossip promulgated by police officers. Congratulations, journalism at its most vivid. So may it be.
This is bad journalism. Most of it is malicious gossip spread by self serving individuals. Muck Rakers is hardly a legitimate or trusted news source, no better than the SPLC. Nothing here is based on truth or honest journalism, but on cheap shots that sell stories. A good journalist would actually read what is of record. A true Mason, deserving of degrees would not copy these words without knowledge, especially when Samuels parents are a part of the Mason’s and Eastern Star. A true Mason would not stand beside those who call the Eastern Star and Masonic Symbals satanic, or by the degradation of the constitution of the United States. You pledge to the US flag. The US Constitution is the reason for that flag. A true Mason would research the story before pointing fingers. Shame.
I’m sure he’s an ass, but Mason is his name, not his affiliation. Mason’s only accept people with morals and integrity. Thank You Legion and Lynn for pointing out the lack of integrity