By Rachel Leven
ticklethewire.com
Federal prosecutors say George Jacobsen went far beyond the boundaries of freedom of speech with his MSN Internet group that focused on killing Stockton, Calif. Police officers.
A federal indictment charged the former Stockton resident with creating and managing the MSN group “Ways2KillAStocktonPolice Officer” and “StocktonCityWatch”, which included postings of threatening messages.
“Any time an officer is threatened is a serious matter. However, the defendant’s outrageous online threats to kill Stockton police officers and their children is beyond the pale and worthy of every day he is confined in federal prison,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown in a prepared statement.
Specifically, Jacobsen, 46, of Reno, Nev., faces four counts of transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce. He could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jacobsen ” created a photo album on ‘Ways2KillAStocktonPoliceOfficer’ entitled ‘hit list’, with photographs of police officers that included messages.” The indictment was announced late last week.
” He created numerous links on that web group which included: ” ’22 Ways to kill a Stockton Police Officer with your hands’, ‘Police Officers Home Address And family info’; ‘How to blow up a police car’, ‘The Joy of Killing Young Republicans’, ‘Revenge on Police officers Children at college’, ’10 Ways To Kill A Police Officer’, ‘Kill a Cop’, and ‘Stockton Police Officers Damned to Hell’,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Authorities say he focused his death threats specifically on at least four police officers.
The FBI investigated the case with the help of the Stockton Police.
