Kelowna man arrested for threatening the government on his Facebook page
KELOWNA – A Kelowna man was arrested this week for posting “threatening comments” to his own Facebook page.
Cpl. Joe Duncan says the man believes the government owes him money and although the comments didn’t mention any specific agency, they were serious enough that someone notified the police and RCMP arrested him.
“I don’t know what agency he was talking about. He just posted angry comments to his Facebook page,” Duncan says. “He was basically blowing off steam.”
The man was arrested but has not yet been charged with any crime.
“The whole message is be careful what you put out there,” Duncan says. “People could misinterpret (the comments) and they’ll call us and we’ll investigate.”
According to Duncan, the RCMP does not require its members undergo any training specific to social media threat detection or resolution.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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4 responses
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Bill C 51 already in practice?If RCMP think a report of this naturewarrants an investigation by all means check it out. If there is a specific or implied direct threat an concern may be warranted. However I have witnessed a lot of generalised commenting on various news media where non specific, general, threatening talk takes place. It could be ‘hang them, they should be shot, send them home (knowing they would be tortured or killed), etc.’ If those public comments are allowed to stand as acceptable commentary it’s a slippery slope to suggest monitoring and condemning a private individual solely based on a private conversation.” According to Duncan, the RCMP does not require its members undergo any training specific to social media threat detection or resolution.”Now fix that.Terrorism does not just rise from the bottom up. Governments who attempt to control the public discourse are a direct threat to the people of free and democratic countries. Civil liberties matter. Or are we to self monitor and second guess our every word and check over our shoulders for eavesdroppers? We have seen this movie before. It ends badly for millions of people.
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