Waylon Bailey posted the following post on Facebook: "SHARE SHARE SHARE ! ! ! ! JUST IN: RAPIDES PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE HAVE ISSUED THE ORDER, IF DEPUTIES COME INTO CONTACT WITH 'THE INFECTED' SHOOT ON SIGHT….Lord have mercy on us all. #Covid9teen #weneedyoubradpitt." (the post was also emoji-filled) The "we need you brad pitt" at the end of the message was a reference to the 2013 zombie apocalypse movie "World War Z", starring Brad Pitt. The "infected" was a reference comparing those infected during the coronavirus pandemic to zombies in the movie, seeming to poke fun at the fear and overreaction many had to the pandemic. Just a few hours later, a SWAT team of about a dozen officers from the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office arrived at his home carrying weapons and wearing bulletproof vests. Bailey was without a warrant. The officers said that Bailey's post was a terroristic threat. Bailey was released on a $1,200 bond later that day, and the district attorney decided not to prosecute him. It happened on March 20, 2020 in Alexandria, Louisiana. Bailey said he lost lifelong friends when local news stations reported on his arrest. He said he deleted his social media accounts and barely left his house for months. In September 2020, Bailey filed a lawsuit alleging Detective Randell Iles and Sheriff Mark Wood violated his First and Fourth amendment rights. But a judge initially dismissed the lawsuit, in July 2022. article: He was arrested for a covid joke. It was free speech, court rules. The Washington Post, Kyle Melnick, August 30, 2023 This has some implications for freedom of speech and being able to casually post things on a silly social media site without worrying about the possibility of legal trouble. And you can begin to get some idea of why internet privacy is so important. It seems like the local sheriff's office went overboard in reaction to this. I think it's also likely they might have taken personal offense because the post made a claim about orders coming from their department office, which could have been seen as a form of slander and calumny.
Bailey-5th-Circuit-Decision.pdf (ij.org) One of the interesting things one can read from the decision is that one has to intend to make a terroristic threat for the threat not to be protected by the first. Accidental terroristic threats are protected speech.
In a similar vein: Man Who Posted Hillary Clinton Meme Found Guilty of Interfering in 2016 Election | NTD Yes, we live in a police state.
Constitutional governance has been dead for decades at least. The process is accelerating. The Unpatriot Act is but one nail in the coffin of constitutional governance.
