Wash. man sentenced for Facebook threat to 'shoot up' schools
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - A Washington man who threatened to shoot up schools if his gun rights were taken away after the Connecticut school massacre was sentenced Thursday to three months in jail.
The Skagit Valley Herald reports 19-year-old Korry Martinson of Sedro-Woolley pleaded guilty to felony harassment in an unusual plea agreement with prosecutors.
If a mental health evaluation indicates he could pose a danger to the community, the plea will remain. But, if the evaluation yields no concerns for future behavior, he could withdraw his felony plea and plead guilty to gross misdemeanor harassment instead.
The Sedro-Woolley case is separate from a similar case in Camas, Wash. in which a man posted he hoped a school would be shot up after a high school basketball game. That man, Jeff Berni, 39, apologized and did not face charges.
Martinson made the threat on Facebook on Dec. 14, the same day as the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
The threat was seen by several people, who reported it to the Sedro-Woolley police and the Skagit County Sheriff's Office.
Martinson's mother also was contacted by several callers. When she confronted her son about the posting, he got into an argument with her and took off before police arrived at his home.
Martinson finally turned himself in a few days later, when a friend brought him to the Sedro-Woolley police station. He was placed under arrest and booked into the Skagit County Jail for investigation of felony harassment.
A screenshot of the Facebook threat allegedly posted by Martinson said:
"Okay, so about that shooting of the little kids.
"I would personally like to thank the man who did this. You will (be) looked upon as a hero in my eyes. You have rid the world of 20 future s------- and w-----.
"I say good riddance, and that we need more people like you. It's the government's fault as to why these things happen.
"If this causes our gun laws to be taken away, to the point as to where I cannot own a gun, I will personally get my sawed off double barreled shotgun and my AK-47 and go shoot up every school within a 100-mile radius of my current location."
Lt. Lin Tucker of the Sedro-Woolley Police Department said the threats shook up many people in the community.
I agree with hauling him in and given a mental evaluation. And if he is nuts lock him up in an institution. But if he is just  a loud mouth teen. I don't think jail time is fair.
these are the idiots who give law abiding gun owners a bad name.
As it should be. Â Yes, we have freedom of speech, but all freedoms come with restrictions to keep us civil and safe, which is the primary role of government (to "insure domestic tranquility" and "promote the general welfare"). Â
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Let this be a lesson to all the extremists out there: Â you threaten someone, you go to jail, particularly when it involves shooting up schools.
again and again, myself and many others will state: the second amendment is the one that protects the first amendment.
 @edwierd drescher And, again and again, you are proven wrong by all those democracies around the world, which also have free speech, but don't have the Second Amendment.
I thought in america we had freedom of speech we should all be worried.
Bunch of little girls! A threat is just that, a threat! The problem, is the do gooders who think they are doing good are actually making things worse! This is a feel good prosecution and nothing more! How in the world do you incarcerate someone for only saying they will do something?
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Just about everyone of us has said something like I'll kill you and did NOT actually mean it! Its an anger spur of the moment thing. How many people know of those who have actually went to a school or any where and shot a bunch of people actually said they were going shoot people before they actually did it? NONE!
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Idiots the lot of ya!
 @Postone I am rubber and you are glue...
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Seriously though, no, I've never threatened to kill anyone, nor have I threatened to shoot up a school, or dozens, because I didn't get my way. You sir are the idiot.
Its idiots like this that cause the rest of us law abiding citizen gun owners to lose our rights......this guy is obviously mentally unstable! He doesnt need to have a gun or any other kind of weapon anywhere close to him, but unfortunately, these are the kind of people that no matter what the law is, will always find a way to find a gun.