On Wednesday, police arrested Elvin Payamps, 38, of Queens, after a witness overheard Payamps talking about killing police. He was ultimately charged with marijuana possession and illegal gun possession — just the latest in a wave of arrests made over terroristic threats.
Tyrone Melville, 41, of Manhattan, was also arrested on Wednesday after calling in a threat to the same precinct where the murdered officers were assigned. He requested to speak with Ramos, one of the deceased, and asked if the bullets had been recovered so he could “kill more cops.”
Jose Maldonado, Devon Coley, and Yasin Shearin, were all charged with posting threats on Facebook. Roberto Labita and Robert Bowman were arrested for calling in false threats.
They may be the first of many more. ABC News reported that the NYPD has received over 40 threats since last weekend’s violence. A police spokesman has not confirmed that number.
The arrests of these New York seven are only part of the story. Several additional arrests have also been made in other parts of the country.
A man in Massachusetts was arrested on Monday for posting the phrase “put wings on pigs” on his Facebook page – the same phrase written on social media by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, perpetrator of Saturday’s shootings.
New Jersey police arrested Matthew Reardon for posting, via Facebook: “Don’t wanna get clipped while sitting in your squad car?? Don’t be a (expletive) pig who’s looking to get killed…Everyone who goes out of their way to (expletive) with other people should get executed in cold blood.”
A Colorado military vet was also arraigned for posting similar threats online.
A Memphis man was questioned on Sunday after posting threatening remarks on Instagram. He was later released.
Freedom of Speech?
Many question whether charging people for terroristic threats over social media posts is a violation of the First Amendment.
Legal expert Eugene Volokh wrote in his Washington Post blog on Tuesday, that “The police have ample authority to investigate people who say such things…but prosecuting a person based on such a statement is, I think, forbidden by the First Amendment.”
While such interpretations may work in favor of those arrested purely on the grounds of social media posts, they’ll do little to help those who posted threats online, were subsequently investigated, and found to be participating in other illegal activities.
“If you threaten to kill – or incite others to kill – police officers, you will get some very serious attention from this office, the FBI, and other appropriate authorities,” U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a statement.
While the First Amendment protects free speech, even when racist or violent, many state laws criminalize the communication of specific threats.
Tensions have run high in recent months as several high-profile cases have seen grand juries fail to indict white police officers for using lethal force when many perceive it to be unnecessary. Anti-police sentiment is believed to be the motivating factor behind Saturday’s killings.
