College student makes joke on Tumblr, goes to jail for six months and is banned from social media for five years

caleb

20-year-old college student Caleb Clemmons has been in jail for six months after being charged for making “terroristic threats.” On his Tumblr blog. Here’s what he wrote:

“Hello. my name is irenigg and i plan on shooting up georgia southern. pass this around to see the affect it has. to see if i get arrested.”

Despite not finding any evidence or plans to actually attack the school, he was arrested and was set a bail at $20,000, which he and his mother could not pay — hence why she was in jail for six months.

Six months after the arrest, he pleaded guilty to the charge and the judge sentenced Clemmons to five years of probation and banned him from four counties (including the one where his school is located). He is also not allowed to use social media while serving his sentence.

According to Jack Williamson, Clemmon’s lawyer, “it was deemed to be at least a threat, if nothing else.” He says that if there was some act involved, it would carry up to a 10-year prison sentence. “Nowadays, with people being shot in theaters and schools and on the streets, these types of things are looked at a whole lot differently,” he says.

So the lesson here is — just don’t post anything stupid anywhere. Even if it’s on something like a Tumblr blog.

[via The Verge, image via Facebook]

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