I saw this headline on Drudge and my first reaction was "get real... This is BS!" Then I read this:
According to court documents, Charles W. Papenfus, 43, allegedly told a sales representative during a May 18 telephone call that he would burn down the building and kill the employees and their families. He was indicted for making a terrorist threat, a Class D felony; and he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison if convicted.OK, that's kinda off the chain. I read the rest of the article, and got a more balanced picture of what happened
This is a case of the law gone wild. I can understand the company dropping a dime on the guy, and the cops descending on his house, but I think some on-scene assessment would have concluded the guy wasn't a threat.
Did he have the means to carry out his threat? Was there any evidence he planned on carrying out his threat? Did the man have a record of doing violence? Is he unemployed or embittered in some way that would cause him to irrationally lash out at a commercial enterprise?
The answer to all these questions is no. So why did they drag this self-employed man away from his family and the business that supports them to incarcerate him 450 miles away?
The authorities should have filed charges and given him a court date. Or merely turned him loose and dropped all charges. I guess they only do that for elite college professors.
St Louis Today - Phone Rage
