From Michigan Live:
BAY CITY, MI — A Midland County man and self-described “patriot” is facing a federal felony for allegedly threatening to kill Social Security Administration employees.
Zachary Brown, 40 of Coleman, on Monday, May 5, appeared before U.S. District Judge Patricia T. Morris, who informed him he was charged with one count of threatening to assault, kidnap, or murder a U.S. official. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. …
I can’t copy the whole article here. Read it for yourself. I doubt that this is a case for prosecution. It’s an IVC case — involuntary commitment.
I think the issue might be that this sort of behavior that was once regarded as being indicative of serious mental illness became mainstream about 15-20 years ago during the heady “tea party” days, and is now regarded as “patriotic” and totally normal behavior for a republican voter
ReplyDeleteCharles, Since we have a convicted felon running the country so does that mean the rule of law goes out the window? Federal employees are threatened everyday and these actions should have consequences.
ReplyDeletePublic official” means every member, officer, employee or consultant of a state or local government agency. A person who threatens the life of or serious bodily harm to a public official or his/her immediate family member faces imprisonment for up to 1 year and a $5,000 maximum fine
Had a 100 lb female coworker punched a few times by a claimant. Another claimant brought a snake to an interview and left it when he went home. A nearby office had a claimant come in with a rifle and the SWAT team was called in. All claimants got off easy because they were mentally disabled. Had the same things happened elsewhere would they have been let off? Failure to effectively prosecute leaves employees wondering if the law is going to protect them at all.
ReplyDeleteLaw? I thought that didn't exist anymore?
DeletePsychos like that nut now sit in both the Senate and House...and in the White House now...
ReplyDeleteFirst, he should be "Booked for safekeeping," an old term for incarceration for someone who is a threat to themselves and others. 2nd. Confiscate all of his weapons and deny access to other weapons. This shouldn't be a political issue. But, I don't think we should be releasing people, who were charged for felonies, on no cash bail.
ReplyDeleteI am LIVID at Social Security at the moment, but I wouldn't threaten anyone at an office or on the phone! It isn't the representatives fault, but the delay is keeping me from having my broken collarbone fixed, I had hardware issues in there that re-broke it, it's now back down leaning on a major blood vessel, and I have hardware sticking out of my neck under the skin, I look like Frankenstein... think they care? No...and she had the audacity to laugh at me when I called. I was very pleasant, wasn't her fault (cept the laugh that infuriated me, but I just let out a *sigh* is all). They broke their OWN rule! I appealed and she told me they have 100 appeals waiting and 2 people to go through them. NOTHING is moving, and as claimants, we are very very very angry. Don't be surprised when this is a daily news story.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been very hurtful to be laughed at, and completely inappropriate. Please be mad at the right people, though. The ones who are gutting SSA and leaving those of us left to pick up the pieces and hold everything together with duct tape and a prayer. There is no excuse for anyone laughing at you. But please understand that they reason you have to wait forever and possibly even the reason the person was so rude to you is because of the inexcusable cuts they are making at SSA. The ones who are holding things together are the absolute last people to be mad at. I hope this one person was an anomaly- most of us are trying our best in a terrible time and it's pretty impossible to not have morale tank.
DeleteThere is no situation where an SSA representative has any reason to laugh at a beneficiary. Absolutely. None.
DeleteAn employee like that doesn't deserve their job, and they probably aren't properly serving the public.
You'd have probably have done your fellow citizens a favor if you'd have filed a complaint and followed up with your federal Congressional representative to get them disciplined. They probably wouldn't have been fired, but honestly, who knows in this environment.
20 (ish?) years ago a FO manager in North Alabama was stabbed in the arm.
ReplyDeleteNot disabled, can be a sorter, router, ve, alj, congress member....
ReplyDelete