FBI arrest 2 in connection with mall threat on MySpace

[Zedicus]

Yes It's Gun Related.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl022208bhmallterrorism.1abb63ff.html#

JPSO, FBI arrest 2 in connection with mall threat on MySpace

04:34 PM CST on Friday, February 22, 2008

By Janet McConnaughey / Associated Press Writer

METAIRIE -- Two suburban New Orleans teenagers were arrested Friday and booked with terrorizing for allegedly posting threats on the Internet site MySpace against a shopping mall that instituted a weekend curfew for teens.

JPSO

Cory Odenwald, 17, of River Ridge.

Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies said Joseph L. Madsen of Metairie and Cory Odenwald of River Ridge, both 17, urged violent reprisal against Clearview Mall, a popular gathering place for young people in this suburban community.

In the MySpace postings, Madsen threatened to bring guns and Odenwald said he would back him up, said Chief Deputy Tom Gorman. Odenwald "intimated that life did not mean much to him," Gorman said.

Few details were available Friday about the teens, and it was unclear whether they were friends or simply Internet acquaintances.

Sheriff Newell Normand said the postings went up earlier this week. The sheriff's office and FBI began receiving calls about them Thursday and took the threats seriously.

The teens were booked as adults at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of up to 15 years on the state charges.

JPSO

Joseph Madsen, 17, of Metairie

Officers seized three handguns belonging to Madsen's father, which Normand said were shown in MySpace photos, when they arrested the teen at his home.

Joy Patton, spokeswoman for the mall, commended authorities for acting swiftly and said the curfew will continue. "It's our policy forever," she said.

Normand said the sheriff's office plans to install cameras at the property. Extra deputies will be stationed at the mall this weekend.

"I don't think kids today understand the power and strength of that medium (the Internet). Parents need to be a little more responsible. They need to be a little more snoopy," he said.

Normand said management of the mall, which is owned by a local partnership, has been working to heighten security for several years as large crowds of young people congregate there, especially on weekends.

He said deputies have had complaints of drug use and "13-14-15-year-olds having sex in the parking lot," adding the mall has done everything possible to cope with the problems.

"Clearview is not a playpen. Clearview is not a playground," h e said.

Mall officials said extra security guards were brought in Feb. 15 to enforce a policy first set up last summer requiring anyone age 16 or younger to be accompanied by someone who is at least 21 after 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Graffiti, holes punched in bathroom walls and bolts removed from chairs were among the mall's problems, but a fight in the food court on Feb. 9 was the final straw that prompted enforcement of the curfew, officials said.

Several juveniles severely beat a food court worker, mall general manager Tara Lubrano said. Clearview is one of the large malls on the east bank of Jefferson Parish. It has 44 stores as well as a movie complex.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Possible 15 year sentence for 2 dimwitted teens shooting thier mouths off about a pointless mall restriction on myspace & Confiscation of guns belonging to one of them's dad, because the dimwitt's had photos of them on their myspace page.....:banghead:

 

[skidmark]

Possible 15 year sentence for 2 dimwitted teens shooting thier mouths off about a pointless mall restriction on myspace

I believe the phrase is "Stupid should hurt." If the teens were upset at the imposition of the curfew there were any number of more appropriate actions they could have taken to express their feeling, or even to try to get the curfew lifted.

"Shooting their mouths off" about shooting up the mall is not a good idea. There have been too many folks with real or imagined grievances who decide that the way to express their displeasure - as opposed to seeking to resolve the grievance - by going to the nearest people-gathering place and shooting at random and innocent targets.

Maybe their long potential sentences will not deter some other emo teen, but that's the way our system works. Long period of incarceration will at least deter these teens from the potential for expressing their desire to shoot innocent people who had nothing to do with imposing the curfew at the mall.

& Confiscation of guns belonging to one of them's dad, because the dimwitt's had photos of them on their myspace page.

Now this I agree with. Unless there is some plan to charge the kid with a weapons violation, in which case the guns are evidence. But I read nothing about that being the case.

stay safe.

skidmark

 

[bumm]

I doubt if these little jerks will actually get the 15 year sentences... Most likely, all they were doing was acting tough online. Still, threats like that HAVE to be taken seriously. I have mixed feelings about the father's guns being confiscated, and he should probably be able to get them back, but that'll for sure get HIM interested in his own son's activities.
As for the curfew at the mall, they have an obvious problem and they're dealing with it. As shooters, it's in our best interest to encourage other shooters to act in a civil manner and respect the legitimate interests of others. The same goes for kids that like to hang out at the mall.
Marty

 

[Eyesac]

Locking up the kids? Fine by me. It's stupid kids like that that get all riled up and shoot innocent people in a mall. The cops STEALING the guns from the dad half bothers me and half doesn't. If the kids were taking "scary" pictures w/ them, and had access to them...Pop gets to buy new guns if you ask me.

 

[rbernie]

I believe the phrase is "Stupid should hurt." If the teens were upset at the imposition of the curfew there were any number of more appropriate actions they could have taken to express their feeling, or even to try to get the curfew lifted.

Roger that.

• The malls gets to disinvite anyone they like. It's private property. Reality = 1 , Kids = 0.
  
• The law does not allow anyone to threaten another with violence with impunity. Reality = 1, Kids = 0.
  
• Like it or not, the law in most juristictions does not allow minors to be in possession of firearms without adult supervision. The photos were a bad idea. Reality = 1, Kids = 0.
  
• The law in most juristictions make it a crime for an adult to allow a minor to come into posession of an unsecured firearm. Reality = 1, Kids's parents = 0.

I have mixed feelings about the father's guns being confiscated, and he should probably be able to get them back, but that'll for sure get HIM interested in his own son's activities.

Adults have a responsibility to control their firearms, cars, gasoline cans, liquor, and other such objects at all times. It's part of being an adult. Unless these parents can provide that the kids broke the house rules in accessing these firearms, the parents should face some punitive measures. Dunno if that's losing the firearms, but stupid SHOULD hurt for the adults in equal measure as it does for the kids.

 

[ilbob]

lets see.

mall has problems with unsupervised kids destroying property and driving away actual customers.

mall responds with a carefully tailored policy to ban unsupervised kids who are not there buying anything in the first place.

stupid kids make terroristic threats on the Internet.

someone sees threats and reports them to police.

police arrest the stupid.

who is at at fault.

how about parents who allow unsupervised brats to terrorize and destroy mall and post terrorist threats on Internet?

 

[walking arsenal]

Locking up the kids? Fine by me. It's stupid kids like that get all riled up and shoot innocent people in a mall.

It's not stupid kids.

It's stupid adults having children that they can't/wont raise right.

It's them not paying enough attention to their kids because they would rather be rich, have speed boats, fast cars and parties.

It's "adults" acting like high schoolers until they are thirty five years old.

It's one of the parents not staying home to take care of the kids and instead pawning them off on daycare for the day.

It's the lack of family values.

It's no church on Sunday. Even if you don't believe in a god the book is still an astounding manual to living a good life!

It's idiotic rules in schools that are becoming more prisons than schools.

It's old folks with the "ME" mentality. Everything is for them, they no longer make sacrifices for the children who are the future of this country. They don't vote for whats good for the children who are their future, it's what in it for them NOW.

It's adults not allowing "children" responsibilities so they can grow up. In World war 2 their were 18 year old "kids" at the controls of twin .50 cal machine guns in B-17 ball turrets. Now they can't rent a car until they are 25!

It's welfare.

It's society.

It's the adults fault.

It's your fault.




(Takes deep breath) Did I miss anything?

 

[rbernie]

Is this about firearms, or social ills?

Potential energy becomes kinetic energy SOMEHOW, and teenagers will find a way to do so regardless of their environment. When I was a kid, some of the football team of my high school used to love beating up the Rent-A-Cops at the local McD's on Saturday nights. This was in a relatively rural area, and this behavior certainly predated the CD, game console, or any form of modern convenience other than broadcast TV and that newfangled FM radio thingee.

And I am going to push back a bit on the OPs initial comment:

Possible 15 year sentence for 2 dimwitted teens shooting thier mouths off about a pointless mall restriction on myspace & Confiscation of guns belonging to one of them's dad, because the dimwitt's had photos of them on their myspace page

The mall restriction was/is not pointless - it very CLEARLY had a point, and an articulated genesis. Where I come from, destruction of private property and violent assault on folk by a gaggle of teens is still considered A Bad Thing.

But to keep it gun-related and not about social ills - does LA law require the adults to keep firearms away from minors? That would seem to be the parent's very real issue, aside from having to bail their kids outta da clink....

 

[mountaindrew]

A parent who gives a gun to a child who is prone to violence and possible terroristic mass shootings is more than stupid, he is criminally negligent and should consider himself lucky HE is not in jail. One of the safety rules should be "always be sure of the person behind the gun"
As for the kids, making threats is never appropriate, whether it is shooting up a school, or a mall, or an individual. We need to take such things seriously these days.

 

[Car Knocker]

Confiscation of guns belonging to one of them's dad, because the dimwitt's had photos of them on their myspace page.....

The information in the story does not preclude that the handguns were in dimwit's possession at the time of arrest. Would it be OK to seize the handguns in that instance?

 

[Sage of Seattle]

So Johnny Law wants to eat his cake and have it too.

The two 17 year old NEAR ADULTS are being charged AS ADULTS and yet the father's handguns are going to be confiscated because he "let" his NEAR ADULT child "have" them? I guess where guns are concerned, let's not just nuke the perpetrator, but let's see how much damage the fallout will do. Scorched Earth policy, anyone?

D**n, I'm getting sick of all the supposed High-Roaders who constantly berate and belittle others with attacks on how "stupid" a cop is for an ND or how criminals are "dumb" or "worthless crackheads" or any other number of invectives that really serve no point whatsoever.

If you've got a point, please make it and try to keep all the name calling to a minimum. If you don't have a worthwhile comment, please ****.

We need to take such things seriously these days.

You mean we don't already? The US jails more of it's own citizens than almost every other country in the world and that's just not good enough for you? Is your sense of retribution and prior constraint so great as to eclipse any sense of appropriateness in punishment?

 

[bloodedsky]

Bit off topic, but Seattle's post triggered an interesting thought.

In Italian prisons, men are literally thrown into a dark hole with no windows, fed horrible food once a day, and are never allowed to use a proper toilet or take a shower.

The rate of Italian prisoners' recidivism is very, very low.

Maybe our disturbingly high rate of criminal activity is due to a jail system that is more like a babysitting service with lots of bloody noses.

Like I said, just an interesting thought. Will continue to watch this thread.

 

[rbernie]

The two 17 year old NEAR ADULTS are being charged AS ADULTS and yet the father's handguns are going to be confiscated because he "let" his NEAR ADULT child "have" them?

Excellent point.

 

[strat81]

Don't be so quick to hang the parents. They may not have let their kids have unsupervised access to guns.

Quite a few of us have pictures of our firearms on our computers. It is VERY possible (and reasonable to assume) that the parent photographed his own firearms and left the pictures on the family computer's HDD. Then Johnny Bad Kid uses the comp for Myspace shenanigans and uploads the files to the site.

Is leaving pictures of firearms on a computer accessible to children bad? A crime? Morally repugnant? Ethically wrong?

 

[mountaindrew]

Sage, I am curious, since you took offence at my stating the obvious that threats of mass shootings need to be taken seriously, What do you consider a proper way of dealing with this? You object to the fact that U.S. jails alot of people. What would you do, let them out? let crime go un-dealt with? I am asking because I didn't get enough from your post to understand your perspective. It is not a desire for retribution I have, but caution. I believe that these kids were probably just blowhards, but can we take that chance? This is not thought policing here, a threat voiced in a public venue is an action, almost as real as a shooting would be. A bomb treat to a school shuts down the campus and screws up the day of hundreds of students and teachers. O threat to an airport could leave hundreds of travelers stranded. Threats are real crimes for a good reason. They do real harm. They have real victims. Do you want them protected as free speech maybe? I don't understand your position, and respectfully ask you to explain.

 

[sm]

Paging LBJ...

Your social ideals about government raising kids better than parents and parents not having to parent kids ain't working.

Neither is your gun control stuff...

*tacky*