My son, Justin Carter, was arrested on February 14, 2013 (yes, Valentine’s Day) because of a sarcastic comment he posted on Facebook about a computer game which was then taken out of context by a complete stranger! Please sign my petition to help release my son, Justin.
My son was in jail for months because we couldn't afford to pay the half million dollar bail money. It took a month before he was even questioned and he spent his 19th birthday behind bars. To this day, Justin has not had a trial. No weapons were found during a search of his apartment, and so we’re really confused and heartbroken that our family is being violated like this.
While confined in jail, Justin was assaulted a number of times. He was locked in solitary confinement for months.
Justin’s a good kid. He wouldn’t hurt anyone, let alone a child. What I understand happened is that he was in an argument on the League of Legends website, which continued on a Facebook page, and someone on Facebook called him crazy and messed up in the head.
So he responded in a sarcastic tone by saying something along the lines of 'Oh ya, I'm real messed up in the head alright, I'ma gonna shoot me up a school full of kids and eat their still beating hearts'. Now anyone that knows me or my kids knows that we write in perfect English, so the bad spelling is not a mistake, it was an attempt to convey, in writing, an uneducated accent as part of the joke.
His response may have been in bad taste, but it was written in a non-threatening way that didn’t translate well online. None of his friends or family would even question his intention as anything other than a poor choice of words. Things got out of control, but my son is not a felon and terrorist as he’s currently being charged!The authorities’ over-reaction is ruining Justin’s life. And it’s setting a dangerous example trying to punish kids who often say strange things that I believe are protected under freedom of speech. The justice system’s abuse of Justin is wasting time and money that could otherwise be spent to help people who honestly need it!
Thanks to an anonymous donor, Justin is now out on bail bond. I'm happy to have him out right now, but my son is still facing a felony terrorism charge and years in prison if found guilty. I have said all along that his Facebook joke was made in poor taste and understand why it raised some concern, but Justin has no prior record and he was clearly not actually threatening anyone. It has been almost 5 years since Justin's arrest and now all of his appeals for dismissal have been denied. The next step is for the prosecution to set a court date. In the meantime, Justin has been out living his life. He has a good job and a nice apartment and he has been on bond this whole time. He has not committed any crimes, so clearly he is not the crazy terrorist that the police and district attorney tried to label him as.
Please sign and share to continue supporting Justin's campaign. We need to make sure he's not labeled as a felony terrorist simply for making a Facebook comment.
I hope you will sign this petition. I’d like Justin's case to be dismissed. And I would like a more reasonable law to be put in place so this doesn’t happen to anyone else again. Thank you.
