The case of high school student Cameron Dambrosio of Methuen, Ma., might serve as an object lesson to young people everywhere about minding what you say online unless you are prepared to be arrested for terrorism, reports the Christian Science Monitor. He was arrested last week after posting online videos that show him rapping an original song that police say contained “disturbing verbiage” and reportedly mentioned the White House and the Boston Marathon bombing.
He is charged with communicating terrorist threats, a felony. Bail is set at $1 million. Whether the arrest proves to be a victory in the fight against domestic terrorism or whether Cameron made an unfortunate artistic choice will become clear later. What is apparent now is that law enforcement agencies are tightening their focus on the social media behavior of teenagers. “When I was young, calling a bomb threat to your high school because you didn't want to go to school that day was treated with a slap on the wrist. Try that nowadays and you're going to prison, no question about it. They are taking it more seriously now,” says Rob D’Ovidio, a criminal justice professor at Drexel University.