Complaining about newspaper coupons is "a terrorist threat"

[Newsjock]

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070507/UPDATE/70507026

... The customer had initially called Sunday because he said he did not receive the coupons he wanted in his Sunday newspaper, said Greg Castro, director of Circulation for The Desert Sun.

“The customer service representative said she would have the coupons sent out on Monday,” Castro said.

Though a newspaper employee delivered the package as told, Castro said the man called the newspaper’s customer service department again on Monday and said he still did not get the coupons he wanted.

“That’s when he said: ‘What do I have to do? Come down there and blow up the building?’ ” Castro added.

... Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs officers located the customer, identified as 65-year-old Nicholas Karas, at his home.

Karas admitted he had made the statement, but denied having malicious intent, police said.

Karas was arrested on suspicion of making a terrorist threat, police said.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. The joy of living in a police state when the USA is 'at war'!

[Kagemusha]

2. There's a far less spectacular crime with "istic" at the end instead of "ist"

I am guessing that the original writer confused the two.

[Der Blaue Engel]

3. For once, I'm not sure I object

What an asinine thing to say. If you "joke" about blowing up buildings, you shouldn't be surprised if someone errs on the side of caution. Stupid.

[tubbacheez]

4. In all honesty....

The newspaper coupon issue is just the context. It set up the conflict between the newspaper and the angry customer. It's likely the customer was just making a colorful rhetorical statement of his ire. But the newspaper isn't required to conclude that.


The big question is how it plays out from now on. The statement gave police a reason to investigate what's really going on. If the comment was harmless, no charges should be filed.




I think the word "terrorist" (or "terroristic") (I'm waiting for "terroristical" to appear in the news) is inappropriately used by the police here. We've had laws against making threats on the books long before 9/11. If the guy was suspected of committing such a crime, the proper description is "criminal threat."

I see nothing in the story to indicate there was any political purpose. Coupons are not national policy. Coupons are financial interests.