Justin Carter a League of Legends player from Austin, Texas who was arrested last February on charges of making ‘terroristic threats’ on Facebook has had his motion to dismiss the case denied according to San Antonio’s KENS 5 News.
In a report by KHOU, Carter, who at the time was 18, wrote on Facebook: “Oh yeah, I?m real messed up in the head, I?m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts.? According to Carter’s father, the comments were immediately followed with ‘LoL’ and ‘jk’ which implied that the comments were made in jest. However, police didn’t think it was funny, arresting the young man on charges of making ‘terroristic threats’ and saddling him with a possible 8 year prison sentence. An, as of yet identified benefactor, donated the $500k which allowed Carter and his family to post bail.
Monday, the motion to stop the legal action against Carter was denied and prosecutors will continue to build their case against the young man, who is now 19 years old. As reported by Kotaku, Lawyer Don Flanary, who is currently representing Carter, failed to get the charges dropped against the young man but claimed back in July that in spite of any potential setbacks in seeking a speedy dismissal of the case, that there were “many other avenues to take it up on appeal.”
The case continues to attract media attention in the wake of several shootings in recent years, and continues to stir debate on whether or not a statement made online, even made in jest, can be taken as a credible threat worthy of legal prosecution.
Carter’s next court date has yet to be announced.
Sources:
Kotaku
KHOU
Kens5
Washington Times