"Blogger acquitted of threats sues Conn. officials" Associated Press, December 05, 2012
HARTFORD — A blogger who urged readers to ‘‘take up arms’’ against Connecticut officials is suing state government leaders for $50 million after being acquitted of threatening and inciting violence.
Harold ‘‘Hal’’ Turner, of North Bergen, N.J., filed the lawsuit in federal court in Newark on Nov. 21 saying he was falsely arrested, wrongfully imprisoned, and maliciously prosecuted. A jury acquitted him last year. Defendants in the suit referred questions to the state attorney general’s office.
Who is Hal Turner?
Who is Hal Turner?
Turner was arrested after a June 2009 blog posting suggesting that Connecticut officials ‘‘obey the Constitution or die’’ and urging readers to ‘‘take up arms and put down this tyranny by force.’’ He added that if authorities tried to stop his cause, ‘‘I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down, too.’’
That's exactly what the government wants to justify a crackdown and possible martial law.
That's exactly what the government wants to justify a crackdown and possible martial law.
The posting was in response to legislation debated by state lawmakers that would have given lay people of Roman Catholic churches more control over parish finances. Turner believed the legislation flew in the face of the constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state. The bill had been withdrawn three months before his posting.
That's what got him all worked up, huh?
That's what got him all worked up, huh?
A state jury in Hartford acquitted Turner in September 2011 after he argued that his free speech rights were being trampled and that there was never any violence against state officials.
I applaud the jury. I'm for all speech. It's up to the reader and viewer to determine what is true and what to believe.
I applaud the jury. I'm for all speech. It's up to the reader and viewer to determine what is true and what to believe.
At the time of his trial, Turner was serving a nearly three-year prison sentence for threatening judges in Illinois.
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Hiding Hal Turner, FBI Agent Provocateur
The article I posted today was at the bottom of page B12.
Lest We Forget–Records show feds used White Supremacist radio host Hal Turner for years
“I was not some street snitch,” Turner said in one of several lengthy interviews at the Hudson County Jail, where he was kept until the terms of his bail were worked out in October — terms that prevented him from talking to reporters after his release. “I was a deep undercover intelligence operative.”
Your government at work with your tax dollars, Americans.
At least they are taking on bullying in Connecticut. Thanks, Hal!
