A teenager from Texas has been in jail since February after making a sarcastic comment on Facebook that was misinterpreted as a terrorist threat, according to CNN.
Justin Carter was in an argument with a friend over the online video game "League of Legends" when he responded to being called crazy with a sarcastic response that an unidentified Facebook user felt was worthy of reporting to authorities.
"I'm f**ked in the head alright," Justin wrote according to court documents. "I think I'ma (sic) shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent rain down and eat the beating heart of one of them."
Carter is being charged with making terroristic threats for the remark, a charge that carries a sentence of up to eight years in prison. Jack Carter, Jason's father, talked to CNN about his son's ordeal.
"He's very depressed," Jack said. "He's very scared and he's very concerned that he's not going to get out. He's pretty much lost all hope."
Justin made the comment only a few months after the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., so authorities in New Braunfels, Tex., did not take the suggestion of killing schoolchildren lightly.
"We definitely understand the situation that Mr. Carter is in, however he made the comments, and it is an offense," New Braunfels Police Lt. John Wells told NPR. "We have to protect the general public and specifically, in this case, with it involving schoolchildren, we have to act. We take those very seriously."
Donald Flanary III, Justin's lawyer, told CNN that he feels the state is unwilling to admit that while Justin's comments were plainly tasteless they weren't a threat.
"In the times we're living in, it was kind of a perfect storm," Flanary said. "The law enforcement, the sheriff's department, the district attorney's office - nobody wants to be the one that let him go. They don't think about the person or the crime or the lack of crime...they don't want to take responsibility for something happening in the future."
Jack Carter believes that if investigators took a second to consider the context his son made the comments in they would release him right away.
"I definitely see the need to investigate such claims. Absolutely," Jack said. "But at some point during the investigation there has to be some common sense."
