The Boston marathon bombings didn’t seem to weigh too heavily on one Massachusetts high school senior, as he now faces criminal charges for publishing a rant about the bombings on Facebook.
Aspiring rapper Cameron D’Ambrosio, 18, was arrested May 1 on felony charges of communicating terrorist threats for the postings. He has been in a jail cell in suburban Boston for three weeks as a judge decides if he’s a “hazard to the community” or not, although his bail was set at $1 million last week.
If convicted, D’Ambrosio – whose rap alias is Cammy Dee – faces up to 20 years in prison.
“F**k a boston bominb wait till u see the s**t I do, I’ma be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!” [sic], D’Ambrosio wrote, according to a screenshot of the post.
The senior also made references to the White House — or “federal house of horror” as he referred to it — and asked if he should kill someone in order to get recognition.
When D’Ambrosio didn’t show up for school one day, a classmate who had seen the post on Facebook notified a school official. Methuen Police arrested him at his house and had him in custody within 30 minutes.
His family is receiving financial help for the legal proceedings from the Center for Rights, which launched a petition on its website dedicated to bringing D’Ambrosio “home to his parents.”
“Posting lyrics on Facebook is not a crime,” the petition states. “Jailing Cameron D’Ambrosio is a violation of the First Amendment. Release him to his family and protect free speech.”
The website goes on to urge people to share D’Ambrosio’s story and petition on the very social media site that got the teenager in trouble in the first place.
“Don’t give in to the urge to never post on Facebook again. Share this page now to express your support for free speech,” it reads.
D’Ambrosio is not the only student at Methuen High School to get in trouble this year. In December, 17-year-old Jacob Butze-Maille was arrested and held without bail after he threatened a 15-year-old student, saying that he was planning on carrying out a Columbine-like attack on the school and would kill her as well if she told anyone.
