Abortion Protester's Bomb Prophecy Was Not A "True Threat"

Thames v. City of Westland, (ED MI, April 20, 2018) is a suit by a pro-life advocate who was arrested and held over the weekend on charges of making a terrorist threat while protesting at an abortion clinic.  Kimberly Thames, while picketing the clinic, allegedly said "I prophesy bombs, I prophesy bombs. There is going to be a bombing in the near future."  A Michigan federal district court concluded that an issue of fact exists as to whether officers had probable cause to arrest Thames:Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.543m only criminalizes “true threats” which involve a “serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence,”…. In the vague context allegedly used by Thames, at least a jury question exists as to whether it amounts to a true threat.The evidence suggests that Defendant Officers did not consider the statement to be a true threat as they did not direct evacuation of the clinic, did not request the…

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