Law enforcement listened to music Sullivan had posted online. They found lyrics about killing the president, bombing the senate, killing his grandmother, racist lyrics about killing people and bombing churches, killing and raping children, shooting up a school and bombing a specific public event, according to a probable cause statement filed by a prosecutor.
Sullivan told police he was rapping as a humorous fictional character when he made the videos. He said he doesn’t actually want to rape or kill anyone and doesn’t own any weapons.
This raises serious questions about freedom of speech. Much of rap has a violent history. Are the cops violating his civil rights, or do his lyrics truly constitute actionable threat?
Humorous but relevant: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3_kUaYFJA
Upon re-reading, the threat to bomb a specific public event was most likely where the line was formally crossed. IANAL
What about ANY of that is “humorous”?
You forgot the go to defense of “I’m serious until I get called out then I’m just joking where is your sense of humor”.
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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Bentonville police arrested a rapper, saying his lyrics contained threats.
Reese Alexander Sullivan, 20, was arrested on a charge of terroristic threatening.
Law enforcement listened to music Sullivan had posted online. They found lyrics about killing the president, bombing the senate, killing his grandmother, racist lyrics about killing people and bombing churches, killing and raping children, shooting up a school and bombing a specific public event, according to a probable cause statement filed by a prosecutor.
On Halloween, the FBI searched Sullivan’s apartment. They didn’t find any weapons or explosives.
Sullivan told police he was rapping as a humorous fictional character when he made the videos. He said he doesn’t actually want to rape or kill anyone and doesn’t own any weapons.
Sullivan said he starting writing those types of songs when he was 17 and that he doesn’t actually mean the things he says when he’s acting as a fictional character.
40/29 News attempted to find the recordings, but the court document appears to have blacked out Sullivan’s rapper name and the name of the website where the music was uploaded. It was heavily redacted, with multiple paragraphs entirely blacked out.
Sullivan declined the use of a public defender and no defense attorney was listed as of Tuesday afternoon.
Police arrested Sullivan two days later. He was issued a $50,000 bond and ordered not to engage with social media, write anything on the internet, or upload any audio or video.
A court date of Dec. 11, 2023, was set.
