Teen's Facebook Rant Leads to Terrorism Arrest

A short-lived rap career may have come to an end last week, as a Massachusetts high school student was arrested for making terrorist threats in a Facebook post.

Cameron D'Ambrosio, who calls himself "CammyDee" online, was arrested after a student at Methuen High School noticed D'Ambrosio posted threats to "kill people" on Facebook, reports The Valley Patriot.

D'Ambrosio now faces serious criminal charges.

Terrorist Threat Charge

Under Massachusetts law, anyone who communicates a threat via the Internet that causes "serious public inconvenience or alarm" can be punished by up to 20 years in prison.

In his Facebook post, D'Ambrosio let loose by proclaiming, in the form of rap lyrics: "[expletive] a Boston bombing wait til you see the [expletive] I do. I'm a be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!" reports The Boston Globe.

D'Ambrosio's bail was set at $1 million.

Threat or Prank?

It is easy to see why, in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, local authorities in Massachusetts are not joking around with this charge.

Methuen's police chief told The Valley Patriot that "[t]hreats of this kind of violence [are] unacceptable and will not be tolerated, not in Methuen they won't."

But CammyDee is hardly the first wannabe rapper to be charged for making threats in his lyrical post.

Lyrics Can Be Criminal

In 2010, an army specialist was charged with making threats against fellow officers for a rap song he created criticizing the Army's "Stop Loss" policy of keeping soldiers past their enlistment dates.

Rappers' lyrics can also be used against them in any future criminal case, especially lines or songs which express fondness for killing or violence.

Social media sites like Facebook and YouTube are not unknown to law enforcement, and teens like D'Ambrosio should think twice before they post.

This isn't the first time Cameron D'Ambrosio has met with law enforcement. In June 2012, he was charged with assault and battery and criminal threats for threatening to stab and kill his sister, but the case was dropped in April, according to the Globe.

Related Resources:

• Massachusetts teen charged with making 'terror' threats mentioning Boston Marathon on Facebook (New York Daily News)
• Judge Orders Rapper The Game to Pay Police $5M Over Arrest (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
• 'Chick Bank Robber' Brags on YouTube, Then Gets Busted (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)
• Facebook Threat Gets NJ Girl, 14, Arrested (FindLaw's Blotter)