In a written decision, Judge Gregory Carro said that although there is no doubt that the killing was not an ordinary street crime, New York law doesn’t consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology.
“While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal,” Carro wrote.
Hope the rest of the trial goes with as much sense as this
The emphasis on “intimidate and coerce a civilian population” is interesting. Seems to imply billionaires are not considered part of the civilian population. As they shouldn’t be.
Before we go giving the legal system a pat on the back for that, that’s not really what’s happening. The law is written with a high level of provable intent in mind, and that’s the only way it could possibly pass 1st Amendment muster. It’s really, really hard to prove anyone intended to intimidate anyone.
Hope the rest of the trial goes with as much sense as this
I understand why they tried to throw those charges in, but I don’t like the inconsistency of doing so.
I agree this is a sensible outcome.
Because the Justice department is being run by headlines and idiots.
The emphasis on “intimidate and coerce a civilian population” is interesting. Seems to imply billionaires are not considered part of the civilian population. As they shouldn’t be.
Before we go giving the legal system a pat on the back for that, that’s not really what’s happening. The law is written with a high level of provable intent in mind, and that’s the only way it could possibly pass 1st Amendment muster. It’s really, really hard to prove anyone intended to intimidate anyone.
Amen - thank you, yes!
The only people without such animus either work for the industry or are shareholders.
It’s good to see things simmer back down to reality after all the inflammatory politically-motivated accusations. Everyone deserves a fair trial.