Source: Facebook
We have seen various social media disasters from politicians, but imagine when your social media disaster results in an indictment in a US court. That is hwat has happened to Eric Harroun a fool who decided to go fight in Syria and post his exploits all over Facebook. The case also highlights how stupid some laws are, because Harroun has been charged with using a “weapon of mass destruction”…which was an RPG!
Any term that conflates nuclear weapons with any other kind of weapon is bound to be a poor descriptor. But the U.S. government has reached peak absurdity by labeling a rocket-propelled grenade a weapon of mass destruction.
Technically, Eric Harroun, a U.S. Army veteran who joined the rebellion in Syria, has only been charged with using a “destructive device.” (More on him in a second.) But U.S. law isn’t particularly diligent about differentiating dangerous weapons from apocalyptic ones. The affidavit of FBI agent Paul Higginbotham undergirding Harroun’s recent arrest and charge sums it up like this: “There is probable cause to believe that, in or about January 2013 to March 2013, Eric Harroun conspired to use a weapon of mass destruction, i.e. a Rocket Propelled Grenade, outside of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2332a(b).” Read more »
