Ohio Man Charged With Using Internet to Threaten Lives of US Military

(voiceofamerica) The Justice Department indicted an Ohio man Tuesday on charges of using social media to solicit the murders of U.S. military members.

Terrence McNeil was arrested last month and faces as many as 75 years in prison if he is convicted.

"We owe it to our servicemen and women to protect their safety at home after they fought abroad to protect our freedom," U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said Tuesday. "The defendant is charged with urging harm to our men and women in uniform and will now answer for those threats."

McNeil is accused of using three different popular social media sites - Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr - to boast of his support for Islamic State. He also used Tumblr to publish the names, photographs, and addresses of 100 purported U.S. military personnel, including one who he says killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

McNeil allegedly encouraged other extremists to behead the Americans in their own homes and stab them to death in the streets, claiming the United States is at war with Islam.

The Justice Department says while it aggressively defends the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right of free speech, McNeil went "far beyond free speech." (Full Text)