Unemployed Man Sends Angry Email To GOP Senator, Gets INDICTED

[babylonsister]

Arthur Delaney

Bruce Shore, Unemployed Philadelphia Man, Indicted For 'Harassing Email' To Jim Bunning

First Posted: 05-25-10 02:40 PM | Updated: 05-25-10 07:01 PM


When Sen. Jim Bunning complained on the Senate floor in February that he'd missed the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game because of a debate on unemployment benefits -- a debate the Kentucky Republican himself prevented from proceeding to a vote -- Bruce Shore got angry.

"I was livid. I was just livid," said Shore, 51, who watched the floor proceedings on C-SPAN from his home in Philadelphia. "I'm on unemployment, so it affects me. I'm in shock."

Instead of just being angry, Shore took action: He sent several emails to Bunning staffers, blasting the senator for blocking the benefits.

"ARE you'all insane," said part of one letter Shore sent on Feb. 26 (which he shared with HuffPost). "NO checks equal no food for me. DO YOU GET IT??"

In that letter he signed off as "Brad Shore" from Louisville. He said he did the same thing in several other messages sent via the contact form on Bunning's website. "My assumption was that if he gets an email from Philadelphia, who cares?" he said. "Why would he even care if a guy from Philadelphia gets upset?"

Bunning might not have cared, but the FBI did. Sometime in March, said Shore, agents came calling to ask about the emails. They read from printouts of the messages sent via the contact form and asked if Shore was the author, which he readily admitted. They asked a few questions, and then, according to Shore, they said, "All right, we just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything to worry about."

But on May 13, U.S. Marshals showed up at Shore's house with a grand jury indictment. Now he's got to appear in federal court in Covington, Ky. on May 28 to answer for felony email harassment. Specifically, the indictment (PDF) says that on Feb. 26, Shore "did utilize a telecommunications device, that is a computer, whether or not communication ensued, without disclosing his identity and with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, and harass any person who received the communication."

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/25/bruce-shore-unemployed-ph_n_588798.html

[Joanne98]

1. Cops who protect conservatives need to be FIRED!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. What If They Protect Liberals (And) Conservatives?

~

[reggie the dog]

11. no they shouldnt

cops should protect us all

[rucky]

2. Somebody should be charged for harassment.

and it's not Brad Shore.

:mad:

[Hannah Bell]

4. where's the threat? if that's all there was, that's full-out fascism. we can't even send a

strongly worded letter to our bought-off "representatives" anymore without going to court or jail?

yeah, they're insane. with power.

[Ishoutandscream2]

30. +1

[NNN0LHI]

5. First rule of thumb. Never knowingly talk to the FBI about anything

They don't waste their time asking you any questions that they don't already have the answer for.

Nothing you can say will ever help you. Only hurt.

Don

[babylonsister]

6. I still can't figure out what this guy did wrong; isn't this way to

contact reps (via e-mail) encouraged?

[NNN0LHI]

12. My guess would be he "said" the wrong thing to the agents during his interview

Thats how it usually works.

Don

[Chulanowa]

13. Two things

One, he was posing as a different person than who he really was. There's a difference between being anonymous, and making false claims.

Second, we only see some of his email messages. It's very possible that he heaped plenty of abuse into more than what we see.

There's a difference between contacting your reps, and posing as a constituent to berate and harass another state's reps. i'm not sure of all the legalese and technical stuff, but that's the basics.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Probably first question to him was did he send them? And naturally he probably said no

Soon as he said that he was destined for a little vacation at club fed.

Don

[jberryhill]

32. Because for this article he says he "doesn't remember"

Take a look at this situation.

The guy is a convicted felon. He sends emails, which he calls "venting" to a federal official using an assumed name.

Now, it is illegal to threaten a federal official.

So, he is interviewed for this story and says he "can't remember" what he sent that would cause a grand jury to issue an indictment.

Would you be interested in making a bet about what really happened here?

[TexasObserver]

7. It's the police state we live in. Those pledged to protect us violate us.

All the goons involved in this sordid story are sworn to protect the constitution from all enemies, but the constitution most needs protection from them.

A politician gets letters complaining of his actions. Claiming such communications, especially by email, are harassment, is ludicrous.

When they passed this law, I knew it would end up being abused by prosecutors and law enforcement in just this way. The law is so broadly written it does not acknowledge the preeminent right to air our grievances with those who govern us.

[tinymontgomery]

8. I wish I would be on that jury

After listening to the evidence I would find him innocent.

[Toots]

26. The evidence already went in front of a Grand jury and they voted to indict.

Ordinary people made the decision so there must be something there but it proves Bunning has an extremely thin skin..

[TexasObserver]

35. Grand juries are rubber stamping jokes.

The grand jury that doesn't indict when asked to do so is the unusual grand jury. They rubber stamp most of what the prosecutor wants.

[tinymontgomery]

9. I wish I would be on that jury

After listening to the evidence I would find him innocent.

[Mudoria]

10. Sounds a little over the top by indicting him

but then we don't know all the content of the emails, even the author doesn't remember what he wrote. Before I jump to the author's side I'd need to know more about what he put in the email.

[get the red out]

14. This situation is INSANE

The guy is an upset United States Citizen contacting a law maker with his concerns. I have written to law makers from other states and districts about my concerns before. This is just a misuse of the police to go after this guy. I am willing to bet if Bunning weren't retiring this wouldn't have gone this far.

[unblock]

15. this needs to be denounced as a SHAKEDOWN. if he had a lobbyist, there would be no problem.

or if he had given a campaign contribution, there would be no complaint.

it's a shakedown, and we need to go after bunning for this.

[Stevenmarc]

16. Let's see, a convicted felon sends "several" persnickety emails to a senator, who'd of guessed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. A convicted felon?

Huh?

[Leftist Agitator]

20. RTFA.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Silly me. I try to post excerpts that make sense.

Since I read DU on my phone so much and can't always open links.

Oh well. Courtesy seems to be a lost cause here. Cuss words are so much easier to use in a response.

[Leftist Agitator]

25. Reading DU on your phone makes you an elitist.

[mmonk]

17. Do not talk without legal representation present.

[FreakinDJ]

18. Where they going to get a jury that would convict him

chances are a majority of the jury will be unemployed, or forced retirement due to the current economic melt down.

[NNN0LHI]

21. Last I checked the federal courts around here have about a 98% conviction rate

I don't know if it is that way all across the country but I bet it is very high.

Don

[ThomWV]

24. Is this man the only soul in the country who has no 1st Amendment Rights?

[jberryhill]

29. Depends on the terms of his release from prison for his prior conviction

It will be interesting to see what was in these "venting" emails from a convicted felon.

[political_Dem]

27. I'll say this for the second time today: you don't negotiate with terrorists or Republicans.

It never amounts to any good.

[jberryhill]

28. Pled guilty to 35 Burglaries?

"He's not sure what he said that crossed the line; he said he doesn't have copies of the messages sent via Bunning's site."

...says the guy whose previous "employment" consisted of breaking into people's houses and taking their stuff.

I'll bet this guy is a real sweetheart.

[Freddie Stubbs]

31. I think we need to see what exaclty the other emails said before jumping to conclusions

[sinkingfeeling]

33. Hope the ACLU is helping him out, if he made no direct threat to Bunning.

[jberryhill]

34. Yes, but since he "can't remember", I wouldn't take a bet on a felon's memory like that /nt