The thought of him living in the same city as me isn’t exactly comforting. I’ll probably take the MRT even less than I already do.
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Nothing in the US press yet but it seems another charge has been placed
Not sure the charge means too much.
This seems the most relevant part:
(a) Criminal instruments generally.–A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if he possesses any instrument of crime with intent to employ it criminally.
TN doesn’t add much except an ‘alternate’ translation of the charge and a reiteration of the undoubtedly crucial FB posts of “Taiwanese attorney Chiu Chang”.
Oh man, this morning they had such lovely shots of Temple. they sent a local reporter there. I feel sorry for the kid for losing that opportunity, if I had the money I would have been able to study there.
Can someone with better Mandarin skills translate the minor he was interested in?
Link?
It is also related to criminal studies, like the mother had said, wanted to follow Henry Lee. But he seemed to act more like Dirty Harry!
One more question: why the date of May 1st? It is not a holiday in the US, right?
Criminology.
There’s nothing about what minor he was interested in there…
If I can find teh vuideo it is better, because they were compaing it to what his other calssmates had chosen and it was different. So it was like a branch of criminology.
I don’t know why he chose that date, but it’s a special day in some countries. May 1 is May Day, which is traditional holiday in some countries, although it may not involve a day off. May 1 is also International Workers’ Day in some countries.
The word “mayday” has also been used, I think, to communicate distress (I think I read somewhere that it’s from the French “m’aidez” (“help me”), but I wonder whether that is a folk etymology (i. e., an etymology not supported by research)).
Another question: if the weapons were purchased legally, why the extra charges? Are they for the DIY gun?
A common mistake. In fact, the word “mayday” comes from the Canadian “M’eh D’eh”. Opinions differ on the translation, but the general consensus is it is somehow related to poutine.
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The key point seems to be that there was intent to use the items in a crime. That’s what they need to prove on the terroristic threats charge anyway. If they can’t, it seems this second charge would also dissolve.
One thing that’s a bit odd is that they haven’t bailed him out. Bail is $100k–I’m sure they could come up with enough for a bond. Maybe the parents are trying to be tough on the kid.
Edit: this was in reply to tempogain’s comment from seven days ago of “The feds are investigating possible links, but there isn’t any federal
charge up to now. The evidence isn’t that strong at all, at least what
we’ve heard, basically one statement (which the law requires to show an
intent to terrorize) and some legal items in his possession.”
Actually, the evidence is a slam-dunk for at least one felony charge. Several articles have made it very plain that he manufactured a handgun by purchasing parts off the internet. One article showed the handgun (disassembled, in an evidence bag, being held up by a cop at a news conference).
It is a felony for someone under the age of 21 to do that. At least in the state I am familiar with, it would be a felony for a noncitizen to manufacture a handgun (they can buy and own one – after they reach age 21 of course – but they have to get approval through the state police; they might be able to manufacture one if they go through the approval process, not sure, it may be one of those “we didn’t think of that” areas where the law doesn’t give a path for them to get the paperwork approved). So yeah, he’s fucked.
(Yes, there’s another option – if his parent or grandparent gives him one, he can own it at age 18. That didn’t happen, so it’s irrelevant.)
I expect him to be convicted of a felony, either sentenced to “time served” or given a suspended sentence, and deported. Which sentencing pattern is used depends on how the law would handle the deportation.
He hasn’t been charged with anything like that, and it’s been reported that the gun isn’t illegal in the US media. 
My students were asking about this. They had some difficulty comprehending that merely threatening to shoot somebody, is itself a serious crime, or that “just joking” will not always work as a defense. They also didn’t understand that at 18, he was legally an adult (or that you can be tried as an adult before 18, or that even younger teenagers can receive serious punishments).
Ok, let’s see:
- Kid threatens to shoot school up, tries to pass it off as a joke, but classmate tells on him with school authorities, who have seen s*** before and prefer not to take the risk.
Now, it could have been classmate did not like him or that classmate was really concerned. But on top of hearsay, the Taiwanese kid sang like a canary to the authorities. I don’t know how good this is. Was he oblivious to the seriousness of the situation? Was he unable to decide on his own? Was there a lawyer to help him? Or the worse case scenario: was he bragging?
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As per his parents, all weapons and ammunition and paraphernalia were ought legally on the Internet. So, which items merited the charges imposed?
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Kid has not been bailed out. Interestingly, I have not seen this brought up on local tv, but a lot of money has been mentioned, like how much the many homes the father owns cost. Yet they flew economy and they do not actually seem that wealthy.
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…
Regarding bail, it was reported on the TV news in an interview with his first attorney that his student visa was revoked so if he did make bail, he would go straight to an immigration detention centre. The attorney advised that it wasn’t worth making bail to simply move to another form of detention.
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I do not understand this. Here in Taiwan, using the F word will get you in trouble with teh law. Threatening to kill someone is far more serious. They should be able to make the connection.
As to 18, well since their parents are still bailing them out and aiding them -or rather, controlling them and interfering in their lives- way after they hit 30, that part I do get.
I think if they follow the news at all its very easy to see why the authorities take a hard-line on threats of this nature.
That they don’t follow the news doesn’t surprise me.
They did seem to understand that you can’t joke about bombs at the airport.