Anti-DEA rants on Facebook spark criminal prosecution

Federal judge OKs prosecution of man accused of posting anti-police rants on Facebook, saying that dismissing criminal charges on free speech grounds would be "inappropriate."

Anti-government rants on Facebook can land you in a heap of trouble.

A federal judge has given the green light to the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of an Indiana man who allegedly posted incendiary remarks about police.

U.S. District Judge William Lawrence in Indiana rejected requests by the defendant, Matthew Michael, to throw out the charges on the grounds that no specific Drug Enforcement Administration agent or other individual had actually been named in the posts.

Lawrence ruled that  assuming the Facebook postings were illegal threats, which has yet to be proved  they were directed at natural persons, namely DEA agents, law enforcement officers, and government personnel.

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan leader on First Amendment grounds, ruling his vague promises of violence there might have to be some revengeance taken were not illegal.

Michael is accused of writing a series of posts containing vague but angry and violent statements regarding DEA agents. One alleged post: War is near anarchy and justice will be sought I'll kill whoever I deem to be in the way of harmony to the human race BE WARNED IF U PULL ME OVER!!