Terrorist threat charges up in Ingham
LANSING - Police say Alfred Palomo called 911 last week and threatened to go to the Capitol with a bomb.
The 54-year-old Lansing man was arrested a short time later in downtown Lansing. He didn't have any weapons or bomb materials on him, and police were able to determine he didn't make it to Capitol grounds, said First Lt. Brody Boucher, post commander for Michigan State Police Capitol security.
Palomo was charged with making a false report or threat of terrorism, making him the seventh person since the start of 2014 — and fifth in the past 12 months — to be charged with the crime by Ingham County prosecutors.
The charge was one of several created in 2002 as part of the Michigan anti-terrorism act. Ingham County prosecutors didn't charge anyone with it between 2010 and 2013. Data prior to that is unavailable, prosecutors said. And prosecutors in Eaton and Clinton counties said they’ve never charged anyone with the crime.
The alleged threats resulting in charges have been shouted at a bus terminal, made on social media, written on a bathroom stall and called in to 911, according to officials and court records. They've been made against police officers, the state Capitol, Michigan State University and its students, public transportation, Meridian Township and nearby populations.
They've included threats of bombings and shootings, according to officials and court records.
Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney Stuart Dunnings III said his office has been using the charge more because it fits defendants' actions, not because of some new push. He added that given the national and international climates regarding terrorism and mass shootings, threats are taken more seriously than they might have been in the past.
"Even if the person considers it as a prank or that it's funny, we have to take every one of them seriously," he said. "They result in schools being locked down and the police mobilizing."
But there are some who caution against the charge's overuse and see possibilities for free speech to be deemed criminal by police or prosecutors.
"If the statute is being used to silence protests or if it's being used to try to scare people into pleading guilty to a lesser charge … then the Legislature should go back to fix it," said Dan Korobkin, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Michigan.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Not having intent or capability to follow through with the threat isn't a defense, according to the statute that created it.
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Korobkin said for speech to no longer be protected by the First Amendment, the state has to prove someone intended to communicate the threat and that a reasonable person who received it would understand that they were being threatened.
He added that jokes, pranks and what courts have called "rhetorical hyperbole" traditionally haven't been considered criminal, but that broadly written statutes can give police and prosecutors too much discretion and lead to something not intended as a threat to be treated as such.
Of the eight defendants charged by Ingham County prosecutors since 2014, two have pleaded guilty and two have had the cases dismissed after a judge ruled the threats, which were made on Facebook in the wake of two fatal shootings involving police officers in Eaton County, were protected as free speech. The others are awaiting trial or a hearing to determine if the case can proceed.
Lansing man charged with making false terrorist threat on Facebook
Andrew Rockafellow, who represented one of the Lansing men whose case was dismissed, said while the statute was intended to address threats many would deem as terrorism, it's been used to punish speech critical of police and might be used more than the Legislature intended.
While he doesn't condone people threatening police, he said, there's a difference between voicing frustration with law enforcement practices — as was the case with his client — and inciting violence or interfering with government functions.
Palomo, the Lansing man police said threatened to take a bomb to the Capitol, is also charged with making a false report or threat of a bomb or harmful device. Because of his habitual offender status, he faces up to life in prison if convicted. Court records don't list an attorney for him.
Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter@MattMencarini.