Jose Ortiz called his neighbor of Turkish descent a “terrorist.” Jose Ortiz may be a lout. Jose Ortiz may be a creep. Jose Ortiz may be obnoxious. Jose Ortiz may even be a racist, bigoted “Islamophobe.” But to arrest him for calling his neighbor an unkind name? That’s illegal now? Can I get Ibrahim Hooper of Hamas-linked CAIR arrested for calling me a hatemonger? Can I get the hard-Left propaganda group known as the Southern Poverty Law Center arrested for saying I’m a hate group leader? Or are only certain kinds of false charges and unkind names arrest-worthy?
If this is the full story of what Jose Ortiz did, then there is no way that it is an offense worthy of arrest — and the fact that he was arrested is another indication of how seriously the freedom of speech is challenged in the U.S. today.
“Man charged after calling neighbor a ‘terrorist,'” WCVB, July 15, 2015:
LUDLOW, Mass. —Police arrested a western Massachusetts man on civil rights and other charges after they say he called his neighbor who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent a “terrorist.”
Police Sgt. Daniel Valadas tells The Republican that 52-year-old Jose Ortiz, of Ludlow, called the man of Turkish descent a terrorist several times while he was out last week with his daughters.
He says Ortiz barricaded himself in his girlfriend’s house until she let police in to subdue him.
Police arrested Ortiz on July 7. He was charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, obstruction of justice, interfering with a person’s civil rights and resisting arrest….