The MSU Bathroom Stall Glamour Terrorist

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Big Terror Comes in Pretty, Small Packages?

Michigan State University solidified its standings among elite athletic programs over this last weekend, by having their men's basketball team improve to 6-0 on Friday and their football troupe trouncing a talented Penn State gridiron squad by a score of 55-16 on Saturday to move both MSU teams up  further into the top five of the nation.  It overshadowed what occurred in the university's School of Packaging, in a woman's rest room, inside a bathroom stall, earlier this week. 

Inside that stall, a cryptic message was reportedly inscribed on the stall's wall by a packaging major named Sydney Gort (pictured left), which authorities have deemed represented a terrorist threat.  The police would not make a specific statement as to what this threat was, nor did the mainstream media of the area dig any further into it in their reportage such as at the  Detroit Free Press, The Lansing State Journal,  FOX 17, WOOD TV, WILX and WXYZ TV.  To their credit, WXYZ did include what the threat alleged said in their telecast, and offered their confusion as to what had developed.

The rest inform us that Sydney Gort, originally from Farmington Hills, was arraigned Thursday after a Wednesday arrest and charged with two counts of making a terrorist threat, one of which relates to the written threat discovered Tuesday evening inside the MSU School of Packaging building. The second count relates to a terrorist threat made on campus in April of which no details have been disclosed.

Each count of making a terrorist threat is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.  Gort was remanded to Ingham County Jail and her bond was set at $250,000 by Ingham County District Judge Thomas Boyd.

It's not too surprising that the source with the most information was the university newspaper, The State News .  It tells a little more about Sydney and tells us the message which was scribbled on what appears to be a public bathroom stall:

 "Tmrw, as ordered, we will be administering the 1st act of terrorism on this campus, in this building as chosen by random striking of every third girl seen. We have no choice in this matter #PrayMSU."

This apparently is what the police and university are describing as the threat which is "specific and directed toward (the packaging) building."  Let's explore the law and the individual involved.

What exactly is a terrorist threat?

The articles cite the punishments for terrorist threats, but what makes a threat a terroristic one.  A law passed months after the World Trade Center bombing in 2001 in Michigan explains what does:

MCL 750.543m is the authority for the 20 year offense, which says you are guilty of the crime if you threaten to commit an act of terrorism and communicate the threat to any other person.  Ms. Gort is not charged with making a false report.  Because of the seriousness of the punishment and the inability of a defendant to proclaim as a defense that they neither had the capability or intent to carry out their crime, is Sydney guaranteed a 40 year sentence for her ill-advised writings?

Probably not.  If Sydney Gort wisely invoked her Miranda Rights and didn't incriminate herself further than saying that it was her that was guilty of the potty graffiti, the prosecutor of the case has a major obstacle securing a conviction on this felony here. 

Nolo Criminal defense lawyer notes that making such a threat is a crime in every state, but with different parameters and penalties.  Four elements are generally considered:  threat, specificity, reasonability, and terror.  Even absent any intent or capability by Sydney Gort to carry out random striking by herself, these elements would be hard to show by using just the words on the wall.

There is specificity in many places of her script, yet there is a lot of generality.  It refers to a 'we' with no antecedent twice.  According to the original article about the arrest of a suspect in the Lansing State Journal, the authorities quickly determined the need for additional security measures on Wednesday were unwarranted after Gort was arrested.  If the potential of multiple people were involved would they have suspended this, or did they realize after Sydney's arrest that there was no substance in the 'threat'?

The threat inherent in the writing was that "random striking of every third girl seen" would take place" and self describes it as their first act of terrorism on campus.   Striking may refer to a violent act, but how would one 'randomly strike'?  You are not striking girls at random, because it specifies every third one is to be struck.  Perhaps she uses the word in a different way?

The act of striking itself is not necessarily violent when you look at the variety of ways "strike" can be used.  She may have been striking those who entered off a list, for instance, or just lightly touching them.

The concept of 'terrorism' in today's college campus is highly subjective.  Most liberal universities will commonly refer to conservatives as terrorists, and vice versa, Vegans may think the same of cattle farmers, the list is endless.  Few of those groups would however classify their own actions as being an act of terrorism if done for their cause, because it usually isn't, and when it does cross the line, they won't generally admit it.

We also notice that the comment is succeeded by #prayMSU, a typical reference to a theme used in certain social media like Twitter, Youtube. etc.  As of today, I could not locate any hashtag with that appendage after a diligent search of common social media.  It's unknown whether it has been taken down by authorities or just never existed in the first place. 

The prayMSU signifies a possible religious connection; perhaps Sydney Gort was looking to strike every third girl that entered the school of packaging with the word of God, as part of a dedication to her church and/or religion.  To some of our professors in academia, practicing Christianity is synonymous with terrorism, so those active in a ministry might see themselves as 'igniting a Christ-fuse' in any area heavy in secular progressive thinking, like a college campus.

Lastly, let us not forget that this was written in a toilet stall's wall in a woman's restroom in the School of Packaging with unspecified dates and no threat of actual violence.  This was put in an area that would be seen by a handful of women, if anybody-- precisely, those women taking Packaging courses at MSU who actually would use the same stall she did.  It may have been the case that she was pranking someone who she knew would use that bathroom, or in the midst of some odd game with her fellow female Packaging majors. 

How can you inspire terror and lay down a good threat when nobody sees your vaguely-worded 'threat'?  Internet chat rooms for sports and other college interests have a lot worse threats to individuals and society on their pages everyday.  Fortunately, our police overlook those acts which generally are forms of protected free speech.

I find any prosecution of Sydney Gort being unsuccessful because of the lack of a reasonable and genuine threat, the lack of any specific annunciation of serious injury or property damage, and the absence of the terror element.   Working against her is a system that is prone to have zero tolerance for potential terrorist incidences and for a mistake in judgment made by a young girl who never thought her bathroom graffito would be taken as it is.

The Face of Terrorism

Like most modern day college students, Sydney Gort maintains a Facebook presence.  She started posting in 2008, and has what may be seen as a typical American girl's page.  As such, she has a rant and rave now and then, but her posts are mostly upbeat and describing her life, and her friends lists looks a lot like a "Who's Who" directory.  She has recently been in a relationship with what looks like a handsome All-American boy.

She comes from Farmington Hills.  Farmington Hills consistently ranks as one of the safest cities in the USA for cities with a population over 50,000.  It's the 30th safest, and the 36th wealthiest city in the USA with over 50,000 people.  Until this last week, there has been no link between Farmington Hills and terrorism.   

Has she been in trouble with the law in the past?  This is unlikely since the police would have pointed to her past behavior to better explain why they arrested her for two felonies that could put her behind bars for 40 years. 

The similar incident earlier this year she is now being charged with is probably equally as specious, in that the authorities have tried to suppress that information to the general public as well.  Nothing in her web presence indicates anything politically motivates her, or that she was anything other than happy to be at MSU and in the Packaging School. 

Considering that no new, hard evidence has surfaced after her having been arrested and arraigned five days ago, why are we wasting time criminalizing this?  Fine her for defacing the stall, explain clearly to her why what she did could be construed by some to be threatening, and let her go back to enjoying her life and furthering her education. 

If there's nothing more to it than what has been given us, just consider what could happen to you, or someone you love, who writes, texts, or says something that someone else could construe or misconstrue as a terroristic threat.  How would you like to be arrested, jailed, given an amazingly high bond, have your name besmirched throughout the media, have the favorable and/or exculpatory evidence suppressed, and have your career ruined by a state that will stop at nothing to declare you a terrorist threat? 

With the arrest of popular and otherwise law-abiding Sydney Gort, now-former Michigan State University packaging major, we see the future of all who fail to follow the directives of a power-hungry state, who despite their rhetoric, are not interested in your safety, but in more control over your life, your thoughts, and your property. 

[Willy]

It's amazing how ignorant college students can be but this is what they are taught and what they hear and see in liberal media. If they don't wake up and soon we're all going to be in deep sh_t because they are the future leaders. Since they have gained control of the Government, the hippy liberal baby boomers have shown just how fast a free society can be changed and brought down. I'm afraid their children and grandchildren seem to be cut from the same cloth.

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Here is an embeddable video that was put out roughly a week ago.  There has been no official update on the status of Ms. Sydney Gort.  Unfortunately, people expect USSR special police tactics nowadays whenever the word 'terrorist' is invoked.

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Court update:  Sydney Gort went to court on Friday, where more of the case against her was learned and her bond was reduced from $250,000 to $100,000.  According to the prosecutor:

“In April, Ms. Gort reported to the MSU police, [well] called 911 to report a bomb threat that was also on a bathroom stall in the very same building that said “I will blow this place up..tick tock,” Church said. “Interestingly she had exams in that building on both of those days when those complaints were made.”

In looking through the four media outlets covering this, none claimed that Ms. Gort made any indication that she had authored either bathroom message or any forensic evidence to make that conclusion, just the compelling circumstantial evidence that included an odd motive.  Likewise, the prosecutor insinuates that she was having exams that day in April, but this link 2015 MSU exam schedule shows the exams happened in May.  Likewise, the only fall 2015 exams for MSU I've seen take place in December. 

Be prepared to see Ms. Gort have a good civil case against the MSU police and the prosecutor when this nonsense gets over with.

http://wivb.com/2015/12/04/student-charged-with-terrorist-threats-a...

http://wlns.com/2015/12/04/msu-student-charged-with-terrorist-threa...

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The Detroit Free Press is reporting that:  "She (Sydney Gort) ultimately confessed the day before Thanksgiving to writing the latest threat inside the bathroom in November after being interviewed twice by MSU Police detectives and the FBI."

Allegedly, Gort told investigators stress factored into her decision, which she said was a lapse in judgment. She also told officials she didn’t intend to carry out the threat.

This is a classic example for those who find themselves as a suspect in a criminal investigation, innocent or not, to invoke your Miranda Rights and then shut up until you get a competent defense attorney.  Police and FBI detectives are trained in getting confessions and don't care whether they get one from someone who is actually innocent by using aggressive tactics. 

Let's not forget, the FBI and MSU 5-0 considered this a terrorist threat and interrogated accordingly.  The lack of a signed confession by Sydney to either incident has me dubious of any admission the police may report.  This is a typical prosecution tactic to taint the jury pool using the media.

[Willy]

I must retract my assessment of her when I said "she definitely seems to be intelligent." I heard on the news tonight that the reason she was under suspicion to begin with was that she was the person who reported both of the threats. Can't get much dumber than that.

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If she is guilty of writing the threats on the same bathroom wall, then she is a total idiot for reporting both instances.   Her academia and friends/family (some of which I have contacted) assure me that she is not a total idiot or of a mind to do such things.  Ergo, it seems very unlikely to me that she perpetrated the threats, and I will leave the prosecution to show me otherwise with strict proofs, not bells and whistles.

What does seem to be the case is that our strategy in the fight against terrorism is flawed.  Current dogma from the DHS tells us "if you see something say something".  But once you report something suspicious, look at who becomes the prime suspect:  You.  When Sydney reported the first message, she not only became a suspect for that, she became a suspect for a similar crime happening off campus too.  But maybe she was just reporting what she saw as any 'good citizen' is supposed to do in DHS's perfect society. 

Likewise, if you remember the Texas Muslim boy that brought a homemade 'clock' to school, people saw and said something, but now those same people are being investigated by the Justice Department and threatened with multimillion dollar lawsuits for getting involved in a very suspicious situation.