The MSU Bathroom Stall Glamour Terrorist

[XLFD]

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]

I wonder How they knew it was her that wrote the message? If she actually did write it then she's is just plain stupid because she's the one who used the word terrorism which elevated this simple act of messaging to the highest level of criminal behavior. I personally think this over zealous paranoia and stifling laws created after 911 will be one of our worst nightmares when the Government truly turns on the people. Even though this may be a prank I'm sure the authorities want to send a message that this type of pranking won't be tolerated. This is going to cost her dearly in lawyer fees, loss of reputation and her freedom.

[Willy]

Jacob, do you have any links which shows she has done this before?

[Willy]

It looks like she is/was trying to get attention. Why else would she pen this message and then post it to warn others as though she had found something that others may have written. She might be doing this so she can be the hero who warned everyone of a potential danger. On her Facebook page she doesn't admit to scribbling the message. she just acts like a concerned citizen. If she did do this then in my opinion she definitely has some mental health issues. Then again she may have found the message as she stated and was sending out a warning. She could be innocent of all charges. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[XLFD]

I've been under the weather today and catching up with sleep and other mindless pursuits, so what did I miss with Jacob?  I did notice the Facebook access to Sydney Gort is now unavailable.

The way the original message is penned leaves it rather ambiguous, that's why if she doesn't have terrorist leanings, I hope she was smart enough not to say anything to the police--- or at least anything that could be taken as an admission of guilt to a terrorist threat if there wasn't one.

[Willy]

Yes, her Facebook page is not accessible but Jacob, whoever he/she is, posted a link to a picture on Gort's  Facebook page of the bathroom stall wall. Above the photo Gort typed a message in which she apparently was trying to inform people of a possible threat. From what I read it appears that she was just trying to help and was concerned with the safety of others. Jacob also claims Gort did some sort of threat type incident like this when she was in high school, so I asked for any links to that information. I found Gort's myspace page link but it appears to be empty, however, I don't know if someone needs to sign in to see it. She also seems to be an excellent student. She won an award along with her other "team" members in a packaging competition at MSU. She was also a biomedical undergraduate student at Grand Valley State so she definitely seems to be intelligent.

[XLFD]

Thanks for that information, Willy, my records show that Jacob formally joined and then formally left the LT yesterday, and unfortunately I can't retrieve the post.  The body of the post provided by the State News does seem to be part of a warning rather than a threat.  If Jacob or anybody else wants to repost that, I'd appreciate it, as I think Ms. Gort is getting a raw deal by the police and mainstream media-- go figure.

Assuming she is still the responsible and socially adjusted young lady I have seen in her Facebook feed and in those other areas you posted, I see a similarity between this and the 1996 Olympic village bombing.  Originally, security officer Richard Jewell found a bomb and cleared the area and saved lives, minutes before the actual bomber (Eric Rudolf) called with a bomb threat.  Early on, Jewell was lauded as a hero, but then news was leaked from the investigators that he was considered a suspect and a person of interest in the case, and he was summarily tried in a media circus court all due to the incomplete information that the investigators made available.  

In cases of a terrorist threat or act, it may be wise to restrict some of the information from the public at large, but I don't see a rationale for that here, and the investigators have not explicitly or implicity provided us with any.

[ss81]

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12311031...

If you were to open this link, you would see what Sydney had posted on her wall to everyone to see. Had she reported her own act of terrorism? Or had she been using the bathroom and notifies the police as everyone in thier right mind would do. She even stated "Stay Safe Spartans". Not a very menacing comment to say the least. They have no information that it was her that wrote the message. She is an innocent girl getting her life ruined by the law system going off their own assumptions. I believe poor Sydney should be freed back to her family and friends. 

[XLFD]

[XLFD]

Thanks ks81.  The mystery deepens.  May her family and friends know that there are people looking to get the truth out about what happened.

[ss81]

Her friends including me know the real truth. This girl would never hurt anything. 

[Willy]

ss81, if you know her then you may know why she is being accused of this crime. The FBI must have something that points to her as a suspect. Something doesn't add up here.

[XLFD]

I don't know the psyche of Sydney Gort, but on her seven years of Facebook posts, I've never seen anybody as apolitical and non-controversial than her.  I do know that there is a skewed version of reality that often plays at universities nowadays, such as this recent experiment at Berkeley where a guy starts out waving an ISIS flag and saying pro-terrorist words... it doesn't raise any eyebrows.  He starts waving an Israel flag and says that Hamas is a terrorist group, he gets some venom:

At MSU, a junior packaging major points out the writing on the wall that she notices is a threat, snaps a pic and puts it up on Facebook and is up for forty years incarceration for being the author of that and another one made over a half year ago.  The public deserves to know more answers, because it doesn't add up at all.