[Update- 5/30/12] Finally a little clarification from those more familiar with legal issues and what went on yesterday which led to the arrest of Aaron Walker because of a "technologically illiterate" Maryland judge who violated Mr. Walker's First Amendment rights.
David Hogberg at IBD and Patterico's Pontifications both have excellent analysis, explaining what happened yesterday.
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Original post below-
(Headline changed to reflect The Blaze's report)
McCain- UPDATE 6:25 p.m. ET: Sources say that blogger Aaron Walker has been released from custody in Rockville, Maryland. He was charged with “incitement,” but released on his own recognizance. Readers are encouraged to donate to the National Bloggers Club to help support Aaron’s defense against Brett Kimberlin.
Updated thought- Blogging the facts about a convicted terrorist and his harassment of bloggers is now considered incitement? Bad precedent and no question this will be appealed and overturned when a judge who actually understands what blogging and social media actually is.
[Update] The Blaze spoke to a clerk at the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County who confirmed that Aaron Walker was in fact arrested following his hearing with Brett Kimberlin. He was arrested on second degree assault charges that were filed by Kimberlin when Walker, following a separate court hearing, took and held at bay Kimberlin’s iPad.
(Note- The Blaze said clerk was wrong and offers a correction- "The clerk’s account turned out to be incorrect, however, as the incitement charge indicates.")
If this was meant to intimidate bloggers from talking about Kimberlin... FAIL.
From a previous post, I repeat- ABC News, where are you? CBS News, where are you? NBC, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, Fox..... where the hell are you guys?
Wake up America wrote about it here, here and participated in Friday's blogburst here.
In a travesty of justice, conservative blogger Aaron Worthing, who was one of many who Kimberlin has attempted to silence by filing lawsuit after lawsuit, over 100 of them, against people that wrote about his conviction and history, was arrested for "violating a peace order" by writing about Kimberlin.
Michelle Malkin's Twitchy has the story.
Malkin: In the meantime, read about what you can do to support those who have been targeted by Brett Kimberlin and to fight back against intimidation.
Robert Stacy McCain, still reporting from an undisclosed location after having to leave his home after feeling threatened by Kimberlin is updating his report on thie as the day goes on, so keep checking there. McCain urges readers to " please see my column today at The American Spectator, to catch up on the whole situation.
Reactions are starting to com in over at Memeorandum:
So far The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit, Nice Deb, The Spectacle Blog, Dedicated Tenther, Bob Owens, Wake up America, Truth Before Dishonor, Popehat, The Mahablog, PJ Media, Capitalist Preservation, The PJ Tatler, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, WorldNetDaily, FilmLadd Blogs, That Mr. G Guy's Blog and Instapundit
Twitchy thread now: Michelle Malkin, American Spectator, Allergic to Bull, Truth Before Dishonor and The Daley Gator
(List above and Memeorandum link being updated also as more reactions come out.)
SooperMexican was in the court room and offers a summary of what happened.
Twitter hashtags #IStandwithAaronWalker, #BrettKimberlin, #speedwaybomber
Reactions being added throughout the day as well.
Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at The Jawa Report says "I certainly hope something else is going on here. That Aaron Walker did something outrageous at the hearing that merited some jail time. Because if his only "crime" is one of writing about a domestic terrorist with an affinity for filing lawsuit after lawsuit, then I'm afraid that the Brave New World we are living in is not one I feel particularly safe in."
Perhaps now the mainstream media will deign to do their jobs and research and report on Kimberlin. (Google News search- Nope, not yet)
[Update] Via Twitchy updates- linked above:
The Aaron Walker arrest is a violation of his first amendment rights. He isn't accused of making death threats himself against Kimberlin.
— Lee Stranahan (@Stranahan) May 29, 2012
Update from McCain- linked above:
UPDATE IV: Just spoke to a source who confirms that witnesses saw Walker led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Ali Akbar, president of the National Bloggers Club, Tweets:
The National Bloggers Club has created KimberlinFiles.org to help call attention to the case and to enable “supporters to make financial donations to a relief fund as a show of support.”
– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown
Bob Owens- linked above:
Judge Vaughey’s order makes the finding:
A.1. That there is clear and convincing evidence that within 30 days before the filing of the Petition, the Respondent committed the following act(s):Placed Person Eligible for releif in fear of imminent serious bodily harm: COUNTLESS NUMBER OF BLOGS EITHER THREATENING DEATH2. That there is clear and convincing evidence that Respondent is likely to commit a prohibited act in the future against the Petitioner.I’m quite convinced that the senior citizen judge is hopelessly confused about what blogs are, as Walker has never posted anything to his blog that I’ve found that could be remotely construed as a death threat.
At the very most, blog commenters– and perhaps on a different blogs apart from Walker’s if the judge’s incomplete sentence fragment makes any sense at all–may have made comments, but the law is clear: you cannot be held responsible for comments made by others.
To a layman this is an absurd ruling, and I hope that Walker appeals this peace order and gets a judge under the age of 70 who knows what the Hell the relevant case law is.
That Mr. G Guy- linked above:
Kimberlin is going to be much bolder now that he has this small victory under his belt. He just needs to remember that a small victory doesn’t mean he’s won the war…and believe me, it’s war and it’s on now.Yes, it is.
Thoughts and Rantings sums it up nicely in just three words "This is nuts".
Excellent piece on the legal issues at OpenMarget.org.
Media reporting- Examiner. Silence from other media outlets.