Massacre postings on Facebook have New Braunfels man locked up

Justin R. Carter says his Facebook comments about shooting kindergarteners were “terrible, mean and downright stupid.” (Courtesy photo) Justin R. Carter says his Facebook comments about shooting kindergarteners were “terrible, mean and downright stupid.” (Courtesy photo) Photo: Comal County Sheriff's Office Photo: Comal County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Massacre postings on Facebook have New Braunfels man locked up 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEW BRAUNFELS — Justin R. Carter has come to understand during nearly 100 days behind bars just how unfunny some consider Facebook posts about shooting kindergartners.

“What I said was terrible, mean and downright stupid,” Carter, 19, told state District Judge Jack Robison in a jailhouse letter concerning the terroristic threat charge he faces.

“The misunderstanding was that I wasn't trying to scare anyone, I was trying to be witty and sarcastic,” the local man said of his Feb. 13 post. “I failed and I was arrested.”

Defense attorney Donald Flanary III applauded New Braunfels police for investigating Carter's menacing remarks, but says they overreacted by filing a criminal complaint March 20.

“Teens these days trash-talk in their Internet gaming communities. He wasn't threatening any individuals. The context of the comment is sarcastic,” said Flanary, who specializes in free speech cases and volunteered Monday to represent Carter for free.

“Speech is protected by the First Amendment and he didn't commit a crime,” Flanary said Tuesday.

Carter, who worked at a San Antonio drapery firm, was indicted in April by a Comal County grand jury on the third-degree felony.

The indictment cites the alleged threat by Carter “to shoot up a kindergarten, watch the blood rain down and eat the beating heart out of one of them.”

District Attorney Jennifer Tharp declined to comment on the case because it's pending.

The spate of deadly school shootings nationwide in recent years factored into the decision to charge Carter, New Braunfels Police Lt. John Wells said.

“We take any threats of that nature seriously,” Wells said. “We don't know if they're going to carry it out or not. It's the job of the courts to decide whether to indict and to determine someone's guilt or innocence. Our job is to obtain the evidence and submit a complaint.”

He said local prosecutors were consulted about charging Carter. His next court date is set for July 16.

The young man's mother, Jennifer Carter, has been active in getting national and international attention focused on her son's case, recently saying on the British Broadcasting Corp. that she feared for her son's safety while he's locked away with criminals.

She has said that her son's comments were braggadocio meant to impress fellow online gamers with whom he was playing. Her efforts include seeking signatures for an online petition.

His original court-appointed lawyer, Ivan Friedman, on Tuesday called the state's case “very weak.”

“They can't prove intent,” said Friedman, who has filed motions seeking a bond reduction and the suppression of Carter's statements to investigators.

A search warrant return on Carter's residence shows police seized computer equipment there March 13 but no weapons.

Expressing doubt that such online postings would be pursued by authorities elsewhere, Friedman said the seriousness with which Comal County authorities regard the matter is apparent from Robison's decision in April to double Carter's initial bail, to $500,000.

The undated, handwritten letter, addressed, “Dear Mr. Robinson,” got the judge's name wrong. It was filed in the court record May 28.

In it, Carter said the fatal shootings of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 were fresh on his mind when he invoked the slaughter of kindergartners “during a particular heated part of the argument” on Facebook.

“I was a smartass, sarcastic, a regular keyboard warrior, and I was dumb,” Carter wrote, noting he'd gone online after work to “vent, play, laugh and relieve stress.”

He says that while he's been jailed, he's been exposed to violence and threats but he also has “started losing weight” and found God, he wrote the judge.

“I've learned a lot about the path I was on and I've taken steps to change it,” Carter wrote.

zeke@express-news.net