Autistic boy charged with terrorism for a drawing

The details are still sketchy, but an autistic 14 year old Georgia boy is facing terror charges and a tribunal for a drawing that he made. The sketch is a stick figure drawing that shows himself shooting one of his teachers.

I am not going to defend this boy for the picture that he drew, he obviously has mental problem on top of his autism, but charging this boy– who has the mental capacity of a 3rd grader– with terrorism in front of a tribunal seems to be going just a little bit too far to me. This boy has no idea what he did wrong– that is a problem in itself and the boy needs help, but let’s get real here. This boy may have problems, and action must be taken to ensure that he never acts upon what he drew, and he probably needs therapy, Does that make him a terrorist who should be subjected to a tribunal?

I do find it telling however that this boy will face a tribunal while terrorists who are being held at GITMO are going to get full legal rights under the United States constitution and will not be faced with the prospects of a military tribunal. It make you wonder what the hell is going on in our government.