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Using one of these can land you in jail

(Drippic.com)

Chances are you've used emojis, those nauseatingly sweet picture characters that are common on social media or message apps. But you should also know that using them in the wrong context could get you thrown in jail, which is another sign that the apocalypse is coming.

These one-character symbols have figured in six court cases in the last two months, because law enforcement folks now believe a smiley face (or a gun, or any symbol) can project criminal intent or clarify context.

The most recent case was in Brooklyn, where a juvenile with a criminal record juxtaposed a hostile message about his fondness for gun violence with emojis of a cop and guns on his Facebook page. He was arrested for this because the emojis he used represented "a terrorist threat," before the grand jury dumped the case last week.

The inimitable Patrick Lynch, PBA president for New York cops, said the grand jury missed an opportunity to prosecute "the fanatical and unhinged." This was just a few months after another grand jury didn't indict a cop for choking Eric Garner to death - all of it on videotape - which Lynch said was an example of justice being served.

The law around emojis is still unclear, but there's something unnerving about any zero-tolerance policies. Sometimes we must be alert to nuance, but we're talking about a cartoon depiction, and this overreaction is not unlike a school suspending a 7-year old who draws a stick-figure gun. Somehow, emoji users aren't as threatening as those open-carry patriots who intimidate state legislators in Texas. Those guys use real guns, and get away with it.

But here in the land of the free and home of the brave, it would appear that "free" is still subject to conditions that change at the whims of law enforcement.



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