Woman charged with threatening police has legal degree

Julie Wolfe and Duffie Dixon | WXIA-TV, Atlanta

Show Caption Hide Caption Woman who threatened to kill white cops has legal degree A judge froze the social media accounts of the woman who threatened to kill white police officers in a Facebook post. Ebony Monique Dickens, who has a masters degree in legal services, also said she planned to "kill at least 15" officers.

EAST POINT, Ga. — The woman accused of threatening to kill white police officers in a post on social media holds an advanced degree in law studies.

Ebony Monique Dickens, 33, was arrested and charged with dissemination of information to facilitate terroristic threats after a Facebook post she made, under the name Tiffany Milan, indicating that white police officers should be killed.

The threat included a call to action and specifics about her plan to "kill at least fifteen tomorrow" and "I can pull it off."

In court Wednesday, City Solicitor Antavious Weemes said Dickens should have known better since she had a criminology degree. Her public defender, Tracey Moran, corrected the judge saying Dickens had a master's degree in "legal services."

That legal knowledge played out in her online threat:

Freedom of speech tho. So when you can absolutely show me in the 1st amendment where it explicitly says you can't say 'kill all cops', then I'll delete my status. Other than that.... NOPE!

The judge disagreed with Dickens' First Amendment argument, setting bond at $10,000. The judge also banned her from all social media activity — insisting that a condition of her bond required her to freeze all social media accounts.

Dickens was released after posting the bond Thursday morning.

"My client was simply venting ... it was a horrible mistake," said Moran. "The chance of her doing this again is highly improbable."

When police searched Dickens' East Point, Ga., home, they confiscated three computers and a loaded gun.

"If you're feeling this thought and have access to a firearm, potentially you could decide to execute threats that you're speaking of," said Lt. Cliff Chandler with the East Point Police Department.

The case has sparked a legal debate between First Amendment rights to free speech and words used on social media that could be used to incite violence.

"She's walking a really, really fine line," said Derek Gage, a lawyer. "I tend to think she stepped over it with words like 'now.' ... Those words tend to suggest imminent lawless action. And she clearly recognizes that powder keg situation that does exist, not just in Baltimore, but around the country."

Dickens' Facebook post came amid rising tensions across the country surrounding black men being killed by white police officers, including the death of Freddie Gray who suffered a severe spinal injury and died while in police custody.

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the argument of social media threats from a Pennsylvania case where a man posted threatening messages about his wife on Facebook. The man's attorney argued that his client was upset and had no intention to harm anyone. Lower courts convicted the man, saying it was enough his wife felt threatened.

A decision from the Supreme Court is expected in June.