OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — An investigation is underway into threats made on social media against public employees in Ottawa County.
13 ON YOUR SIDE found at least four videos that originated from TikTok. This person, whose name we're not releasing at this time, is seemingly upset at multiple groups and people in Ottawa County.
In one video, she says:
"I support executing of all Ottawa County Staff. Not just commissioners, but all police. Not just Sheriff Kempker and (Undersheriff) Valerie Weiss, but all officers, all commissioners, all public school teachers. Execute them all."
In another video she says:
"To all of you Ottawa County *****heads who have been laughing about the death penalty, it won't be funny when you're hanging from a streetlight."
Along with mentioning Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Kempker and Undersheriff Valerie Weiss by name, in another video she uses expletives directed at Hudsonville Public Schools workers.
We reached out to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office and Captain Jake Sparks responded to us saying in part quote:
"We are aware of the recent posts/videos. We are investigating this and our Crisis Intervention Team is working on this for any mental health concerns."
He continued to say that the department wouldn't comment any further on the case, but added that they'll have the report reviewed by the Prosecuting Attorney's Office once completed.
As for the threatening statements, we reached out to a constitutional law expert to see if her speech is protected under the first amendment.
Constitutional law professor Devin Schindler said while people have the right to express themselves, there is a point when threatening speech is against the law.
"Context matters," said Schindler. "Because when you ask would a reasonable individual find this particular speech threatening, the second standard that the government has to prove, context matters. You know, a face to face communication, or someone's screaming at you, a reasonable person would likely find that to be more objectionable than, you know, an email where the person's 100 miles away, all that needs to be considered by the jury, we have to look at the speech in context."
There's also the issue, Schindler adds, of "true threats".
"One of these forms speech which falls outside of the First Amendment is known as true threats," said Schindler. "Communications to third parties that are threatening in essence that are threatening bodily harm or injury. The courts have long recognized that true threats are not a form of protected speech, and therefore, you can be prosecuted under a proper statute for engaging in this kind of speech."
We also did reach out to the person we believe is speaking in the videos on two different social media accounts, as of right now we have not heard back.
Our request for a comment from County Administer John Gibbs, also went unanswered.
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