The League of Legends player released yesterday after four months in jail for making a "terrorist threat" during a Facebook argument, has appeared on TV news to warn people to take care what they say online.
Speaking on CNN, Justin Carter said that he is "elated" to be out of jail, following an anonymous donation which allowed his family to post his $500,000 bail. His mother Jennifer Carter also appeared in the interview to say there had been "a lot of hugs and crying," within the family since his release.
In February, Carter had responded to a Facebook chat taunt that he was "crazy," by threatening to attack and murder children. "I'm f-ed in the head alright," Carter wrote at the time. "I think I'ma shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent rain down and eat the beating heart of one of them." Carter and his lawyers point to the context of the conversation to argue that the remark was a bad joke, not a threat.
In the TV interview, Carter's lawyer Donald Flanary said that he would be filing a motion to dismiss the charges on First Amendment grounds. "It's outrageous that someone can say something inappropriate, but not criminal, and gets charged with a crime," he argued. "The things he said were clearly sarcastic."
"Right now I am taking it one step at a time," said Carter. "It's been so much to take in all at once after being deprived of so much. I'm just really elated to be out."
When asked if he had reflected on his actions, Carter replied that he "certainly would have thought a lot more about what I said and how permanent my writing, and everyone's writing is."
"I just want to make it clear that people should be very careful about what they say. It's being recorded all the time if you say it on any website," he added. "You can get in trouble for something that's not something you should get in trouble for. I just want people to be warned."