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Florida man who sent threatening email arrested

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Florida man who sent threatening email arrested
jannah
03/06/03 at 14:21:35
slm,

We were discussing how the internet has changed how people behave in the Hikmah Pond. I guess it also let's people do things they probably wouldn't do in real life:



FLORIDA MAN WHO SENT THREATENING E-MAIL ARRESTED
Threat came following incident involving Muslim med students

(MIAMI, FLORIDA, 3/6/2003) - Florida's office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today expressed appreciation to law
enforcement authorities following the arrest of a man who allegedly sent a
threatening e-mail to a hospital that accepted three Muslim medical
students involved in a false terror scare.

Tommy Ethridge (also known as William Ethridge Jr.), 52, is charged with
one felony count of making a written threat to kill or do bodily injury in
an e-mail from his home in Georgia to Miami's Larkin Community Hospital.
The threatening e-mail, headlined "Liar and Traitor" and signed "A True
Patriot," stated:

"I would hate to see your hospital have a terrorist event. A word to the
wise is to BEWARE. Terrorists come from all walks of life. What price do
you place on your life? It would be a shame for something to happen to you
and yours."

That message was among more than 2,000 received by the hospital following
the incident in September 2002, in which three Muslim medical students
traveling to study at Larkin Community Hospital were wrongly accused of
threatening a terrorist attack.

The students were stopped based on a tip from a Georgia woman who said she
overheard a conversation in which they made threatening remarks. All three
say they made no such remarks and that the woman may have been reacting to
their Middle Eastern or Muslim appearance. No charges were filed in the case.

SEE: "MED STUDENT INVOLVED IN TERROR SCARE SAYS IT WAS ALL A MISTAKE"
http://www.cair-florida.org/ViewArticle.asp?Code=CM&ArticleID=48

Following that incident, the hospital came under pressure to expel the
students. During a September 17, 2002, news conference, CAIR-FL called for
an investigation of the many threatening messages sent to hospital officials.

"The Florida Department of Law Enforcement deserves our appreciation for
bringing the alleged perpetrator to justice," said CAIR-FL Communications
Director Ahmed Bedier.

"This arrest sends a powerful signal that while everyone has the right to
express their opinions, no one has the right to threaten or intimidate
others," said CAIR-FL Executive Director Altaf Ali.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is
America's largest Islamic civil liberties group. It is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has 15 regional offices nationwide and in Canada.
Since its founding in 1994, CAIR has defended the civil and religious
rights of all Americans.


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