Mark Feigin, a 41-year-old California man, has officially had misdemeanor charges filed against him by the state of California for five anti-Islam posts he made to the Islamic Center of Southern California’s (ICSC) Facebook page in 2016.
Per Project Republic:
The California Attorney General’s office argues that his comments compounded “repeated contact by means of an electronic communication device” with “intent to annoy or harass,” a misdemeanor under California law, Reason.com reported Friday. California courts are scheduled to begin the trial Jan. 2, according to court records. Feigin admitted in October 2016 that he wrote the following comments between Sept. 17 and 25 of the same year.
- “THE TERROR HIKE … SOUNDS LIKE FUN” (In reference to the Center’s advertised “Sunset Hike”)
- “THE MORE MUSLIMS WE ALLOW INTO AMERICA THE MORE TERROR WE WILL SEE.”
- “PRACTICING ISLAM CAN SLOW OR EVEN REVERSE THE PROCESS OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.”
- “Islam is dangerous – fact: the more muslim savages we allow into america – the more terror we will see -this is a fact which is undeniable.”
- “Filthy muslim shit has no place in western civilization.”
Feigin was blocked soon after the posts were made, but the ICSC Communications Coordinator made sure to keep copies of the comments in order to pursue legal actions. On October 19, LAPD arrested Feigin and interviewed him. He is now making a case for the charges to be dropped based on them being an unconstitutional application of the law.
Cal. Penal Code § 653m(b) states that “every person who, with intent to annoy or harass, makes repeated telephone calls or makes repeated contact by means of an electronic communication device … to another person is … guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing in this subdivision shall apply to telephone calls or electronic contacts made in good faith or during the ordinary course and scope of business.”
The Attorney General's office is making the case that the comments Feigin made were no different than a phone call in this instance with his main goal being to "annoy or harass," making these illegal actions.
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