UPDATE, June 5, 2008: Brahm Sentenced
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UPDATE, February 28, 2008: Brahm Pleads Guilty
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Paper or plastic?
As if getting arrested for posting bogus threats on the Internet isn't bad enough, now there's more disgrace for 20-year-old Wauwatosa man Jake Brahm, courtesy of The Smoking Gun.
[Brahm] apparently penned the threats as part of a harebrained contest with another man to see who could circulate the scariest Internet threat. This knucklehead behavior may not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Brahm's other online activity via MySpace and an ambitious blog on which he recorded all of his 2006 masturbatory activity. In his most recent MySpace blog entry, Brahm, an avowed Japanese pornography enthusiast, mentioned Iran's president: "I admire Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," he wrote. In a separate post, he listed his hobbies as "masturbating, watching foreign language films, playing cards, drumming, and sleeping. One day I hope to leave my house."
His case provides a textbook example of how to screw up your life.
This supposedly "artsy, quiet, friendy, normal guy" has been outed as being far from your normal, average grocery store clerk. At least I think most clerks don't have blogs like Brahm's or post threats targeting NFL stadiums.
I bet Brian Ross is already seeing if he can uncover any IM Internet chats involving Brahm.
The guy must be so embarrassed.
I do see a way out though. The "artsy" Brahm could claim that his threats were really just performance art.
I bet a lib judge would buy that excuse.
Brahm could also say that it's George W. Bush's fault.
That always works.
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UPDATE:
Bad news for Brahm.
A Wisconsin man arrested last fall in connection with prank Internet warnings of terrorist attacks against NFL stadiums has been indicted in Newark, N.J., on a federal charge of conveying the false information.
Jake J. Brahm of Wauwatosa, was charged Wednesday on accusations he posted threats to detonate “dirty bombs” at seven stadiums that had games on Oct. 22.
Authorities said his actions wasted homeland security efforts and likened them to the “Internet version of yelling fire in a crowded theater.”
However, Brahm’s lawyer, Walter A. Lesnevich, said the incident was “greatly blown out of proportion.”
“This was a stupid mistake by a kid that nobody took seriously,” Lesnevich said. The 22-year-old Brahm will plead not guilty, the lawyer said.
Wrong.
It was a "stupid mistake" by a MAN that lots of people took seriously.
