Secret Service Grills Kid, 13, on Facebook Post

Boy, 13, says he was just trying to warn Obama of dangers
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2011 1:09 PM CDT
Secret Service Grills Kid, 13, on Facebook Post
The Facebook logo is displayed at a news conference in New York in this November 6, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, file)

A Tacoma mom is livid that her 13-year-old son was questioned without her presence … by the Secret Service. Vito LaPinta was called into his school’s office on Friday and met by an agent who wanted to know his name, date of birth, Facebook name, and “if there was anything else on my Facebook,” LaPinta tells the local Fox station. Turns out the feds were suspicious of the 7th-grader because of a status update he posted following the killing of Osama bin Laden.

A US Attorney spokesperson says that part of LaPinta’s post read, “First order, suicide bomb Obama. Suck it!” But LaPinta says, “I was saying how Osama’s dead and for Obama to be careful ‘cause there might be suicide bombers.” Mom Timi Robertson says she understands why the agents wanted to ask her son about the post, but thinks the school should have alerted her before the interrogation started. Once she arrived at the school, the agent told LaPinta he was not in trouble and could leave. Hat tip to Gawker for the find. (More Facebook stories.)

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