Man Guilty Of Threatening Children Of Police On Facebook

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CBS4) - A man accused or urging Facebook friends to kill children at a local day care and specific police officers may spend 5 years in a federal prison.

A Grand Junction jury found Kenneth Royal Wheeler guilty of issuing threats he made while outside the country. The 32-year-old thought he couldn't be prosecuted for statements made when he wasn't in the U.S.

Wheeler posted on Facebook, "The Americans can't punish me for what I say here in Rome, Italy on Facebook. So, kill cops. Drown them in the blood of their children, hunt them down and kill their entire bloodlines."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the First Amendment allows you to burn a flag in protest of the government, but it doesn't allow you to threaten to burn the faces of the children of the Grand Junction Police Department," Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Covell said during her closing arguments to the jury.

Police arrested Wheeler as soon as he set foot on American soil. Along with the possible 5 year prison sentence he could be fined up to $250,000.