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Police: Woman Arrested For Spreading Facebook Photos Of Undercover Cop
CBS News ^ | 15 Oct 2012 | CBS News (unattributed)

Posted on 10/15/2012 11:03:49 PM PDT by coloradan

MESQUITE, Texas (CBS HOUSTON) – A North Texas woman has been arrested after being accused of posting Facebook photos of an undercover policeman who testified against her friend in court.

Mesquite police arrested Melissa Walthall, 30, for allegedly posting the photo of the officer, who authorities say recently testified in a drug case against her friend. Her Facebook post identified the person as an undercover officer, according to a federal affidavit.

After a caller tipped off Mesquite police to Walthall’s Facebook post about a week ago, an investigator found that it posed a “viable threat to that officer’s safety,” the affidavit said.

(Excerpt) Read more at houston.cbslocal.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; facebook
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The cop had a facebook account in which he posted pictures of himself under his real name. For identifying this person as an undercover cop, a citizen is now facing criminal charges.
1 posted on 10/15/2012 11:04:01 PM PDT by coloradan
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To: coloradan

This seems facially unconstitutional.


2 posted on 10/15/2012 11:06:06 PM PDT by TheConservator ("I spent my life trying not to be careless. Women and children can be careless, but not men.")
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To: coloradan

All the woman needs to do is read up on “doxing”. The, her attorney can demonstrate in court that it is relatively trivial to locate someone on facebook using a photo from somewhere else as a reference. If they can do it, any other criminal can as well; the officer screwed himself by posting his own photos. Once they’re up there, it doesn’t matter what his covert “name” is; he can be found just by his face. What she did is trivial compared to what a more violent criminal could do with that info, i.e. spread his real name and face to the rest of the criminal underworld, at which point he’d either be immediately at risk of being shot on sight, or if they’re smart they’d use him as a disinformation agent.


3 posted on 10/15/2012 11:34:17 PM PDT by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: coloradan

I cannot discern anything illegal in what she did.

I am not a lawyer, just a citizen.


4 posted on 10/15/2012 11:44:18 PM PDT by Bobalu (It is not obama we are fighting, it is the media.)
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To: coloradan
For the record, I oppose outing undercover agents and I approve of the prosecution of people who do so.

That being said, the fault is not in the stars or in social media as this article implies but in this destructive war on drugs that has more and more become a war on ourselves.


5 posted on 10/15/2012 11:57:09 PM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: Bobalu
I cannot discern anything illegal in what she did.

I am not a lawyer, just a citizen.


Well, in that case, you are not qualified to read the US Constitution, because you will never be able to see all of the emanations of the penumbras. Now go back to work and pay your taxes.
6 posted on 10/16/2012 12:08:15 AM PDT by fr_freak
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To: coloradan
He blew it... if he is undercover he should not have social media accounts that truly depict him. His social media accounts should also be undercover. I have a relative in LE and no social media for them... it would compromise their work.

Idiot is the undercover poor excuse for LE.

7 posted on 10/16/2012 12:14:59 AM PDT by antceecee (Bless us Father.. have mercy on us and protect us from evil.)
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To: coloradan

The ones who are biting the hands that feed them should be exposed.


8 posted on 10/16/2012 1:39:35 AM PDT by ravenwolf
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To: antceecee

“He blew it... if he is undercover he should not have social media accounts that truly depict him.”

I agree completely. While I don’t condone what this woman did, the LEO did a very foolish thing by putting himself out in the public eye. If your job is to go unnoticed by drug dealers and the like, it’s best to keep to the shadows when it comes to something like FB.


9 posted on 10/16/2012 1:42:52 AM PDT by DemforBush (100% Ex-Democrat.)
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To: nathanbedford

For the record, I oppose outing undercover agents and I approve of the prosecution of people who do so.


I do not agree, i believe undercover agents working against the citizens of this country is wrong because it is sneaky and sleazy, one side gets sleazy, the other side gets sleazy, soon Americans are just sleazy.


That being said, the fault is not in the stars or in social media as this article implies but in this destructive war on drugs that has more and more become a war on ourselves.

I don,t use drugs but i agree.


10 posted on 10/16/2012 1:54:10 AM PDT by ravenwolf
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To: coloradan

It occurs to me that if he had been a CIA agent working in a foreign country and she had been the New York Times, she would not have been arrested. The double standard seems odd.


11 posted on 10/16/2012 1:56:12 AM PDT by TN4Liberty (My tagline disappeared so this is my new one.)
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To: nathanbedford

That being said, the fault is not in the stars or in social media as this article implies but in this destructive war on drugs that has more and more become a war on ourselves.


Agreed!


12 posted on 10/16/2012 2:51:54 AM PDT by The Working Man
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To: coloradan
The cop had a facebook account in which he posted pictures of himself under his real name. For identifying this person as an undercover cop, a citizen is now facing criminal charges.

Sounds like the woman needs to hire herself a good constitutional lawyer and put a big dent this towns bank account. This is totally BS. Can one say 'Police State' mentality?!

13 posted on 10/16/2012 4:27:37 AM PDT by Ron H. (Ahh, how's that multi-culturism thing working out for you these days?!)
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To: coloradan

The officer’s incompetence does not excuse her malice.


14 posted on 10/16/2012 4:30:25 AM PDT by wideawake
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To: coloradan

Remember back when we used to have a First Amendment?

Good times.... good times....


15 posted on 10/16/2012 4:34:45 AM PDT by Haiku Guy (If Hillary reminds every man of his ex-wife, Joe Biden reminds every woman of her ex-husband.)
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To: nathanbedford
I see nothing wrong with what she did. The police should not get any special treatment. If it can happen to us it can happen to them. If the info is out there then too bad he should not have posted it.

This is just like the police not wanting to be recorded while in the performance of their jobs. The court case was obviously not a closed case so anyone could see who he was at the courthouse and then followed up with a search. Police should have to live with the same rules and laws as us citizens.

16 posted on 10/16/2012 4:51:34 AM PDT by Ratman83
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To: Ratman83
If you are grounding your reply and your opinion alone, then it is obviously just as valid as my opinion. But if your suggestion is that there is a constitutional right to out an undercover police agent performing his duties, I strongly disagree.

There is no constitutional right to out a CIA agent in the performance of her duties and most of us would agree that it is absolutely necessary for the furtherance of our national security to maintain secrecy at that and other levels. To the degree that a narcotics undercover officer is operating lawfully (not desirably but lawfully) he should be in the same category.

If it is your opinion that he ought not to enjoy protection against being outed in the performance of his duties, I suggest that the way to change that is in the polling booth not on twitter. If your opinion is based on the futility of our war on drugs which more and more is inevitably leading to intrusions into privacy and converting citizens into enemies of the government, I would agree with you and I will walk with you to the polling place.


17 posted on 10/16/2012 5:05:56 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: Ratman83
If you are grounding your reply and your opinion alone, then it is obviously just as valid as my opinion. But if your suggestion is that there is a constitutional right to out an undercover police agent performing his duties, I strongly disagree.

There is no constitutional right to out a CIA agent in the performance of her duties and most of us would agree that it is absolutely necessary for the furtherance of our national security to maintain secrecy at that and other levels. To the degree that a narcotics undercover officer is operating lawfully (not desirably but lawfully) he should be in the same category.

If it is your opinion that he ought not to enjoy protection against being outed in the performance of his duties, I suggest that the way to change that is in the polling booth not on twitter. If your opinion is based on the futility of our war on drugs which more and more is inevitably leading to intrusions into privacy and converting citizens into enemies of the government, I would agree with you and I will walk with you to the polling place.


18 posted on 10/16/2012 5:06:27 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: All

We should also start “outing” members of juries too. Facebook, twitter, posters in the offended gang area.

Conservatives who work for unions and the government also.

Let’s just get it all out there.

And let’s don’t forget to round up all of our conservative colleagues and our conservative students and send emails of their conservative rants on the net to their college professors.


19 posted on 10/16/2012 5:12:15 AM PDT by rbmillerjr (Conservative Economic and National Security Commentary: econus.blogspot.com)
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To: nathanbedford

“For the record, I oppose outing undercover agents and I approve of the prosecution of people who do so.”

I’m trying to imagine how they could charge her. Did she sign a security agreement? Is it the citizens responsibility to to help the police play secret squirrel? No.


20 posted on 10/16/2012 5:35:25 AM PDT by dljordan (Voltaire: "To find out who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.")
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