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Man Charged With Posting Threat On Newspaper Website
The Hartford Courant
12:46 PM EST, February 9, 2010
TORRINGTON —
A 26-year-old man is accused of posting an anonymous threatening comment about a Torrington police officer on The Register-Citizen newspaper's website last month.
Brian E. Couse, of Stanfordville, N.Y., turned himself in to police, who charged him with second-degree breach peace on Tuesday. Couse was released on $2,500 bail and is due in Bantam Superior Court on Feb. 22.
An employee at the Register-Citizen called officers on Jan. 20 after noticing the threat in the comment section beneath an online article. The article was police-related, Lt. Michael Emanuel said, but he declined to comment on what the story was about.
Police launched an investigation and later executed a search warrant, which revealed the Internet protocol address and identity of the anonymous blogger.
Couse sent the message from a work computer in New York, Emanuel said. He declined to say where Couse worked but said that he has been fired from the job.
The comment was "a threat of physical violence against an active police officer," Emanuel said.
"Simply because a person posts comments in an anonymous fashion does not give them the right to threaten or cause fear in people or their families," he said in a statement.
Calls to the Register-Citizen were not immediately returned.
— Jenna Carlesso