One of the top music-related searches on the internet is song lyrics, and most wouldn’t think twice about posting them on social media.
But without context it’s easy for someone to mistake lyrics for something else entirely, and a man in Kentucky is now finding that out the hard way.
A few weeks ago James Evans was on Facebook posting song lyrics while listening to music, something that’s become a habit for the 31-year-old.
This time however the lyrics he chose “Student bodies lying dead in the halls, a blood splattered treatise of hate / Class dismissed is my hypothesis, gun fire ends in debate” from the metal band Exodus’ song “Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)” caught the attention of concerned parents.
Mistaking the lyrics for an actual threat of a school shooting, they immediately contacted local school officials.
Two days later, Evans was arrested.
In an interview with Billboard (via Music Feeds), Evans says the experience has been surreal. “I didn’t think anything would come of it.”
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Evans says that a few hours after posting the lyrics, local police officers arrived at his mother’s house asking he she knew where he was. She directed to Evan’s house, where the officers asked him if he intended on harming anyone.
“I assumed the conversation got resolved,” says Evans, who explained to the officers the mix up. A few days later, the police officers returned while Evans was working the night shift at a screenprinting store.
Evans’ wife was at home, asking his wife what kind of car he drove and if he was in possession of any weapons.
“They informed her that I may or not be charged,” he says. “They said they were going to talk to me at work, but they never showed up. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
But at 8am the next day, officers show up at the screen printing store and arrested him. The warrant says Evans was arrested because “he threatened to kill students and or staff at school.”
“They never even cuffed me, just put me in the back of the car,” he says. “They knew I wasn’t dangerous. They were kind of shocked, too, because they thought it had been resolved. They just had to serve it because it was in their jurisdiction.”
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“Whenever we found out that he actually got arrested for lyrics, we were all shocked,” said Evans’ sister Ashelynn. “We couldn’t believe that you could do that or get in trouble for that. I don’t personally agree with the band or the music but I agree that you should have the choice to listen to it if you want to.”
The band who actually wrote the lyrics were equally shocked.
“The idea that an individual in this great country of ours could be arrested for simply posting lyrics to a song is something I never believed could happen in a free society,” wrote Exodus guitarist Gary Holt in a fiery post on the band’s website.
“James Evans was simply posting lyrics to a band he likes on Facebook, and he was locked up for it. The song ‘Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)’ was written as a view through the eyes of a madman and in no way endorses that kind of fucked up behaviour.”
“It was the Virginia Tech massacre perpetrated by Seung-Hui Cho that was the subject and inspiration to write the song, one in which we put the brakes on playing it live after the Sandy Hook shooting, as we did not want to seem insensitive.”
Gary continues, “As some of us in Exodus are parents, of course these things hit close to home, it’s every parent’s worst fear. These moments are the stuff of nightmares, and life, as well as music, isn’t always pretty.”
“But when we start to overreact to things like lyrics by any band, including Exodus, and start arresting people, we are caving in to paranoia and are well on our way to becoming an Orwellian society.”
But the biggest shock was yet to come.
After spending over a week in jail, Evans assumed he would be released following his appearance in court. Instead, he was charged for “terrorist threatenings” and faced the possibility of between five and 10 years in prison.
“I couldn’t believe it got that out of hand,” he says. “At the same time it’s worrisome because I have a family to take care of. I have a three-month-old son.”
Facing court a second time a week later, Evans case was deferred for six months. He’s required to undergo a mental evaluation, and if he complies with the court’s orders the charges should be dropped from his record.
