No jail for WA blogger who said he'd shoot up mall

Jeffrey Gargaro insists that when he said he'd shoot up a shopping mall, it was free speech.

Perhaps, but now he's paying for it anyway.

The 28-year-old Blaine man agreed in court today to pay a $250 fine plus nearly $1,200 in restitution to police for a comment he made on The Bellingham Herald's Web site last month following a shooting spree that left six people dead. He wrote that he'd shoot up the Sunset Square shopping center in Bellingham "just for the hell of it."

"My comments were made in the heat of the moment and were inartfully stated," Gargaro told the court, according to an excerpt released by his lawyer. "Upon reflection, I can see why the police were concerned about what I said."

Gargaro is one of several people investigated in recent years for postings that tested the limits of free speech on the Web, where postings on blogs and newspaper reader-feedback sections can be notoriously bombastic.

Whatcom County Prosecutor Dave McEachran initially charged him with felony harassment for making "threats to kill," saying a detective was "in reasonable fear... that the threat would be carried out, and people could be killed or injured at the Sunset Square Mall."

Gargaro and his lawyer sought to fight the charge on free-speech grounds, arguing that Gargaro was making a sarcastic point and never intended to hurt or threaten anyone.

Under a plea deal formalized today, Gargaro pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct with a deferred sentence — meaning that if he pays his legal obligations and stays on good behavior until next April, the conviction will be wiped off his record.

Gargaro posted his comment Sept. 3, the day after the rampage near the town of Alger, 70 miles north of Seattle. Isaac Zamora, 28, described by his family as mentally disturbed, was captured after a police chase and charged with six counts of murder.

The dead included a man who had accused Zamora of trespassing, a woman who lived nearby, two construction workers, a motorist along the highway, and Skagit County Deputy Sheriff Anne Jackson, who had responded to a call to check on Zamora.

Gargaro told The Associated Press that when he wrote his comment, he was taking issue with people who sought to blame mental illness, drugs or other factors for the shooting.

The post began by telling another commenter to "shut up," and continued: "Also to all of you who blame drugs... shut up as well. You know what, I am going to go shoot up sunset square today... just for the hell of it. No drugs, no mental illness... you can blame todays episode on video games and George Bush's example of 'pay back' to society."

An officer in St. Louis saw Gargaro's post and pointed it out to Bellingham police. A detective obtained a search warrant and tracked Gargaro down at his home in Blaine, just south of the Canadian border.

Gargaro's lawyer, Jeffrey Lustick, said it would have been expensive and time-consuming to take the case to trial, and his client, who had no criminal record, would have faced one to three months in jail if convicted.

"This was a very good way to resolve the case without exposing Mr. Gargaro to the risk of jail time and a felony conviction," he said.

The prosecutor did not immediately return a call seeking comment.