Teacher Arrested for Blog Comment

MADISON, Wis. -- Bloggers and free speech advocates are calling on prosecutors not to file charges against a teacher arrested for allegedly posting an anonymous comment online praising the Columbine shooters. Some were disturbed by the post police say the teacher left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending. The suburban Milwaukee high school chemistry teacher was arrested last week for the Nov. 16 comment left on a blog on Wisconsin politics. The comment, left under the name "Observer," came during a discussion over teacher salaries after some commenters complained teachers were under worked and overpaid. He allegedly wrote that teacher salaries made him sick because they are lazy and work only five hours a day. He praised the teen gunmen who killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in the April 1999 attack at Columbine High School

."They knew how to deal with the overpaid teacher union thugs. One shot at a time!" he wrote, adding they should be remembered as heroes.

. The comment disturbed at least one teacher, who called police in West Bend, 40 miles north of Milwaukee and home of the blog's administrator Police traveled to arrest the teacher at his home, last week after the blogger gave them the anonymous poster's IP address. He was released on $350.00 bail.

The Washington County District Attorney is considering whether to charge the teacher with disorderly conduct and unlawful use of computerized communication systems.

Source: R.Foley, AP