It turns out I was right to be suspicious of this story. This turns out to be a text book case of sensational journalism that a large number of people took at face value. Apparently Amanda Lamb doesn't like fact checking.

Much of the online fury was triggered by Lundeby’s incorrect claim — uncritically reported by the station — that the boy was being held without any legal rights on the authority of the 2001 USA Patriot Act. In truth, making telephone bomb threats has been a federal crime since 1939. The teenager is being held without bail in Indiana, but he’s been formally charged, has a court-appointed attorney, and has already made three appearances in front of a judge. The case is sealed because the suspect is a minor.

Responding to the internet outrage on Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Indiana issued a press release (.pdf) emphasizing the the teenager is not being held on terrorism charges. The case “alleges a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e), which prohibits sending false information about an attempt to kill, injure or intimidate any individual or to unlawfully to damage any building through an instrument of interstate commerce,” the prosecutors wrote.

The kid is _not_ being held on Patriot Act charges or being denied any due process. The kid's mother is completely full of shit.

The kid was taking money on Paypal to call in bomb threats to schools:

The case came to a head on March 4, when Tyrone made a series of rapid-fire bomb threats against five different schools around the United States. Bennett recorded the calls.

“This is a warning to every staff, student and anybody else who may be in the school tomorrow afternoon at 11:00 a.m.,” the caller is heard saying in a voicemail message for Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kansas.

“There are twelve bombs located throughout the entire campus at the school,” the caller continues (.mp3). “They are in random lockers throughout the school — I will not tell you which lockers they are located in. There are also two in the bathroom and there is one in the gym. You have exactly one hour after 11:00 a.m. to find and disarm the bombs. That is all I have to say. All will be cleansed.”

I bet one of the reasons they are holding him without bail is because his mother is completely delusional and they can't rely on her recognizance.