‘Absolute Freedom of Speech’ is as real as Rainbow-pooping Unicorn

So it seems that Mary Toh has confirmed in a FB posting (26 Feb 2017) that her son, Amos, is indeed in solitary confinement for ‘criticizing Islam’ during a Muslim Studies class while in detention by the US immigration authorities. And she also revealed that Amos has been in solitary confinement for 14 days now.

Pic: Mary Toh's FB page

A few things come to mind after we read her post.

“… We have refused to publish and reveal this news to the public in fear that it will hurt his case, but now, I think it’s overly paranoid for us to think that revealing this news would harm his case as it’s completely non-related. …” 

Mary Toh

Our interpretation:

"Crap... This was suppose to be a secret but  Melissa Chen someone stupidly leaked that Amos has yet again gotten himself into more trouble over religion.

So now we have to spin this to Amos's advantage.

SO REMEMBER, this has NOTHING TO DO with his bid for asylum which was to escape prosecution for exercising his right to religious hate speech free speech . Amos was only discussing religion."

Really Mary? Are you being serious here? How is Amos’s current behavior NOT related to his quest for asylum?

You are the one who stated that Amos is in solitary confinement for ‘criticizing Islam’ during a Muslim Studies class. And there is a rather credible third party account which tells us that Amos didn't just criticize but he was using profanities and generally being a obnoxious prick in the class.

Pic Source: Comment posted on Mary Toh (Amos's mother) FB page

And isn’t it just such a coincidence that Amos is seeking asylum to avoid “being sent to jail for exercising his free speech” in S'pore, and just wanting to be able to “continue criticizing religion without the fear of being sent to jail”.

Have you conveniently forgotten that Amos was found guilty in S’pore for precisely the same kind of obnoxious and irresponsible behavior that he is now repeating again in the US?

"... In late September (2016), Yee was sentenced to six weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to six charges for wounding the religious feelings of Christians and Muslims. He was also ordered to pay a fine of S$2,000 for defying two notices to turn up at a police station to give his statement. 

Yee was sentenced in July 2015 to four weeks’ jail for the same offence. In total, he spent about 50 days in prison, after repeatedly breaching bail conditions. ..." 

Channel NewsAsia report

And it was only as recent as Dec 2016, that Amos told international media that he regretted his actions that had landed him in jail.

"I told you, it is hate speech, it is overly rude, it isn’t good activism," Yee said by telephone from the McHenry County Adult Correctional Facility in Illinois. "I completely regret making those videos." 

Amos, via Reuters news report

Obviously, Amos doesn’t regret anything he's done. His show of ‘regret’ was most likely for the purpose of eliciting public sympathy/donations and to enable him to present a more credible case for his asylum bid.

Don’t like religion? Then stay away and keep your comments to yourself. Don’t go around shoving your own ideas down other people’s throat where it isn't welcomed.

Going intentionally into a religious class simply to sprout profane insults and obnoxiously criticize the religion (as opposed to having a polite and civilized conversation/debate about the religion), is like going into an oil refinery to intentionally set off some fireworks. Both actions can only end in tragedy. 

Amos’s latest stunt in deliberately provoking religious sensitivities has only revealed his true nature as an obnoxious, egotistic and manipulative person who has no respect for other people's beliefs, and who thinks that his idea of “absolute freedom of speech” overrides everything else and is the ultimate protection excuse for his irresponsible behavior.

“… Because this news was not revealed, the sergeant of McHenry County Jail has been able to freely exercise his authority without any fear of consequences and has kept Amos longer in solitary confinement than he should have been. 

So I am now revealing this news. Please share and spread the news that Amos has been unjustly sent to solitary confinement and he needs to be out immediately. ...” 

Mary Toh

Our interpretation:

"At first we didn't want to publicise Amos's solitary confinement because we knew what Amos did was exceedingly stupid and, not only would it hurt his chances of obtaining asylum, this stunt will also hurt his public persona as a freedom fighter, not to mention the donations as well. 

But because Amos really (we can't be sure too since he lies changes his mind so often) cannot tahah (endure) anymore, we are twisting the situation and accusing the authorities of victimising Amos for exercising his freedom of speech in hopes of creating a public backlash so great that they would be pressured into releasing Amos early.

The accusation will not only make Amos look like a poor boy being repressed by the high-handed authorities but it will also make for a great conspiracy story to boost public sympathy and of course, gain more donations.

So please help and spread the news that Amos is being abused by the authorities. And of course, don't forget to donate towards Amos's cause."

Mary doesn't even utter a word about whether what Amos did was appropriate. Obviously Mary does not seem to think Amos did anything remotely wrong, that it is perfectly acceptable for Amos to attend a religious class just to provoke with profanities and sprout obnoxious criticism.

There is simply no excuse for Amos's irresponsible and provocative behavior. Judge Ong Hian Sun best sums up Amos Yee.

"... Principal District Judge Ong Hian Sun said he found Yee "not lacking in his mental capacity to make rational choices".  

"(Yee) has, on several occasions, deliberately elected to do harm by using offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims."  

"His contemptuous and irreverent remarks have the tendency to generate social unrest and undermine the religious harmony in our society. ..." 

Straits Times news report

Imagine being in a large group of people, already being stressed out from being locked up/confined in a small area, and then you go and intentionally agitate and provoke people on a sensitive topic like religion as if it was a game or discussion on social media - where the worse that can happen is to be flamed by other users or to be banned.

Mary even goes on to claim that the US authorities have abused their power as they have "...kept Amos longer in solitary confinement than he should have been. ..." and they are able to because "this news was not revealed". 

First of all, weren't you the one who said that  "... we refused to publish and reveal this news to the public in fear that it will hurt his case. ..." How can any news media report Amos's situation if you are not forth-coming with the information? We highly doubt that the US authorities would release such information unilaterally on the account of preserving the detainee's privacy and confidentiality.

And doesn't Amos have a pro-bono lawyer who keeps in constant touch with him? How about that activist Melissa Chen?

For all we know Amos may have been put in solitary confinement by the US authorities for his own protection from the potential reprisals resulting from his provocative ‘free speech’ stunt in the religious class. If Amos were released from solitary confinement, he may not even last the night.

Both mother and son seem to be unable to grasp the fundamental concept that there are real-life consequences to words and actions. A belief in your absolute right to free speech does not grant you protection from the consequences of your speech.

As Amos has discovered for himself, even in a country as liberal as America, there is no such thing as ‘absolute freedom of speech’ or protection from the consequences of your speech.

The larger tragedy here is that Mary being the parent, instead of advising her son against such irresponsible behavior, continues to condone and support Amos in his quest to dig himself deeper into trouble.

Or perhaps, this is all yet again another ill-conceived publicity stunt by Amos intended to manipulate public sympathy to force the US authorities to fast-track his asylum bid, and of course to feed his egomania and bank account.

The saga stupidity continues.

Read more here:

Amos's Mother, Mary Toh's FB page

Tvin CU (Blog with facts and verified 3rd party information about Amos)

Tvin CU Facebook page - 45 Facts about Amos Yee and his country Singapore
Hardware Zone Forum thread about Amos being in solitary confinement

Amos Yee's 'adventures'

Channel NewsAsia - Amos Yee's 'humanitarian release' from detention denied: Law firm

South China Morning Post - Singaporean asylum seeker Amos Yee, 18, could remain in US jail until March, lawyer reveals

CNBC - Singapore teen submits US asylum claim in immigration court

South China Morning Post - Teenage Singaporean blogger Amos Yee detained in US while seeking Asylum

Straits Times - Teenage blogger Amos Yee detained in United States

Five Stars And a Moon - Amos Yee’s plan backfires

Mothership - Amos Yee complaining he’ll be detained in US longer than being jailed in S’pore

Mothership - Amos Yee posted on Facebook: Short prison stint a ‘non-traumatic mild inconvenience’

Straits Times - US Immigration Court to hear Singaporean blogger Amos Yee's plea for political asylum