Remember Barabbas? That’s why we don’t let the mob make judicial decisions anymore. Awful things tend to happen. These days, rather than a formal public gathering, a social network is all that’s really needed to stir up the masses.

Canadian police had to cut short a situation that could have gotten out of control if left unanswered, and in the process remind us that having your own personal broadcast medium comes with enormous responsibility.

Three Edmonton, Alberta teens (ages 13-15) are accused of breaking into someone’s home and shoving the owner’s cat into a microwave. Legally, that’s cruelty to animals, which carries some kind of penalty if there’s a conviction, and likely psychological evaluation given the ages of the perpetrators.

After all, that’s how Jeffrey Dahmer got his start, right? 

I couldn’t tell you the young offenders’ names, even if I knew them, assuming Canadian law applies to me here in the States. It’s illegal to publish the names or identify an accused minor in Canada, under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

But that didn’t stop a Facebook member, who was ready to IM his friends and get the rope. Threats, as is common online, came rolling in, ranging from the traditional playground-esque face-smashing to torture to calling for the death penalty.

All because a few kids killed a cat. I have a confession. I killed a cat once. With my car. Though I didn’t really mean to. Nobody arrested me for it.

Admittedly, the youths’ action is quite a bit more disturbing, but if we don’t torture terrorists then we probably shouldn’t torture teenagers for nuking a cat. Likely the angry comments made were made from the distant safety of a computer desk, the screen thus the window of protection for anything you want to say or vent about.

But still. Talk about a situation that could get out of hand. It’s no wonder the cops forced the information down. The person who posted the identifying information could possibly face legal ramifications as well, since he or she violated Canadian law.

This brings up a much larger issue, though. When the each member of the public has his very own broadcast medium, is he truly prepared to wield it? If the crowd is really wise (something I doubt) it also very dangerous.