Racine---A Facebook user who urged others to go and shoot white cops acted in the heat of the moment following the tragic events of last week, according to his mother.
Still, bond for 43 year-old Byron Cowan was set at $75,000 Monday. Cowan appeared in court with his attorney via video conference. He was formally charged with solicitation of a threat to law enforcement, making terrorist threats and disorderly conduct. Coupled with hate crime enhancers. Cowan, if convicted as charged, could be sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison.
Following the police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana last week, Cowan urged his 5,000 Facebook friends to "be first to shoot first." He encouraged Black men to "strap up." For those who might not know how to handle a gun, Cowan offered training. "This is a war," he wrote. "We are tired. I don't care who I offend. I don't have any more words but bullets."
Cowan's mother told reporters afterward that her son didn't even own a gun and was kind-hearted. She said her son had gotten carried away because of what he'd seen online. "I have a problem with Facebook and social media because there's so much out there. Not everybody can take that and be able to continue to function," she said.
She said her son had worked at Amazon but recently quit to pursue another opportunity out-of-state.
The woman, who asked not to be identified because family members had been threatened, said she feared that her son was being singled out for use as an example. "I would not have said those things because I try to think more than once before I speak," she said. "But for younger people it's hard for them to do that. That's the age that we live in."
In court Monday, the prosecutor called Cowan's post "sickening". Before setting bail, the court commissioner called it "clearly disturbing."
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