2 busted for threatening YouTube rap

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Two young Massachusetts men have been charged with posting a threatening video on YouTube that mentioned the names of a state trooper and a probation officer.

Investigators said the rap video featuring Mathew Rufino, 24, of New Bedford and Jason Foley, 28, of nearby Fairhaven would have been protected free speech if it had simply been aimed at police, The Boston Globe said. But throwing in specific names along with footage of a gun and noises of a firearm discharging elevated it to a potential crime.

"When you view the brazenness of the threats in a post-9/11 era, it certainly poses concern and we didn't wait,'' New Bedford Police Lt. Jeffrey Silva said.

Both men were arrested during the weekend and appeared in court Monday, The Boston Herald said. A judge ordered them held pending a hearing next Monday on whether they should remain in jail.

Foley's mother told the Globe her son is no threat to anyone and said he had hoped the rap video might lead to a career in entertainment.

"He thought he was going to make it big one day,'' she said. "They didn't think anything was wrong with what they did.''