Jan. 28--A man who posted online that he brought his gun every day to a Naperville college and would use it to put someone "in a bag" went on trial Wednesday in DuPage County court.
Jurors heard opening statements and the first witnesses in the case against Aden Khan, 22, who is charged with a felony count of disorderly conduct for a Facebook post that alarmed officials at North Central College.
Khan had created a Facebook page called "North Central Confessions," and on March 5, 2013, he posted, "I bring a gun to school every day. Someday someone is going to p--- me off and end up in a bag."
Prosecutors argued that Khan's posts crossed the legal line. Khan attorney Stephen Richards said his client acted foolishly but never intended harm and did not break the law.
"Not everything that is stupid, morally wrong or poor judgment is a crime," Richards told jurors.
Kimberly Sluis, the college's dean of students, testified North Central was aware of the "Confessions" page and had been trying to get Facebook to delete it. When she saw the post, she took it at face value, Sluis said.
"I saw that as directly threatening to our campus community," she testified.
The college contacted police. They tracked the page and post to Khan, who at the time was living in Madison, Wis. He had never attended North Central but was friends with a female student there, according to testimony.
Naperville police Detective Richard Wistocki testified that he called Khan, and Khan characterized the post as a joke. Wistocki said he told him there might be legal consequences. Khan allegedly replied, "What are you going to do, arrest me for freedom of speech?"
The trial's first witness, Novato, Calif., police Officer Melissa Hinkle, testified that another Khan Facebook post attracted police attention in 2010.
Khan, then a California high school student, had posted a list of "people I want to kill most," which included family members, a teacher and "the pope, just for laughs." Hinkle said Khan wasn't charged but was suspended from school for five days.
The trial is expected to continue Thursday.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
