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A Tacoma seventh grader faced federal interrogation at school for what he posted on his Facebook page.  His mom said it all happened without her knowledge or permission.

Timi Robertson said she had just finished lunch with a friend Friday when she got a phone call from her son's school.

"I answered it, and it's the school security guard who's giving me a heads up that the Secret Service is here with the Tacoma Police Department and they have Vito and they're talking to him," Robertson said.

After Osama bin Laden was killed, 13-year-old Vito LaPinta posted an update to his Facebook status that got the Feds attention.

"I was saying how Osama was dead and for Obama to be careful because there could be suicide bombers," says LaPinta.

A week later, while Vito was in his fourth period class, he was called in to the principal's office.

"A man walked in with a suit and glasses and he said he was part of the Secret Service," LaPinta said. "He told me it was because of a post I made that indicated I was a threat toward the President."

The Tacoma school district acknowledged a Secret Service agent questioned Vito and that it was a security guard who called Vito's mom because the principal was on another call. The school district said they didn’t wait for Vito’s mother to get there because they thought she didn't take the phone call seriously.

"That's a blatant lie," Robertson said.

The teen’s mom says she rushed to Truman Middle School immediately and arrived to discover her son had already been questioned for half an hour.

"I just about lost it," she said. "My 13 year-old son is supposed to be safe and secure in his classroom and he's being interrogated without my knowledge or consent privately."

The seventh grader said that once his mom showed up, the agent finished the interview and told him he was not in any trouble. Now he's more careful about what he posts online.

His mother says she isn't financially able to take legal action but hopes her family's story raises awareness about the treatment she said her son endured.

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What legal action would she be entitled to take?  While this really isn't that scandalous (its the Secret Service's job to follow up threats on the president), this seems like an obvious waste of time.

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I dont see that she has any legal action to take.  

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Originally Posted by Bryant Platt:
What legal action would she be entitled to take?  While this really isn't that scandalous (its the Secret Service's job to follow up threats on the president), this seems like an obvious waste of time.

well excuse me if i'm wrong, but isn't the law the law? is it not illegal to question a minor over a potential crime without a guardian? these laws are in place to protect, so long as the government honors them.

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:

Originally Posted by Bryant Platt:
What legal action would she be entitled to take?  While this really isn't that scandalous (its the Secret Service's job to follow up threats on the president), this seems like an obvious waste of time.

well excuse me if i'm wrong, but isn't the law the law? is it not illegal to question a minor over a potential crime without a guardian? these laws are in place to protect, so long as the government honors them.

I strongly doubt that its illegal for law enforcement to ask a kid a few questions without their parent present.  Perhaps they would have to be there for it to hold up in court, but not just to ask questions.

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Honestly I dont know if its against the law or not.     But let me ask this?  What is the difference between the Secret Service/police/FBI asking a few questions to a schoolkid..and a principal of the school asking a few questions over the same incident?  BOTH are govt workers.

What is the difference between invading a school kid's privacy and searching lockers for drugs or guns...and the Secret Service asking questions?  Both are designed to protect other people's lives.  The other kids...and the POTUS.

If the Secret Service had taken this kid out of the school and locked him in a room, jammed a needle full of sodium pentathol in his neck and tortured him...I could probably see cause for a lawsuit.

But dropping by a school to ask a few questions and mostly scare a kid into thinking a little more clearly...?  Yeah, the ACLU might be able to make a case out of this, but no one really hurt the kid as far as I can tell.  And i have a feeling a judge would wind up throwing such a case out of court.

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Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
Honestly I dont know if its against the law or not.     But let me ask this?  What is the difference between the Secret Service/police/FBI asking a few questions to a schoolkid..and a principal of the school asking a few questions over the same incident?  BOTH are govt workers.

What is the difference between invading a school kid's privacy and searching lockers for drugs or guns...and the Secret Service asking questions?  Both are designed to protect other people's lives.  The other kids...and the POTUS.

If the Secret Service had taken this kid out of the school and locked him in a room, jammed a needle full of sodium pentathol in his neck and tortured him...I could probably see cause for a lawsuit.

But dropping by a school to ask a few questions and mostly scare a kid into thinking a little more clearly...?  Yeah, the ACLU might be able to make a case out of this, but no one really hurt the kid as far as I can tell.  And i have a feeling a judge would wind up throwing such a case out of court.

My exact sentiments.