QUEENS — Charges were dropped against a Far Rockaway man accused of making terroristic threats on his Facebook page in reaction to the George Zimmerman verdict, the Queens DA's office said.
Police said Remel Newson, 20, posted the threats — including what his lawyer said were lyrics inspired by a Drake song — on his Facebook page July 17.
According to the criminal complaint, Newson used the hashtag "Kill all whites" and also wrote "let's kill cops nd [sic] neighborhood watcher."
He also allegedly posted another threatening status later in the day that said "da floccs in da lobby we grip with da shotie nd we'll catch a body."
His lawyer, Tasha Lloyd-Garcia, says Newson is an aspiring rapper and posted his own lyrics to the song "Versace" by Drake.
The first post, she said, was cut-and-pasted from someone else's page.
On Tuesday, a grand jury found that there was not probable cause to pursue the case, the DA's office said.
Officers at the 101st Precinct also found marijuana inside a locked bedroom inside Newson's home on Beach 47th Street and charged him with drug possession. Those charges were also dropped.
Lloyd-Garcia said on Monday she was "disturbed" by the NYPD obtaining a search warrant based on her client's Facebook posts.
"It doesn't seem like it would meet the standard for probable cause to get a search warrant," she said. "There's no common scheme or plans to carry anything out."
Newson has a prior conviction for assault and served eight months of a two-year prison sentence before being released in May, authorities said. He was accused of strangling, punching and pushing a woman in Far Rockaway, according to the DA's office.
