Student Who Made Death Threats Given Probation, Advocates Outraged

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Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

After more than a year and a half of court cases, Gregory Hamalian – the former Holy Cross student who was arrested for threatening to shoot up a movie theater in December 2012 – has finally been sentenced, with the Worcester District Court ordering him to serve a year’s probation.

Although initially charged with four counts of threat to commit a crime and one count of bomb/hijacking threat, Hamalian plead guilty to one of the charges of threat to commit a crime; all other charges were dropped the request of the Commonwealth.

“This situation sounds very problematic to me,” said Sheila Decter, Director of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action. “A threat to gun down people has to be taken seriously. I understand that counseling and probation can be helpful, but I really hope that the courts thoroughly examined this kid. Judges definitely have to take cases like this seriously and have to look beyond the lack of a record to determine whether or no0t he is a true threat to society.”

In addition to a year’s probation, Hamalian was also ordered pay $65 per month that he is under probation. He is also ordered to continue counseling and to take prescribed medications.

The Signs of a Mass Murderer

Po Murray – the Chairman of Newtown Action Alliance – has been fighting against gun violence, mass shootings and other violence since the Sandy Hook shooting that also occurred in December of 2012.

After seeing the wake of destruction caused by the Sandy Hook shooting, Murray has no tolerance for violence, even if the person was only making a threat to garner attention. Because his threats align him with the signs and symptoms of a mass murderer, Murray believes that Hamalian should be barred from ever having contact with a firearm in the future. Murray also believes that threats of this variety should be taken more seriously to ensure that these threats don’t turn into acts of violence.

“Clearly this person has shown that he can be dangerous,” said Murray. “The bottom line is that a person like this should never have access to a gun; he displayed all of the signs and symptoms of a mass murderer. His case really needs to be taken seriously to prevent the endangerment of lives.”

Difference Between Threats and Actions

While Hamalian’s actions are certainly horrible in their own right, James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University, says that the distinction between threats and action should be duly noted.

When asked about the sentencing, Fox said that without knowing the specifics of the case, he felt that probation, counseling, and medication was a good “preventative step” toward making sure that Hamalian’s threats will never be carried out.

The world may never know whether or not Hamalian had intended on carrying out his plan as he was arrested before any attempts could be made, but Fox says that because Hamalian wasn’t in possession of the gun he threatened to shoot up the theater with, he is in a lesser class than a mass shooter.

“Making threats to shoot up a movie theater is definitely criminal, but I wouldn’t say it is at the level of someone who takes steps to carry out a criminal threat,” said Fox. “If someone makes threats but doesn’t take steps toward their threat, then there is not a high probability that they would actually carry the threat out. The likelihood definitely isn’t zero – just fantasizing about threats like these is the sign of a troubled individual – but without taking any steps toward completing his goal, I don’t know how high the probability for a mass shooting would be.”

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