Bryan Lim, the Facebook user who threatened to “open fire” on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was charged on Thursday (Jun 30) for encouraging violence towards the LGBT community in Singapore. For communicating an incitement to violence via the Internet, Bryan could be jailed up to five years, fined, or both.
The judge set bail at $10,000. Bryan’s desktop, laptop and phone have been seized. His case will be mentioned again on Aug 4, and investigations are still ongoing.
Earlier in the month. police confirmed that they had received a report regarding violence against the gay community here in Singapore, and are investigating the case. The police responded to blogger Kenneth Tan’s Facebook post asking if they would respond to the threat.
On June 4, Facebook user Bryan Lim had commented on the Facebook group We Are Against Pink Dot saying, “I am a Singaporean citizen. I am a NSman. I am a father. And I swore to protect my nation. Give me the permission to open fire. I would like to see these £@€$^*s die for their causes.”
He was commenting on the hate-groups post about ‘Say No to Foreign Intervention‘.
Earlier in 2013, Bryan had openly boasted about his attitude towards a lesbian couple he personally encountered in another Facebook post.
Bryan’s employer, Canon Singapore had also responded to complaints by netizens about the violence Bryan intended towards the gay community in Singapore. It said that it took the issue seriously and was looking into the matter. It is not known if any actions were taken against Bryan by his employer.
Subsequent to his post gaining widespread condemnation, and after the police and his employers said that they were investigating his comments about violence towards the LGBT community, Bryan issued a qualified apology. He explained that it was all a misunderstanding and that his words were directed at Bloomberg and foreign intervention in local matters and was taken out of context.
He said, “I did not mean physical bullets nor physical death. I mean open fire in debate and remove them from Singapore domestic matters.”
Bryan’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts have been deleted.
