SINGAPORE: A Facebook user who threatened to “open fire” on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was fined S$3,500 on Friday (Nov 4).
Bryan Lim Sian Yang, 37, pleaded guilty on Friday morning to “making a threatening communication likely to cause alarm” under the Protection from Harassment Act.
On Jun 4, Lim commented that he wanted to “open fire” and “protect his nation” in response to a Facebook post on foreign funding of Pink Dot, an annual event organised in support of the LGBT community.
“I am a Singaporean citizen. I am a NSman. I am a father. And I swore to protect my nation,” the 36-year-old Lim wrote on Jun 4. “Give me the permission to open fire. I would like to see these £@€$^*s die for their causes.”
After his comment made the rounds on social media, several Facebook users lodged police reports against him. “This man made an open threat of violence to a specific group of Singaporeans if given the opportunity,” Mr Stanley Tan wrote on the Facebook page of the Singapore Police Force. “Would this be considered an internal terrorist act?”
Police investigations commenced against Lim shortly after, and he was charged in court on Jun 30.
Lim subsequently apologised for his strongly worded comment, claiming that it had been “taken out of context”.
“I did not mean physical bullets nor physical death,” he wrote. “I mean open fire in debate and remove them from Singapore domestic matters.”
For making a threatening communication likely to cause alarm, Lim could have faced a fine of up to S$5,000.
