From Association of Alternative Weeklies May 24, 2011

The Maui Police Department has issued a subpoena to obtain the IP addresses of Maui Time web commenters, citing the terroristic threatening of one of its officers.

The comment in question was left in response to an April 14 blog post in which Maui Time publisher Tommy Russo posted a video of himself being assaulted by Maui police officer Nelson Johnson.

The post set off “a firestorm of comments both positive and negative,” according to Russo.

Among the comments:

nothing new here

April 15, 2011 | 04:02 AM

the MPD,, the ONLY reason I own a LARGE CALIBRE, high powered rifle.

who needs criminals with this bunch of dog eating public menances running around.

Johnson needs a bullet when he walks out his door.

Federal Reserve

and:

he's a crooked cop and should be fired or fired upon ..lol..!!

Russo tells AAN that he plans to fight the subpoena.

“The First Amendment protects anonymous online speech and the Hawaii Shield law should protect anonymous sources,” he said. “Providing IP addresses could put these households in physical danger.”

Russo is due to appear in court on June 3 to answer the subpoena….

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ALSO: Freedom of speech: Should the identity of online commenters be shielded?