Defense argues posts against North Central College were free speech

"I bring a gun to school every day. Someday someone is going to ... end up in a bag."

Attorneys for Aden Khan, a 22-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin, accused of posting that threat in 2013 on a Facebook page aimed at Naperville's North Central College, said it was a "stupid, idiotic and morally wrong" thing to write.

But it's not illegal, they said Wednesday during a hearing in DuPage County court, and he simply was exercising his right to free speech.

"He is a troubled young man with a very dark, twisted sense of humor," attorney Stephen Richards said.

DuPage County prosecutors, however, say they intend to prove Khan is guilty of felony disorderly conduct for inciting fear that nearly caused the college to be locked down.

Kimberly Sluis, the college's vice president for student affairs and dean of students, testified Wednesday that a fellow administrator alerted her to the post on a Facebook page titled "North Central Confessions."

Sluis said she typically visited the page two or three times a day because it was a spot, not affiliated with the college, where students would air grievances and voice concerns about college life.

After seeing the post, she contacted campus security, who began investigating with Naperville police.

"I saw (the post) as definitely threatening to our campus community," Sluis testified.

Khan has never been enrolled at North Central.

Naperville Detective Richard Wistocki, a member of the department's High-tech Crimes Unit, said a brief investigation led him to a phone number for Khan's apartment.

Wistocki said he introduced himself to Khan and told him he took the threat seriously.

"He told me it was a joke, that everything posted on Facebook is a joke and that I was wasting my time," Wistocki said.

Wistocki said Khan told him most of what he posted on the site, ranging from obscene topics to complaints about the college's health care center, came at the behest of a female friend at the college.

She was interviewed but not charged.

Wistocki said Khan was argumentative and nonchalant about the case all the way up to his arrest in Madison.

Melissa Hinkle, a police officer from Novato, California, where Khan attended high school, also testified Wednesday.

Hinkle said she investigated Khan in November 2010 when he posted "a top 10 people I most want to kill" list on Facebook. Included in the list were Khan's stepmother, father, brother, the pope, God and some school officials.

Khan was not charged but was suspended from school for five days.

His trial resumes Thursday.