I agree with you, Gromit.
I'm getting increasingly skeptical of having laws against incitement to violence in the first place. Not necessarily because they're a bad idea, but because of what their consequences are.
This guy was using much more inflammatory and aggressive language than that girl who was punished for a tweet a couple weeks ago and on the scale of things was probably more deserving of a conviction, comparatively speaking. But the cost of having these laws at all is that it makes using violent imagery of any kind a risky political activity. In effect, it makes it possible for someone to be arrested for a tweet - or a stupid facebook update.
Is this really worth it? Do laws against 'incitement' *actually* prevent all that much violence in our society? I'm starting to wonder if they are worth it.