American do not lie as much as Chinese. Cheating and lying are serious sins. American tend to believe what people say. (Some Chinese call American silly because of that.)
You believe that it is just "“狠話”. They believe that it is what 翟 wanted to do.
In a society where people say what they mean most of the time, you cannot 胡說八道, especially if you talk about intention of using violence.
If 翟 did kill the professor, what would the professor's family say about police?
Any peaceful critic, especially those based on facts, is generally tolerated in American.
