Lots of Internet Death Threats are Being Made Right Now - I Have an Idea

[MineralMan]

Let's use the federal "Terroristic Threats" felony law. If it's on the internet, such a threat crosses state lines. Many states, too, have felony terroristic threat laws. Let's identify, arrest, charge and try the threat posters. You'll find lots and lots of gun owners out there right now, posting such threats. They may think they're anonymous, but they're really not.

So, lets find them and see if we can convict them of that federal felony. Once we do, we can take their "Precious" away from them. Let's just do that, shall we?

One benefit will be far fewer internet death threats, for sure. And we'll relieve some of those assholes from their firearms, in the meantime.

It's a win-win proposition. Let's put the FBI and local cops and prosecutors on that job. They know how to discover people's identities, and can get court orders to force online venues to give up that information. Then, we can take those folks through the federal due process and make examples of them.

We can all help, too. If you see a death threat, take a screen shot, save the link and notify the FBI or local law enforcement. Present them with evidence of a felony and follow up to make sure they take it seriously. Let your local or other representatives know that you have sent that evidence to law enforcement. That way, if no action is taken, you can ask an elected official why no action was taken.

I think that's a capital idea. Now, if we can just get the FBI and local law enforcement on board.

[dhill926]

1. like it....big K & R...

[shraby]

2. Another K & R

[Initech]

3. I had a death threat against me.

Yeah I agree - it is terrorism. Long story short I'm a moderator on a tech message board and I banned a guy for 3 days for being an ass, and he comes back and threatens to kill me on his private message board. So yeah it can happen to anyone anywhere, and the fact that it's not constituted as terrorism is insane to me. But if we start policing death threats it walks a very fine line on the free speech argument.

[MineralMan]

4. It crosses no line at all. Death threats are crimes.

They simply are. Reporting crimes is a responsibility we all have. There is no free speech that allows someone to make a terroristic threat. It's a crime. It's a felony in most jurisdictions. Report them. Document them with links and screen shots.

At some point, we have to make a stand. Haven't we had enough, yet?

[Initech]

6. Oh I agree enough is enough.

What Alex Jones, Dana Loesch, and Wayne La Pierre are doing is a form of terrorism. It's a subtle form of terrorism, but it's terrorism nonetheless. Today Wayne might as well have literally called for murder but when he uses subtle language like that, we all know what he is implying. We all knew what Trump was implying during the campaign with his "2nd Amendment" comment.

[MineralMan]

7. Those subtle threats are not what I'm talking about.

Most are not prosecutable.

I'm talking about individual threats made by individual people. Those get posted all the time on message boards, via email, and on socil media venues.

I'm saying that we should go after those individuals and make it personally dangerous to threaten people.

[Initech]

8. Yeah absolutely. Agree 100%.

[Saviolo]

18. That phenomenon has its own name: Stochastic Terrorism

A good reference to what it refers to here:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/10/1558787/-Stochastic-Terrorism

And yes, Dana Loesch and Wayne La Pierre are highly schooled in peddling stochastic terrorism. The far right and the collection of mouth-breathing white nationalists, white supremacists, and nazis known as the "alt-right" use it all the time, as well. They intentionally use vague and unthreatening language that appeals to a very small slice of the population (known as "hiding your power level).

Here's an example of an incident from Toronto, recently:

https://torontoist.com/2017/11/revealed-white-supremacists-behind-alt-right-posters-around-city/

The relevant graf:

‘Hiding your powerlevel’ refers to a strategy of publicly disavowing Nazis and “keep[ing] the long-term goals covert . . . Talking openly about a white ethnostate only leads to failure and the average public turning against you, so disavow anyone who reveals his power level. Leftists will recognize dog whistles and know we’re crypto, but normies won’t listen to them.””

[Stardust1]

25. Thats correct.

These cowardly manipulation techniques flood the internet today.
I hate the language they use: 'hiding your power level' 'normies'... it screams angry 15 year old bully. It sadly gets a lot of impressionable children and teens to adopt their ideals.

[ollie10]

13. I couldn't agree more.....

These mongrels think we are a bunch of "snow flakes". So they think they can get away with it because we won't want to hurt their precious feelings. Wrong! Anyone making a death threat has crossed the line and should be punished....with the full force of the law!

[Mariana]

12. Death threats are criminal and have been for a very long time. nt.

[MineralMan]

5. Here is a link to what a terroristic threat is:

https://criminallaw.com/categories/federal-crimes/terrorism-threats

WHAT IS A TERRORIST THREAT?
Terrorism threats, or terroristic threats, involve threats to cause a crime of violence and often involve the evacuation of premises, buildings, places of assembly; other threats are meant to cause serious public interference in an intentionally reckless manner.
Terrorism threats have increased greatly since the 9/11 acts of terrorism.
About Terrorist Threats:

“Making a terrorist threat” is a broad term that is applicable at the state and federal levels.
Terrorist threats may have numerous meanings that may be applied to various and specific situations.
Terrorist threats may be applicable to bomb threats, hate crimes and violence in general.
The meaning of terrorist threats varies according to each state’s statutes.
The meaning of terrorist threats may generally be said to include acts of violence that terrorize individuals and the public in general.

What May Be Included in a Terrorist Threat:

A specific threat to commit a crime that is likely to harm others, resulting in injury or death.
The threat was intended to be perceived as a threat.
The threat is specific and clear.
Fear was induced in the victim by the threat and the victim believed the threat could be carried out.
The threat was possible and viable.

[Butterflylady]

9. Those that make death threats

are the biggest cowards of all. They sit in their basements or whatever, hiding behind their computer screen like little frighten imbeciles. That's all they are, yellow bellied cowards.

[spanone]

10. yessir

[Runningdawg]

11. I just replied to a post on FB

from a local TV station. The story was about a newcomer to Tulsa who had her truck stolen. One lady commented "Tulsa is full of thugs, it's time for the extermination to begin". She ended with "have a blessed day". I would like to belive it was a RussianBot, but having lived here 35 years, I know better...

[ancianita]

14. This will fit the FBI's mission of threat assessment nicely. I'm with you on this.

[DV1]

15. re: internet threats

Sounds easy enough in terms of addressing the problem but the legal and business (web providers) complications, well, you'd have a better chance of finding Grandmaster Flash's 'The Message' on Trump's phone playlist.

[MineralMan]

16. No, you're incorrect. A court order forces web providers to produce.

No legal problems for the FBI or even local cops to get court orders.

You're just wrong about this. The real problem is that they don't want to bother. We can change that.

[DV1]

24. SCOTUS

The first one before the SCOTUS decision, the second the decision.

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/4-legal-reasons-internet-trolls-get-away-with-death-threats/

https://gizmodo.com/supreme-court-online-threats-legal-as-long-as-you-dont-1708190038

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. Mineral Man - it's not only a crime, it's also a moral blight on our society.

Eats at our very moral fiber every day like a cancer.

Perhaps one of the legal support orgs such as ALCU could help promote this!

..........................

[MineralMan]

20. You're exactly right.

[Chakaconcarne]

19. Ray Andreas threat being spread around the US right now

Claiming a school shooting is imminent at SHS

Probably a Russian

[MineralMan]

22. First time I've seen the name. Do you have a link I could visit?

OK, the name is Ray Andres, not Andreas. I've found the links now.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/02/shs_school_threat_hoax_message.html

[LAS14]

21. Excellent idea! Any suggestions of where to go to spot these threats? nt

[defacto7]

23. I'm absolutely with you on this.

False interpretation of the law, false news, GOP bureaucrats and time would be our greatest obstacle. But it certainly is clear to me you have a point and under other circumstances it would be cut and dry. The internet muddies everything.

[Hekate]

26. Works for me. KnR

[ecstatic]

27. Can someone be held liable for "liking" a threatening post or tweet?

Anyone know?