Anyone here actually ever had a legit death threat?

[HEyHEY]

They're scary. My Dad had a guy threaten to kill our whole family cause my Dad fired him. He drove around with a machete for a few months.

[stevenleser]

1. Your example sounds more serious and imminent. I've received a lot of email threats

due to the articles and contentious appearances on Fox.

[HEyHEY]

2. I used to get lots of legal threats

As a reporter in Canada.... but they were always fun.

[Hannah Bell]

3. i once was walking to campus & a guy i passed said he was going to stab me with a knife.

he was a stranger. it was in a wooded area just a short distance from a public area -- which he was headed to & i was headed away from.

i followed him & started screaming that he'd said he was going to stab me.

what was amazing is that there were a lot of people around & only one person tried to help me.

the guy said "she's crazy" & walked away.

by that time i was trembling so bad & so confused that everyone was staring at me & not trying to stop him that i lost my will to follow him.

[Jamastiene]

23. You handled it perfectly.

Make them more afraid of you than you are of them. They back off in most cases. I wish people would have helped you though. :hug:

[Hannah Bell]

38. i appreciate you saying that. the incident still bothers me.

[xchrom]

4. i've been abducted at gunpoint, i've been threatened and harrased leaving a gay bar

at gunpoint -- that was arizona, i've been held up at gunpoint right in front of my house.

a thoroughly misspent youth around a cast of extremely sketchy characters that included a murderer or two.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Had a contract put out on me. (actually 2)

I busted someone for a noise violation in a residence hall (dorm). Had a FBI escort for three days in college. The second one was for a drug bust. I wasn't the only one on the contract for that one.

[Very_Boring_Name]

33. yikes! Are you a police officer?

[Behind the Aegis]

41. Nope. I was in college (for #1) and was a R(esident) A(ssistant)...

...for #2, I was a university administrator. The first one turned into a big joke, though the FBI was involved. I "ratted" the loser out to his "crew" and the "hit" was dropped. The second one involved the FBI, the university, state authorities, the DEA, and ATF. I will say the second one was more alarming. Thankfully, I am gay, was very slutty then, and didn't mind asking for help.

[SoCalDem]

6. I had a 9 mm pointed at my head during a robbery

:(

[NuclearDem]

7. Some guy I was having a debate with on the DSCC Facebook page

once threatened to put a bullet in my head. This was after, of course, he suggested someone should kill Al Franken, and me and a few others called him on it. I even called the Secret Service office the next day in Minneapolis to report it.

[Uben]

8. My wife's ex....

...threatened to kill us both, shortly after she divorced him. He is a Viet Nam vet who suffers PTSD and became abusive, mostly verbal but it was getting physical. I had the occasion to answer one of his calls and told him to quit being a pussy and making threats over the phone. I told him if he wants to do something, be a fucking man and do it or shut the fuck up! HE never called again. That was 15 yrs ago. The guy is about 6 foot 4 and weighs around 275, but he is all mouth. He still talks trash about us to his son, who has all but disowned the bastard, but the son considers me more of a dad than his own father. I paid for his son's marriage, I was there for the birth of his daughter, and I am the one who shows up for her birthday parties. When his son needs help, who do you think he calls? I know the guy still hates me, but now it's because I'm more of a father than he ever was. There was no hanky panky going on before they divorced, but he is convinced we were messin around while they were married. It's his delusional mind.
When he started becoming physical, she convinced him to check into the VA.....again. Once there, she divorced his ass. A year and a half later, we were married. The sorry bastard would call and say he was going to kill himself and would fire off a weapon over the phone and lay the phone down like he was dead or something. TAlk about a sorry bastard! HE remarried a couple of years ago, so he is probably abusing his new wife, but I hope he has straightened out. We have had no reports of his abuse of her, but they live a couple of hundred miles away, so we really hear nothing from him anymore.

He had a custom HArley in the garage when we got married. He wouldn't come get it because it gave him a tie to her. I told him to give me an address to ship it to or it was going to Goodwill (she bought it for him because the lazy bastard never could hold a job).
It was after I shipped it to him that he stopped calling.

[Dystopian]

27. Wow....thankfully you're a fucking man, unlike him!

How fucking dare you? You did this, that, and the other thing, blah, blah, blah, for his kids. More of a father, etc.
A Vietnam vet...PTSD, and not one hint of compassion for a man who most likely saw and committed horrific acts....
Lucky for you that you were there to save everyone.

Get a clue about Vietnam vets.

Could have been a different kind of post if you were a humble and compassionate 'man'

Sorry....just thinking about all the Vietnam vets who are 'that man'.
Those dying in gutters, homeless, sick...so very sick after all these years.
Yeah, those lazy bastards.
A great man, you are. Talking shit.

Real men don't brag about being ordinary...



edit: sorry your wife went through such hell.

[Uben]

43. Respectfully, you are wrong.

Viet Nam vets are people just like me and you. Yes, they saw and did some horrible shit. I remember seeing pictures (taken by a brother in law)of dead charred VC having been napalmed and laying in pieces on the ground. It fucked up a lot of good men. I know all to well. I have to deal with them!
When someone threatens my life and the life of loved ones, I take it serious. I don't give a fuck who they are, what their problem is, or why. YOU DON"T EVER THREATEN SOMEONE'S LIFE! EVER! If he ever showed up at my door, there would be severe consequences, very severe.
You don't have any fucking idea what my wife endured. None, but you are chompin at the bit to criticize something you know nothing about? I'll excuse your ignorance because I do believe you thought what you said was somehow noble.

I have more respect for our soldiers than you may think. My son did a tour in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. He is now back in the states and employed as a helicopter pilot. I sent hundreds of dollars of supplies to our soldiers in Iraq during the fighting.
In return, though I expected nothing, they sent me artwork, DVDs of thir lives there, stories of their struggles, and one soldier even sent a charcoal portrait of my wife (from a pic we sent) he had drawn while he was in the brig for a couple of days. I treasure every item and display them proudly in my home. We should all be forever in debt for their service.

My wife is a retired mental health professional. She spent years working in psych wards in hospitals. Not fun. She is pure gold!
Her ex, not so much. HE has no remorse for the way he treated her, and believe me, it was disgusting.....very disgusting! She was convinced the only way she would ever get away from him was by one of them killing the other. Great life, huh? She truly believes I saved her life by coming into her life at that specific time. She says she was 100% sure he was going to eventually kill her.

I'm not bragging about being ordinary, I am ordinary. I don't think what we are dealing with is ordinary by any definition of the word. I would hope if someone threatened the life of one of your family members, you would respond in a similar fashion.

This guy deserves every bit of criticism I lay on him, and more. I respect every man or woman who has ever served in the armed forces in any capacity, but that does not give them license to abuse their family members or anyone else, for that matter.

I am all too aware of how the VA just ignored a lot of these soldiers' problems post war. I know guys who spent a decade just trying to get some meds for their illness so they could just deal with society! If you're a vet, I know you know what I mean.
I'm not criticizing any group, just one fucked up, ignorant, sorry bastard who thinks of no one but himself.

You obviously touched a nerve, as you can see. I apologize if you have taken offense at any of this, it was not meant as an attack on anyone's character other than the ex. I'm no hero by any sense of the word. I AM an ordinary guy who cares about family, country, and honor. But, no one fucks with my family members. No one.

[BanzaiBonnie]

9. Yes, someone was stalking us

He threatened to kill us. First, he poisoned our dog. Then he enlisted another person to help him. Told that guy that they were going "hunting turkeys." He was creeping around our house at night for more than a month. The neighbors saw him running through the woods between us with a bowie knife.

At the crescendo of the incident, I made sure I had a shotgun at hand whenever I was home, sent our two youngest daughters to stay with friends for a couple of weeks, and was very cautious when coming and going from home. A very vulnerable time between car and house. Many distractions and I wanted to ensure being as safe as possible.

I ended up with PTSD. I could not sleep at night for years and could only sleep fitfully on occasion. I caught sleep during the day, when I could.

The police did finally catch the guy and he was sent to prison. When they caught up with him, he and his partner had guns, knives and walkie talkies.

[HEyHEY]

10. Why did he pick you guys?

[BanzaiBonnie]

11. We got our daughter to get way from him

She was 16, he was over 30 and a meth addict. Meth is a bad thing. Makes people really crazy. Of course he got her using too. She eventually got clean from it.

Early in the whole incident, he caught up with my daughter and I and held me physically with one hand around my neck, under my chin, and one hand on his knife. My daughter went with him that time to save my life. I'm pretty sure I would not have left alive if she hadn't.

After that, the police really get serious about the whole thing.

The next time she had a chance to get away from him without risking her life directly, she did. It was after she got away and we were hiding where she was from him that he started the stalking.

[RSillsbee]

12. I was the victim of an attempted mugging

several years ago. The bad guy made some different life choices about the time my pistol cleared my pocket

[IdaBriggs]

13. Yes. A couple of "blowing smoke" during the 2004 election investigation.

One that was kind of scary. Also, my father was in law enforcement, and after one particularly large criminal ring was taken down, there were some serious safety concerns in our family. I was young at the time, and didn't understand all of the caution until years later....(shudder)

[TexasProgresive]

14. Twice

The first I was just out of High School when a friend's abusive father forced another friend and me out of the house at gunpoint. The second my wife's abusive ex-husband was in a park across from our house in the dark. He shouted at us as we were entering. 5 minutes later he called to inform me that he had me in his sights.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Some over the years. It is one of the reasons I am so passionate about the 2nd amendment

The most memorable was right after the bubba declared he was going to kill me, my wife double tapped him.

[bigwillq]

16. No (nt)

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Yes... but in the line of work as an EMT it came

with some of our customers, or rather who we transported and who were their enemies.

[Contrary1]

18. My daughter was in an abusive relationship...

This guy choked her into unconsciousness once, then revived her. Said, "See? I can kill you anytime I want to."

We drove to the college she was attending, pulled her out and brought her home. Her younger brother insisted that she sleep in his bedroom, since this clown knew the layout of our house. He slept on the floor beside her, armed with a baseball bat for weeks.

My daughter was a mess for a couple years. She had trouble sleeping, lost a lot of weight. Any loud noise, and she would tremble for hours. Wasn't able to return to college for a couple years because she was so afraid of him.

Fortunately, the ex was in the reserves, and was called up for active duty. She never saw him again.

A couple years ago, we found out he had barricaded himself in a house after threatening to kill his wife, son, and himself.

He came out the front door with his gun drawn and was shot dead by SWAT members. May have been suicide by cop.

Luckily, the wife and son made it out ok.

[L. Coyote]

19. Does getting stabbed nine times count?

I was nearly killed in Central America while investigating Iran-Contra just before Iran-Contra.

I wish I had simply been threatened!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. You realize how lucky you were

[H2O Man]

20. Yep.

Actually, several. And that includes having a fellow aim a double-barrel shotgun at my head, up mighty close. I wasn't afraid while it was happening, but I was shaking after it was over. Drank a bottle of wine to calm down.

[Jamastiene]

21. Yes, and it changes your outlook on life, at least until

the threat passes. For some people, sadly, the threat takes years to pass once their life is in danger. It is a very scary situation to be in. You start to look at everything differently and you do look over your shoulder a lot. It's a bad bad situation to be in.

[Cleita]

24. I used to be a bartender.

I got threatened more than once. I don't know how serious they were. I'm still here. One time another customer called the police when a drunk I refused to serve threatened me and claimed he was going to come back and kill everyone. I didn't think anything of it until the police arrived armed with helmets, flack jackets and rifles. The made everyone in the bar put their hands up against the wall while they frisked them. The guy I was working with nearly peed in his pants. He was from New Zealand and I found out later in this country illegally. He was afraid they would ask him for his green card. It's funny to think about it now.

[Solly Mack]

25. Yes

As a child my entire family was threatened.

As a middle-schooler a group of boys threatened to kill me and my sister.

As an adult the abusive spouse of a friend I was helping to escape pulled a shotgun on me. Nothing quite like a shotgun in the face to chill your shit.

[bobbolink]

26. YES. The damage it does to a person is horrendous.... especially if it is dimissed.

[davsand]

28. It was a workplace issue.

Lots of stupid and I have never felt more unsafe. I'd been personally threatened and then had a knife broken off in my car tire while I was buying groceries one day after work. He came into my office a couple of days later and was talking trash to me and even brought up my daughter. He got all kinds of strange and was talking about he was gonna "take you all out before you get me..."

I called the State's Attorney and had a long chat with her. This was one of the few times that I have ever used the private phone number of an official I worked to elect, and to this day I have no regrets about making that call.

We worked in that office for about two weeks with armed plain clothes deputies there with us. Finally, they managed to get rid of the asshole along with getting some kind of useless order of protection. The deputies left and there we were--wondering if somebody that nuts would give a shit that they were not supposed to be there. Seemed kinda counter-intuitive to me, really.

This happened a few years ago and I still wake up with panic attacks sometimes--especially if I sleep without some lights on. He messed with my mind bad, and to this day I have made a promise to myself that I will outlive that fucker and I will take a piss on his grave before I die.

This shit is not easy to deal with.



Laura

[Celeborn Skywalker]

29. Held up in Ciudad Juarez

The guys had guns and robbed me of the $20 in my wallet. Then they said they would leave my $5 bill and the $1 bills so I could "have enough money for a beer and a taxi ride home". Very strange. Criminals with a half-conscience? haha

Edit: I don't know if that's a death threat per se but I was pretty terrified.

[Withywindle]

30. Yes. I had an ex who sent me vitriolic ranting emails off and on

for several years. His lovingly-detailed, elaborately-described Deep Thoughts about things he thought I deserved didn't involve JUST painful death, but lots of rape and torture as well.


You bet it changed the way I view all sorts of things. Life, relationships, events it was and wasn't safe to go to, the nature of hatred, the nature of love, the desirability of citizens owning guns (it made me want one), how intimacy can turn against you...the list goes on.

[beltanefauve]

31. Jeckel and Hyde

I had an ex who was a binge-drinker and would have a complete personality change when he drank. We were breaking up when this happened. One night, I came home from work, and was jumped from behind and dragged to the floor. He covered my mouth with one hand and held a kitchen knife to my neck with the other. He repeatedly threatened to send me back to Boston in a box. I really thought I was about to die. Feeling that there was no way out of this, I started saying silent prayers. I don't know if my body relaxed, or my breathing changed or what, but he relaxed too, and dropped the knife. I ran out of there, leaving him looking dazed on the floor. Who knows, maybe only one of his personalities wanted to kill me and the other did not. The next time I saw him, when he was moving out for good, he acted like nothing ever happened.

[ck4829]

32. An outside cat that lived in my neighborhood was stabbed to death and dumped on my doorstep

To this day, I think it was a threat. A lot of stuff happened during that time, so it's impossible to pinpoint why someone would do something that horrific.

[Joe Fields]

34. Yeah, I have. A fellow employee told me he was going to fucking kill me.

He had a butcher knife in his hand and was waving it around. He was serious. We were separated by six feet, with a table between us. He had blood in his eyes and in his voice. I stepped out from behind the table and told him it was time to either put up or shut up. I knew I could disarm him and incapacitate him, if he charged me. He threw down the knife, started crying and ran out of the restaurant. I immediately fired him, and a week later he tried to run me down with his car in the parking lot.

[kimi]

35. I was breaking up with my oldest son's father

He broke into my apartment, raped and beat me up in front of our son, who was about 3 years old. Then he cut the phone line, and when I got out of the apartment, chased me down the street, screaming. Not ONE person would come out, would pay any attention. Chilled me to the core. He finally passed out, after he caught me and took me back home, and his brother came and took him away.

Next day, my mom couldn't get hold of me and sent the police to my apartment. I was still in shock and physical pain. The officers told me that there was no point in trying to file charges, he was the father of my child, and no judge or jury would find him guilty. They told me to move back home with my mom, 400 miles away. She came and took us home 2 days later.

This was back in the 80's. I understand that domestic abuse issues are not taken so lightly anymore. But yeah, I honestly thought that I would die that night, and probably in front of my son.

[Missy Vixen]

36. Our neighbor threatened us days after 9/11

He said Democrats, specifically us, "should be shot" for disagreeing with the President. We knew the guy in question had guns and an explosive temper, so we called the police. I can only imagine how shocked he was when the cops pulled up in front of their house a short time later and told him they'd like to have a little chat with him.

He and his family moved out of the state.

[LTR]

37. Some asshole freeper named AZ Joe emailed me death threats years back

Dunno if that counts. He has sent threats to various DU'ers and even harassed some old Air America hosts. I know this doesn't compare to some of the horror stories I've read in this thread.

Nonetheless, Joe demanded to know where I lived, so I sent him a map of Crawford, TX. Stupid fat fuck probably went there looking for me. Another time, he sent me a message simply saying "Kill yourself motherfucker!" For a time, he was posing as an FBI agent, trying to get personal info out of me. Yeah, Joe's a real piece of work. Got several of his email accounts deleted, and even got him kicked off Free Republic without me even posting there! Needless to say, he really, really loves me!

And yes, I've seen pics of him, and yes, he is a stupid fat fuck. So there.

[Lucian]

39. Aren't all death threats, by definition, legit?

If someone says "I'm going to kill you," I think the law would take it seriously and as legit. :shrug:

[ohheckyeah]

40. Kind of.

I was one of a number of wives of Feds who busted a big drug gang. They found a notebook in their possession with photos of us, our cards and our houses. Pictures of us out shopping, etc. The notebook insinuated they were going to take us out. I knew I was being followed at times but they got busted before they made a move on us. (no longer married to a Fed thank God).

For some reason it really didn't frighten me....I think I'm too stupid to be scared. :-)

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

42. A co-workers paranoid psychotic husband

The lunatic was convinced his wife was sleeping with everyone on earth except him, dude came after me because I traveled extensively with his wife on business. The dude even hired a private investigator who tried to bug my car, which I discovered immediately because it was causing radio interference.

The nutcase ultimately left her and moved to the east coast, but I was pretty spooked for a while.

[EnviroBat]

44. Yes, and I'll never forget the asshole saying "I'll kill you motherfucker..."

That was the moment before he sideswiped me with his car. On was on my Harley. And no I wasn't able to press charges or sue, or anything thanks to "Officer Judge and Jury" who showed up at the scene and immediately labeled me the bad guy. I'm now looking at the possibility of a shoulder replacement two years after the incident.