If Hillary wins, I will be respectful of our leader. If you could read my thoughts, I would be on the SS [Secret Service] watch list.
So, I did what a responsible person should do when they see something like this on a blog. I called the Secret Service to report it. This comment isn't about politics or defaming Senator Clinton. It outright states a threat to her life. It is unacceptable.
The Secret Service, who does an amazing job protecting their subjects, were very professional. The first person I spoke to transferred me to another person. Initially, she dismissed my comments. But, when I read her the comment and suggested that the person could be easily identified, she took me much more seriously. She called back minutes later, asking me to talk to someone else. That agent took the information and said that he would refer it to their Internet team.
It is a completely different discussion to have when debating the appropriateness of offensive comments. This, however is not a part of that discussion. When the life of anyone is threatened in any part of our corner of the internet, we should take appropriate action.
59 comments:
I'm surprised they ended up taking this so seriously - particularly after first dismissing it.
Can you give more details of how the conversation went?
Just trying to understand what made them change their mind and take it seriously? Thanks!
That is probably the weakest comment on that site. There are numerous comments talking about keeping guns loaded and literally saying there will be a civil war. The far right has been preaching a message of hatred (and not just of Hilary) for so long it's amazing someone hasn't already taken her out.
It's not just O'Falafel's site either. Go take a look around Little Green Footballs and Free Republic and you'll see TONS of the same crap, including people vocally advocating murder. That shit has been going on for YEARS.
Those people really do make me wonder if our constitutional government is already doomed to failure. How can it succeed when so many people hold the view that the government itself is the enemy rather than the tool it was designed to be. They seem determined to destroy it.
You have to pay with a credit card to leave comments on BO's site, so wouldn't it be simple for the feds to track down whose making the threats?
Thanks to the Patriot Act, it's very easy. Wonder how easily BillOs company will give up their customer's information?
Where do you think the CC # records from Bill'O's site get routed? Right to the NSA, eh? :-P
-floundericiousMI
What if it was O'Reilly himself, posting under an assumed name?
Ha ha! You got the brush off! When I called in death threats posted on Democrat Underground, they had me send in screen caps and came out to my house and took a statement!
My... my Lane, aren't you a regular little junior detective and I love your Bio picture, so pensive and thoughtful looking.
at least this time it's not the usual childish "they did it first" meme. But at least have the guts to point out that it's a problem across the board. Till then you're just another preening weenie.
Your headline is very misleading. More apropos: "Internet nobody investigating O'Reilly and crank calling the Secret Service".
I love it when anonymous folks pretend they are tough. It's one of the problems with school being out for the Summer, they are left home alone to play on mommy's computer and portray themselves as black belts, special forces, and as having completed puberty; none of which they can substantiate.
Kids today.
Glad you made the call. Someone had to. America can't tolerate the kind of hate that seems to be so permissive on Bill O'Reilly's website and if his forums have turned into a camping ground of sorts for those who would consider harming the President, any President, I'd feel safer knowing it was investigated and the potential evil-doers rooted out, interrogated and if found to pose a threat, penalized appropriately under the full extent of the law.
I see your concern, but your response seems a little too 1984 (the book, not the year) for my taste. O'Reilley (or however you spell his name, I don't really care) doesn't sit all that well with me either, but if we go after what people are THINKING and FEELING, then I'm pretty sure all of us would have some jail time waiting for us.
Save the tattle-taling for the more explicit threats some of your other commenters have described. It is not illegal to be displeased, it's not even illegal to have hatred in your thoughts. It is only illegal to ACT on those impulses.
Good for you for taking action! Making retarded remarks and smears in DailyKos and JetBlue is one thing but threatening someone life is another. O'Falafel site and Faux Noose should be shut down. Freedom of speech is one thing and threatening a life is going too far.
Cheers!
The GOP site FreeRepublic is a goldmine of these types of psychotic statements. The media hypes up some nonsense about Daily Kos, yet there have been death threats and tons of sick stuff on major Republican sites like FreeRepublic for years. FR is a site which actually condones threats against gays especially and people there freely call them "dirty fags", "queers", and "homos" while talking of murder and execution. Hello? FR is the main founding organization of CPAC. When is the goddamn worthless media going to connect the dots?
Glenn Johnson said that "it is only illegal to ACT on those impulses." This is not entirely true. In the case of the president, a threat is considered an act. So hatred in your heart is fine, but hatred in the form of a threat is an act that is illegal--and the Secret Service takes those VERY seriously. A threat against you or me, less so.
See also similar violent threats posted routinely on Metacafe and LiveLeak video sites. Often there is an anti-Muslim element to them.
The secret service is not a 'who.' The secret service, as an entity, is an 'it'.
It is not "the secret service, who does an amazing job...," it should read "the secret service, which does an amazing job,..."
"Only illegal to ACT on those impulses"???!
Are you smoking crack?
What do you think happens when someone plots to carry out a terrorist attack and gets caught. You think they get off the hook because they didn't actually carry it out, but were only talking about it?
If someone makes a public statement about actually wanting to harm someone, whether it be the president or a bum on the street, that is grounds for calling the police.
Idiocy is not excuse. Kudos for taking appropriate action on BillO's website -- it's insane that he tolerates such postings, then rants against others.
Of course, the best hypocrites are always the preachers...
It is a federal crime to threaten the person of the President of the United States. 18 USC section 871. It is a federal crime to engage in a conspiracy to threaten or assassinate the President. 18 USC 1751. It is a federal crime to advocate 'civil war' or other violent domestic acts. 18 USC 231.
O'Reilly and Fox will have no choice but to reveal the identity of their commenters pursuant to a valid investigation of a possible crime. There is no federal shield law for journalists (and I realize, that term applies very loosely to anyone working for Rupert Murdoch) which allows them to conceal evidence of a possible crime. Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 US 665 (1972).
Sorry, suckers. Hope you like your cell mate.
What is with the hate on this blog? I believe that the blog forum is about respect for each other and not hate. However, everyone has a right to defend themselves. Even you the blog owner.
grammar man said...
the secret service is not a 'who.' the secret service, as an entity, is an 'it'.
it is not "the secret service, who does an amazing job...," it should read "the secret service, which does an amazing job,..."
grammar man is being investingated by the grammar police.
i called the grammar police and told them that somebody was impersonating one of their own on blogs.
the person who took my call first dismissed me, then passed me on to another person. that person took my information and said they would look into it.
it is a literary violation to impersonate the grammar police, punishable by 50 days of forcible correcting of tweeners' text messages.
What is with the hate on this blog? I believe that the blog forum is about respect for each other and not hate. However, everyone has a right to defend themselves. Even you the blog owner.
Filed under "Comment Would Be Superfluous"
(Although I was sorely tempted to smack him upside the head with a frosty, dewy can of STFU)
Anecdote:
I tried to set up BushBots by writing "the only real question: impeach or assassinate?" That's from a 1998 Ann Coulter book about Pres. Clinton and when I got some BushBot to object to my post, I'd let him know I got the quote from one of his spokespersons.
Yes, the Secret Service did pay me a visit.
Details here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/3/181126/1557
Lane, Glad to see you're back at it. Keep us posted on what you're up to, man. Greg, Charleston CP
You couldn't reach as many people in 30 years as BO reaches in 30 minutes. This is a sad and pitiful game. That comment about Hillary was extremely tame compared to the filth the leftard haters spew on Kos every day. Grow up.
I'm glad someone is finally doing what Bill Clinton did. He had Americans imprisoned for threatening him. As it should be.
NOW, maybe President Bush will have the leftists threatening him on a daily basis imprisoned.
Following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton.
Obviously, some right wing blog has linked you. It's like somebody left a window open and some creepy keeps buzzing around.
I'm curious which site it is. It seems to be a fairly slack-jawed/angry group. I'm guessing it's Malkin-affiliated.
Hey Ken,
Do you have any examples of the "hate filled" comments from kos? If so, why don't you post them. Try doing it in context, unlike billo.
I'll wait but can already hear the crickets chirping.
Your piece says that the comment in question "outright states a threat to her life". It absolutely does not.
The poster might be a moron, or even a nutjob, but you do readers no favors by adding shrill mischaracterizations to the matter at hand.
Frightning. Its great that you took initiative and made some calls though.
so.. you reported thoughtcrime?
Yes, that's right, only The Right (i.e. "The Others Who Don't Agree With Me") are capable of threatening political figures, because as we all know, no one has eeeeeeeeeeever said anything vile about Bush et al. ;) I call shenanigans on your weak cheese, Mister blogger.
This is one one the things that make-up an investigation file.
Who in their right minds would pay five bucks to hear Bill OOOOOOOO's bulshit?
So I assume that posted all the threats to Bush/Cheney/Tony Snow, et all that are posted daily (I mean hourly) on Daily Kos and others.
Or when Jane Hamsher of Fire Dog Lake said "The bitch is dead meat"
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2006/01/why-kate-obeirne-is-dangerous-bitch.html
You report that one to the Secret Service or law enforcement?
No of course you didn't, cause you're a partisan ideological hack.
Whatever happened to poor old Dwight Porcher? And how long did it take the SS to pickup on his errant e-mail to W on Jan. 20, 2001? I think the time lapse could be measured in minutes...oh, alright, hours.
The Secret Service pulled a 14 year old girl out of her honor's history class, because the kid expressed her opposition to the war in Iraq, by putting a picture of George Bush on her MySpace webpage, with a crude, childish drawing of a knife, pointed at the top of his head--and the words--"Kill Bush."
Does anyone remember using the words- "I'll Kill you!" as a child? Did you literally mean that as a serious death threat?
The Secret Service claims that they only investigate "credible threats."
Yet, apparently, in their expert opinion, this child's webpage indicated a "credible threat" against the life of the president.
I think we have lost the ability to use common sense.
Ha. Every day someone makes a remark about George Bush dying or being killed, and yet none of the little liberals are raising a ruckus.
That's not a threat, that's a sly remark about how much that person dislikes Hillary Clinton. And hey, what legitimate human being with a soul and without an extra chromosome on No. 21 doesn't dislike her?
Pretty funny that google offers up an ad for BO.com on this post, but not as funny as the wingnut dimwits who are posting.
Btw, there is no number 21 on which there are chromosomes; there are, however, number 21 chromosomes. But that involves science, so I wouldn't expect a wingnut to get that correct.
I consider myself a progressive and run toward liberal. But I have to agree that the person who originally wrote that comment intends to respect the President - whomever it is. I wish other Conservatives acted the same. the ending of the statement - "If my thoughts..." - is similar to Bob Dylan's lyric "It's Alright Ma" in which he says "If my thought-dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine. But it's alright, Ma, it's life and life only." Coulter should have been arrested and the others like her, too.
The next time you feel the need to complain to some important entity about what bothers you, take it down a notch to a level that wont possibly HINDER and convolute any real investigation into a possible threat.
His comment was nowhere near threatening. You simply feel the need to act important but you are not and your actions were childish.
So stick to badgering the management at McDonalds instead of a government agency. Your free blog page does not make you some kind of internet detective.
Believe it or not, the Secret Service can and will google search just as well as you can. noob.
FBI: give me a google search for... oreily +hilary +SS
Thank god man you avoided a national catastrophe!!!
what we do without your "browsing the internet" specialty skills.
someone give this ass a medal.
All I have to say is wtf? wtf! wtf? wtf! wtf? The idiot called secret services? Man I knew people were getting stupider everyday, but gee I don't think Moore would sink this low! Wow they should of called secret services on themselves those crazy idiots. Hmmm makes you wonder though.....But hey thats Democrats for you they do nothing, but complain, cry, dictate, complain, cry, talk to much, lie to everyone they talk to.
It's fascinating that wacko conservatives see their own serious flaws in people left of center yet don't realize they are seeing themselves.
This is a very punk site. What are you, kid, about 23 years old? It sounds like you're trying to come across as an adult and greatly missing the boat.
All you partisans, on both sides, take the attitude "we're righteous and pure; they're evil and corrupt."
You've all subjugated your understanding and judgements to one set of partisan values and one perspective. You're too intellectually enslaved by partisanship to realize you, and your parties, are equally flawed. You're too intellectually restricted by partisanship to realize that you only perceive one small slice of factual reality. And, by the appearance of statements on this site, you all are kool-aid drinkers, taking all the political stances offered up by your politicians as definitively reflecting factual reality. You just can't come to accept that you are lied to by your politicians just as much as your opposing politicians lie to their supporters.
Lies, obfuscation, blurring the distinction between truth and political fantasy are accepted efforts in politics--your politicians will use any technique to get the one thing they're really after, your votes. You deify your politicians when, by definition, they are "liars, cheats, and thieves."
Sure, let's get the feds after the other side, but let's defend our side for doing the same thing. Let's generate hate on our sites, but condemn the hatred on our opponents' sites. Yeah, right.
You partisans are such intellectual weaklings. Like the young fool who runs this site, you just don't seem to get it. You have subjugated your understanding and judgements to the intellectual restrictions of partisanship.
I see your concern, but your response seems a little too 1984 (the book, not the year) for my taste. O'Reilley (or however you spell his name, I don't really care) doesn't sit all that well with me either, but if we go after what people are THINKING and FEELING, then I'm pretty sure all of us would have some jail time waiting for us.
You're a bit slow, Glen. Do you really suppose that someone who says "I'm thinking of blowing up the plane" will or should be left alone by TSA?
You report that one to the Secret Service or law enforcement?
It wouldn't have done any good because, unlike you, they aren't morons and would recognize that the comment wasn't a death threat. OTOH, this person came right out and explicitly said that they were subject to the SS's concerns.
No of course you didn't, cause you're a partisan ideological hack.
All Republicans/conservatives/right wingers are hypocritical scum.
Yes, that's right, only The Right (i.e. "The Others Who Don't Agree With Me") are capable of threatening political figures, because as we all know, no one has eeeeeeeeeeever said anything vile about Bush et al. ;) I call shenanigans on your weak cheese, Mister blogger.
Yes, of course, saying that someone is a liar and the worst pResident in history, and calling for him to be impeached, is equivalent to a death threat.
No what matters is that O'Reilly sent some lackey to harass the Jet Blue CEO for not taking responsibility for what appears on a website.
You'll find this gem on Bill's own site:
“BillOReilly.com will not be held liable for any user activity on the message boards. We do not actively monitor user-submitted content.”
Bill O'Reilly holds people accountable for what's posted on someone ELSE'S website.
Meanwhile he prints a disclaimer saying he will not take responsibility for what's posted on HIS OWN website.
And that folks, is the most ridiculous item of the day.
Goodness..Bill O’ is very strange—no, actually a sad man.....I am in Europe and he is not much disussed here.hardly anyone knows him, or the bias on Fox.
This I found about his very controversial boycott campagne..it was not just France but Canada as well that he targeted....is he still doing this?
check a screenshot done from The O'Reilly Factor:
http://Sommersprosse007.blogspot.com/
"Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one!"
Try to understand!! Democrats, Republicans and most politicians are pretty much the same. Most of them really don't care much about the people of the US or keeping in place the things that made this country great. They keep selling out our freedoms and property they only care about the power of the party so they can keep their good life, their little corner of the world at the expense of the citizens. It's all about power not doing what is right.
Don't worry it won't be long and this great experiment called the United States of America will be over and we'll return to being like the rest of the world...ruled by aristocrats, kings, and queens. Wake up people!!! Think and look around before it is too late. Very few in Washington care about you!! Our experience in the US is like no other in the context of time and history. Our experience here is like a flicker of time compared to the rest of the world. Look at the old Soviet Union, China and India that's two thirds of the worlds population wrapped up in just three groups of people and it's people have never, ever experienced even one day like you and I experience here every day. Why should it last? We are an anomaly compared to the rest of the world and anomaly’s come and go. We have a choice to use our talents like our fore fathers did and work together to secure this grand experiment... or we can keep fighting amongst ourselves walking hand in hand with the rest of the world, returning to their misery where only the elite has the freedom to decide their fate...and ours. Today’s American elite are not Republicans nor are they Democrats...they are both and they have lost there way.
the problem is not that they have lost their way... the problem is that everyone is so afraid of hurting someone's feelings... unless you are on the far left, then it is ok to say something bad about someone, but god forbid someone say's anything bad about the far left...
There is nothing wrong with the Dems or the Reps...it's the far left and the far right that are quacks....sometimes they say things and I just shake my head and think "how in the world do these people come up with these things"
anyone want to come on over and read my comment on silly billy o'reilly. i'd like to imagine i just wrote an amusing one.
femalepoliticalandsocialcomment.blogspot.com
please feel free to pass judgement, vitriolic or otherwise
bye
anyone want to come on over and read my comment on silly billy o'reilly. i'd like to imagine i just wrote an amusing one.
femalepoliticalandsocialcomment.blogspot.com
please feel free to pass judgement, vitriolic or otherwise
bye
WE CAN TELL YOU ARE BORED.PEOPLE THAT REALLY INTEND TO KILL PEOLPE DO NOT TELL PEOPLE.
Good Job! :)
Your a banana and should get a life.
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