A Death Threat
I don’t even know what to do with this. This was a comment left on my blog tonight. I’m thinking of calling the police. Am I over reacting?
I talked to the police about it. They wanted to see the comment. I printed out the comment, with the IP address and the email address. I also did an IP trace on it and found out that it is a Comcast IP. I called Comcast and talked with their Internet Department. They would not act on it and suggested I call my "local authorities". So, I did. I turned over to them this morning a screen print of the comment that you see above, without the email address blotted out, the IP trace, which has a location in Potomac, Maryland, and the map showing the exact location of the IP.
I talked with a police sargent who stated that because it is from another state, there is very little they can do about it. He wanted to keep the printout and asked that if I get anymore from this individual, that I report it immediately. He thought it was just someone trying to rile me, and didn't think it would occur again. But then again, you never know. Troubling.
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Hi Margaret.
I traced the IP to the person who made the threat (he lives in Maryland). I also found out that this person uses Comcast. So, I called Comcast to complain. I started to give the the IP address, and they interrupted me, saying they didn't even want to hear about it, because there was "nothing that they could do." They told me to take it to my local police, and if they saw fit to pursue it, the police would serve them with the necessary paper work to release the person's identity.
"Identity?", I asked. "I can tell you the person's home address."
Not getting anywhere with Comcast, I took their advice and took the information to my local police and reported it. They kept the information and put it on file, just in case something happened. I responded, "You mean, like I'm killed?" They responded, "Until something happens, all we have is a piece of paper that could just be an idle threat. It takes a lot of work to take action against some person that's not in our jurisdiction, let alone another state."
So, there I was. Not really being able to do anything. Crazy world, isn't it?
Hi.. I am a lesbian my self and seeing such a hateful message makes me scared of the world. You never know how serious it can be until something really happens. I think they should get the person responsible for this message and do something about him/her.
Oh, in a follow-up. I wonder if this is some sort of new tactic by the right wing nuts. Just learned recently that a very good liberal blogger I know had her personal information stolen by a wing nut and posted to a right wing site. She received death threats via her blog but also by phone and mail. The FBI finally had to get involved after she received hundreds of calls in one day threatening her and her family. It was not a pretty thing.
That's not to scare you, but just to let you know that taking it to the police was definitely the right thing to do. Chances are this was just one stupid kid or something but it's better safe than sorry with these people.
I'm glad you contacted the police. And relieved that they actually took it seriously.
I am assuming the person who left this death threat did so in response to the previous post concerning the passing of Falwell.
If so, it isn't surprising. Anyone who would let a man like that influence how they live their life certainly wouldn't know anything about Christian morals, or the teachings of Jesus Christ who championed the idea of live, and let live.
The real evil has almost always lain with the leaders of "the church". You know, the guys who wrote and edited the Bible for their own twisted desires?
Buck is right, turn it in to the users ISP and notify your local police as well.
I suppose you are right. It came from a yahoo.com email address. Of course, the account could have been stolen. I don't know if I should take it serious since he did indicate that he didn't know where I lived.
Well, since they're so stupid they don't realize that their IP address is logged... I'd first notify their ISP and have their account shut off then notify authorities. After all, it is a direct threat of physical violence and most states now have laws against such actions (in many they are now felonies.) If they don't arrest him, at least they can make his life Hell for awhile with the investigation.