FYI I have received several death threats from anonymous readers over the years, two of which were cartel coverage related. I don’t consider this Twitter follow as a challenge to my continued existence. [NB: The line under his hash tag is his tag line, not a Tweet.] And anyway, if this Mark guy wants to take me out I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot I could do to stop him—given the weapon he’s wielding. So WTH. I sent my new follower an electronic follow request, so I can follow him following me. Following him. If this goes south this bad-ass baldie better have an RSS feed in the back of his head. Or something like that.
Hmm.. a “Death Tweet.” At once scary and ridiculous. Now you know how George Zimmerman feels.
You seem to be taking it in stride.
wtf?!
is that an actual threat or is it just his ‘tag’ line?
Tag line. I hope.
Stalker…
or wannabe…
Probably some punk kid living in his mother’s basement pretending he’s a badass between playing his videogames and his stack of comics…that’s probably a photo from a movie clip.
Or not.
It Does remind me of a (Much) younger Rob Pincus 🙂
RF: When I read Mark’s tweet it simply sounded like a typical “Spec OPs” credo, not something aimed at you! You run a popular gun web site. He’s a fan, not a threat. Maybe a slightly over-the-top wave-his-specopness fan, but a fan. “Every step you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you.” Yeah, so he’s watching. Your web site. He’s helping you reach your goal. Go on spotting interesting items, writing, and editing. Let him go on practicing silent walking and scalp de-glossing.
Actually I know where this guy is; mom’s basement. I been hitting that for decades, even before he was born. Boy was his “dad” upset when he found out.
Doesn’t that tweet constitute a terrorist threat. I would not let this go. ipo’s and registration info can be traced in most cases. This is the type of person gun control it’s validity.
I’m a moderator on another forum dealing with of all things, tractors. I am still amazed at how worked up some folks can get over stuff posted on a blog or forum. I have seen flaming, threats, vile cursing of people and their ancestors, and much more, all over some words on a screen. I sincerely hope your cyber “stalker” is indeed some 12 year old pimple infested nerd that has way too many hours of HALO experience in his brain. If it was an actual real “operator”, I doubt VERY much he would be giving you a heads up that he was after you. Very bad opsec on his part.
Nowadays, any threat needs to be taken seriously. I know you don’t like 5-0 but you have daughters you need to be thinking of also. Talk to the cops and let them decide if it’s something to worry about. Doing your own threat assesment may be like a lawyer who has himself for a client. Just saying.
100% what he said.
Robert,
It is definitely a creepy message, but I do not believe it necessarily constitutes a death threat. It could however be construed as stalking. Although criminal statutes very by state, you are usually dealing with the professional opinion of the officer(s) or threat assessment units in your local PD.
I know that you have had negative experiences with law enforcement, but it may be worth it to bring this to the attention of your local PD, even if it is only to file an incident report. The incident report could be subsequently subpoenaed in the event of additional inappropriate or illegal activities. An incident report should be relatively easy to file, and can be completed even in the absence of an actual criminal violation. If you take the threat seriously based upon the totality of the circumstances, than I believe it is worth the effort.
Even though it is not tactically sound, some stalkers will warn a target prior to engaging in threatening behaviors. It is a mistake to think that criminals are limited to rational or reasonable actions.
I have received death threats and veiled threats on several occasions. We will occasionally pull an officer off of the road during threat investigations, although that has never happened to me. I have met some folks off-duty that I have cited / impounded cars / arrested who were not happy to see me (one of whom was a rather large bouncer at a strip club). I was able to excuse myself without further incident.
I’ll say also that I greatly appreciate your work with TTAG. It goes without saying that speaking the truth will greatly upset some folks. The 2nd Amendment and CCW is the best defense of the 1st and 4th Amendments. You certainly seem to have a great appreciation of all of the above.
Or a doctor who treats himself…..I agree call 5-0
It’s a tagline, folks. Simmer down.
He’s a guy interested in guns who’s following a guy who writes about guns. Nothing to see here.
Although… if it wasn’t just a tagline, maybe it’s me. It’s a veiled threat of what will happen if I don’t get my email updates back soon.
My dad used to get death threats. He always said, “It’s not the ones who tell you they are going to kill you that you need to worry about – it’s the ones who don’t tell you.”
This post had me laughing out loud. (Quiet now…coworkers are starting to take notice.)
I visited this guy’s Twitter page. It’s set to private so his tweets aren’t visible, but the “I’m watching you” thing is right there in his public tagline for everyone to see. What he means by it isn’t clear, but if he’s using it as his public bio, odds are it’s not a threat against Farago or anyone in particular (pretty sure RF knows that).
A death threat is a douchebag’s way of saying that you actually matter.
An real-no-sh!t-operator who uses Twitter? LMAO!
Robert, I don’t know if his words are a common tag line, a commando wanna-be trying to be a somebody on the Internet , or someone who needs to be taken seriously. You are obviously concerned enough to post about it here. I realize you are not a fan of relying upon police competence and integrity, and do not like gun-phobic people over-reacting to guns and gun owners. I agree with jwm above that is difficult for people to do their own threat assessment. Still, as jwm wrote above you do have daughters to be concerned about. Make your decision separate from your pride.
Me, I’ve always been spooked by that creepy Christmas Card Stalker: “He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good…”
And then he breaks into your house and leaves you… “presents”… Always on the same day…
🙂 I’ll never look at Christmas the same way again.
My God Man! Fishhooks at eye-level during Christmas, too.
thanks a fvcking lot, Darth Mikey. I just got over the whole easter bunny thing and you open this can of worms. Jeebus, my therapist is gonna love this.
You have to look out for your safety and family when dealing with a threat or possible threat.
However, you should also be proud that people are threatening you, because –
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” — Winston Churchill
One of the commenters on TTAG said several months ago: “I believe that being despised by the despicable is as good as being admired by the admirable.”
Take care. As your popularity increases, so does the need for more and more personal security.
^^Start carrying an extra gun.
Wait, wait, hold on a minute. I’m trying to grasp the thought process of those who make the death threats. Do people actually think, “Hey, this writer guy said something I didn’t like! And he is very clearly armed, and knows what he’s doing! I should try to intimidate him!”
The stupid. It hurts.
Looks like someone needs a hug
He’s just pissed that someone stole his Darth Vader Helmet.
Hey. I resemble that remark.
Remind Mr. Tough Guy it’s a crime to threaten on the net, been several prosecutions already
You guys are putting the worst construction on this….
Mark obviously is expressing his willingness to protect Robert. Like a Ninja, he is there for Robert, 24/7/365. When Robert most needs him, he’ll suddenly appear.
Kind of like a fairy godmother or like Tinker Bell.
Come on guys, be more positive.
Antis make death threats against gun owners daily, simply by maintaining their stance that all should be disarmed and at the mercy of criminals.
Doesn’t it say that he’s from California, if I’m reading the SoCal tag correctly? That would make his VFG and little shoulder thingy that goes up illegal, right?
I can’t tell if there’s a VFG or not. The stock is legal if it is pinned.
Farago, as they say on Swamp People….”Choot em! Choot Em!!” He’s probably a harmless nut, but be prepared to kill him anyway.
I don’t even USE Twitter and I can tell that’s a tagline.
So much derp in here today.
smh
I could be wrong, but operators or spec op they are supposed to hide ther identity?
Professional soldiers are predictable; amateurs are dangerous.
Murphy law
Better safe than sorry so watch out take action go to your local PD.
First of all, I’m very confused. Was there any actual comment directed at the TTAG writer? Why would anyone assume that someone else’s tag line was directed at them personally, absent any other evidence suggesting it was?
“if this Mark guy wants to take me out I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot I could do to stop him—given the weapon he’s wielding.”
That’s a needlessly defeatist attitude. You do carry a handgun, don’t you? The guy with the biggest gun doesn’t necessarily win. Maintain your situation awareness, and react aggressively while delivering accurate return fire should some nutjob with a rifle assault you.
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