Call to action: Twitter needs to use its power to stop graphically abusive accounts

 

  Warning: Some of the images in this post are not safe for work. 

Twitter is an open forum for anyone who wants to tweet their mind. That's great. I partake in a big way. But when I get tweets-- daily, hourly, sometimes piling on one after the other-- that are abusive, insulting, viciously demeaning, hostile, and sometimes violent, then it's time to take action.

Twitter sure doesn't. I know that for a fact, because I've tried over and over again to convince them that in some cases, it stops being free speech and starts feeling like assault.

 [NOTE: This post is not about cyber bullies, although they, too, are abusive; I've been harassed and smeared for years by one "progressive" who many of you became aware of and have since avoided. This is about extremist trolls, who also happen to bully.]

I regularly hear from right wing extremists, tea partiers, and total nutcases (that's not hyperbole, there are some very sick people out there). When they're civil, I simply ignore or block them, and even debate them once in awhile. And yes, I admit to succumbing to occasional lapses of playing Whack a Troll just to share their ignorance with my followers, using as much snarky mockitude as I can muster up.

But then there are those who pop in repeatedly to suggest various activities that they want me to engage in-- with my own body or theirs-- and apply colorful words like c**t and suck my c**k, simply because they've read my tweets and don't agree with me. I don't know these people nor am I familiar with their accounts, but they get some kind of perverse pleasure out of following my threads and entering my stream with slurs, attacks, and irrational tirades.

Almost without exception, these trolls oppose me politically, and that's fine. But the intense hatred spewed by many of them is disruptive, highly offensive, and completely out of line.

There is a particularly rabid one who should be in jail or in a padded cell-- again, no hyperbole. If I were to post screen grabs of his avatars, messages, and profile photos, you'd literally want to gag. My own husband couldn't get through them. Unfortunately, catching sight of them is unavoidable when they're in my stream or when I go to block and report.

Imagine the most frantically vile, graphic images depicting blatant racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, bigotry, and self-loathing. They include explicit close-up photos of defecation and the most hard-core XXX porn you can imagine, abominable references, every kind of debasement of women and young men, degrading photos of celebrities and our president and first lady, you name it.

And the crude, twisted tweets he sends me match the vulgar visuals. He has also opened accounts using my likeness (taken from my Twitter account), as well as those of other high-profile liberals like Rachel Maddow, Lizz Winstead, John Fugelsang, Bill Maher, and Rosie O'Donnell, among others.

In short, he is an obsessed, deranged, seething, hostile, psychologically impotent (and likely, physically) conservative coward who consistently targets progressives, mostly women. Here are semi-cleaned up, edited grabs of two of his tamer suspended accounts. Trust me when I say, they get much worse than these:

Here is one of his defunct profile pages

A tweet he sent out under my name and avi

This is one reason I stay anonymous. It started when a stalker came to close, sending me a Google map of my neighborhood, so that was that.

This person has been suspended well over 500 times. I've reported him to Twitter well over 100 times, and finally contacted my local authorities as well as the FBI more than once. But because he didn't threaten my life, they did nothing. As I type this, he's added at least three more Twitter accounts that I'm aware of.

I've endured this for years, literally. Because of this, I felt it was time to put out a call to action. Perhaps if enough of us demand more oversight from Twitter, especially those of us who are sick to death of being barraged with disgustingly offensive messages and photos, then maybe Twitter will take notice and do something.

It's unimaginable that they can't devise a better system to rid Twitter of such filth.

By the way, when I tried to fill out one of their complaint forms, I didn't have a link to the offending tweet, so the form wouldn't go through. I didn't have a link because I blocked him, and the account was immediately suspended so the tweet was no longer accessible. So I'm snail mailing them, and I'm including about two dozen graphic screen shots of 93 of the suspended profiles I've captured.

Here is the tweet:

"I'd like to take a 12 in figurine of a smiling G W. Bush and ram it up your stinking communist ass."

Please share this post and contact Twitter. It's worth a shot to at least try to turn things around for once. I'm fed up with having to so much as glance at the malignancies that come my way.

Thank you.

Twitter contact information:

Twitter, Inc. 1355 Market St, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94103

And to Twitter users, some general contact info, not that it will do much good:

@Support

@Twitter

@Spam

To file a ticket, go here.

To report an abusive or offensive user, go here.

UPDATE: Here is a sample letter sent by one of my favorite commenters:

Twitter, Inc 1355 Market St., Suite 900 San Francisco CA 94103

Attn: Dick Costolo, CEO

Dear Sir:

I’ve become more and more alarmed by the threatening, harassing tweets bombarding people like GottaLaff and urge you to take them seriously. One man who sends one tweet after another threatening her, even sending her a map of her neighborhood, forced her to resort to using a pseudonym on Twitter and he still doesn’t stop.

Spam is bad enough but when one is verbally bashed and/or threatened it is not to Twitter’s benefit and such tweets should not be ignored. Just reporting or blocking them isn’t sufficient to stop their abuse; they simply open a new account under a different name - as you know.

Surely Twitter can trace an account back to an IP address and demand that they cease such dangerous behavior. I understand that tweets can be sent from IP addresses that are used by many people (at cafes, for instance) but there is such a thing as product liability. I’m urging you to hold the owners of such IP addresses responsible for the damage their users do. Even bar owners who serve people after they are drunk are held responsible for the damage their customers do.

I’ve enjoyed Twitter for a few years and want to continue to do so but such threatening behavior makes a pleasant experience completely abhorrent and there’s a limit to the amount of such behavior I, and others, will accept.

Please develop a policy to identify & ban such people from the Twitter feed.

Bernie Madoff Assaulted in Prison?

By GottaLaff

I'm not a fan of headlines with question marks, but sometimes they're necessary:

An ABC affiliate in North Carolina is reporting that Bernie Madoff was admitted to Duke University Hospital last Friday with serious injuries consistent with an assault.

Officials at the prison won't confirm the report, hence the ?

WTVD, the ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, says that according to sources the convicted Ponzi schemer had facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung and was discharged from Duke two days ago.

Ouch!

S&Mer Jetton Tried to Ban Gay "Deviate Sexual Intercourse"

By GottaLaff

The hypocrisy is jaw-dropping, but not surprising. Yesterday I posted about Former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton (R), who "was charged with felony assault that allegedly happened during an S&M session gone wrong".

Look out kiddies, Rod (amusing name, considering the circumstances) has it out for "deviant" Teh Gay Love!

Safe word alert level: Red (green apparently didn't work).

Here's the latest:

Rod Jetton (R), the Missouri power broker who is accused of assault in a S&M encounter gone bad, apparently fought to ban "deviate sexual intercourse" in his state -- at least when it involved same sex couples, TPM reports.

Now, the Kansas City Star reports Jetton "will be leaving politics to deal with false allegations and spend time with his family," according to a statement issued by his lawyer.

I wonder if his family wants to spend time with him.

Those wascal Wushpublics, they're America's best constant source of Family Values debauchery!

Former Republican MO House Speaker charged with felony assault, allegedly during S&M session

By GottaLaff

Ooo lala, another Rushpublic Sexcapade. Are you listening, Cliff Schecter?

Former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton (R) "was charged with felony assault that allegedly happened during an S&M session gone wrong," reports the Riverfront Times.

I can only imagine what would have happened if it had gone right. No, on second thought...

Reports say Jetton told the woman to use the safe words "green balloons" to make him stop but she was apparently drugged, fading in-and-out of consciousness and unresponsive.

Maybe if she'd chosen a better safe word? Like, oh I dunno, "Stop!!!!"

KFVS-TV:

Jetton is accused of abusing the woman at her home in mid-November, a claim that Wilson first disputed Monday evening. A statement from Wilson reads: "Mr. Jetton was shocked and surprised when first advised of the allegation made against him. Now that a complaint is filed in court, Mr. Jetton's only comments are that he is not guilty, and will vigorously defend this allegation in court and not in the media."

Jetton is named in a complaint filed Monday in Scott County Circuit Court. In the complaint, prosecuting attorney Paul Boyd accuses Jetton of hitting the woman in the head and "choking her, resulting in unconsciousness and the loss of function of a part of her body." [...]

According to the affidavit, the woman remembers Jetton hitting her on the face very hard, then waking up and lying on the floor with Jetton choking her. She then recalled waking up and having sex with Jetton in the bedroom, then waking up the next morning with Jetton in her bed.

Rushpublic gone wrong. Very wrong. Welcome to the "Family Values" party.

Ew Factor: Through the roof.

Evangelist Alamo sentenced to 175 years on sex charges

By GottaLaff

Occasionally, real justice is done:

Evangelist Tony Alamo is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison after an Arkansas judge sentenced him to 175 years in prison Friday on charges that included taking minors across state lines for sex, according to prosecutors.

Who is this Tony Alamo they speak of, you ask?

Tony Alamo (born Bernie LaZar Hoffman on September 20, 1934^[1][2]) is an American preacher, singer, entrepreneur, religious evangelist, and convicted child sex offender. He and his late wife Susan are best known as the founders of a nominally Christian organization currently known as Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. [...]

On July 24, 2009 Alamo was convicted in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, sitting in Texarkana, Arkansas, on 10 counts of Interstate Transportation of Minors for Illegal Sexual Purposes, Rape, Sexual Assault and Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors.

Good riddance.

That Marine reservist who beat a Greek priest? Here's the racy sequel

By GottaLaff

Is it hot in here or is it just Jasen? (Original post here)

Check these out. Here's a sample:

Is that a tire iron, or are you just happy to see me? Whew! Semper fi, indeed.

Too bad he's a violent, racist thug.

H/t, or should I say "hot" tip: Joeyess and TPM

Marine reservist beat Greek priest; thought he was Arab terrorist

By GottaLaff

Tampa's Welcome Wagon

UPDATE: Racy sequel here.

Have you heard the one about the priest and the tire iron? The ClusterFoxers would be proud.

TAMPA — A Marine reservist armed with a tire iron beat and chased a man he thought was an Arab terrorist and even called 911 to say he was detaining the man, police said. [...]

That's why police arrested reservist Jasen D. Bruce on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Police said they're also investigating whether Bruce, 28, committed a hate crime.

The priest was on his way to bless another retired Greek priest, but got lost. He asked Jasen for help, but...

Instead of offering help, Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron, police said.

Isn't that just like a good citizen? I wonder if he's a Glenn Beck fan.

He called 911 and told them that an Arabic man tried to rob him, and that-- check this out-- he was going to take the priest into custody. When the police showed up, Tire Iron Jasen told them the priest was a terrorist.

Then officers went to Bruce's apartment to speak to the reservist again. But he already had an attorney with him and refused to speak, police said.

Yep, Brucie pre-emptively lawyered himself all up. Isn't that just like an innocent man?

Moral: Always jump to conclusions. All foreigners are terrorists. And all foreigners should be beaten with tire irons. Hold all questions until later.

It's the American way.

H/t: Joeyess

Exec. Director Of Tancredo's PAC Guilty Of "Karate Chop" Assault On African-American Woman

By GottaLaff

(to see enlarged image, go here)

Earlier I treated you to a video of the Racist of Racists with a capital R, Tom Tancredo. But wait! What's that? Look up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...Racist Man and his sidekick, Wonder Marcus!

Tancredo's outlandish cries of racism are difficult to take seriously considering his own well-documented bigotry. However, the conservative blog Little Green Footballs has flagged a lesser known story demonstrating Tancredo's embrace of intolerance. Apparently, the executive director of Tancredo's anti-immigrant Team America PAC (also executive director of Pat Buchanan's group, The American Cause) pled guilty to "verbally and physically assaulting a black woman" and will be sentenced in July. According to the Factual Proffer from the case:

[...]

On July 7, 2007 at approximately 7:15 p.m., at Jefferson and M Street, Northwest, in Washington, D.C., defendant was walking down the street when he encountered the complainant, Ms. [Redacted], who is African-American. The defendant uttered, "[N*****]," as he delivered a karate chop to [complainant's] head. Ms. [Redacted]'s [redacted] attempted to detain defendant, but defendant was able to escape. Ultimately, the defendant was stopped and arrested by Secret Service officers.

The defendant, Marcus Epstein, is still featured prominently on Team America's website nearly two years after the crime. So, it's evident Tancredo is only "concerned" about racism when it furthers his bigoted agenda.

For official documents from the case, go here.

Quite the Rushpublic superheroes, huh?

Woman Attacked At ATM, Assailant Carves Letter Into Her Face

By GottaLaff

UPDATE:

Joe The Mugger?

Drudge is hyping this story to the rafters (he must have run out of outlier polls), but Malkin is skeptical. So is TSG. And TMZ. And Wonkette. I have no idea, and hope the woman gets some medical attention for her wounds. Occasional acts of violence with political ramifications will occur on both sides, I'm afraid. It seems to me that we should try and calm this stuff down a little in coverage, rather than ratchet it up. A reader adds:

If you were being mugged and attacked by a big old angry man, would you be still enough for him to neatly scratch a "B" into the center of your cheek? Also, the "B" is backwards. It would look correct in the mirror if you were to scratch it into your own face. This is a sad story.

H/t: Eve

They just broke this story on MSNBC, too. Luckily, the woman is okay:

A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, police said. [...]

Richard said the robber took $60 from the woman, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim's car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter "B" into her face, Richard said.

Richard said the woman refused medical treatment after the assault, which happened outside the view of the bank's surveillance cameras.

The robber is described as a "dark skinned black man". Yeah, that won't add to the already out-of-control McCain supported racism.

H/t: One of our Anonymi for the link.

UPDATE-- Paddy linked me to this, and it brings back memories, as well as suspicions. In Comments, we've all been expressing similar feelings.

Note from Paddy- If you click here you can click thru to see a pic of her face. I wont' link directly to it.