Lexis

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...domesticNews-6

It really makes me sick that anyone would do this. It must be so scary to get letters like that, especially in light of the 2001 cases that are still unsolved. Jon Stewart has little kids as well which I imagine would make the whole thing more frightening.

Jacob1983

I think it's good when the FBI and the local police step in and take notice to threats made to anyone whether it's a celebrity or regular person. However, I would say that the majority of death threats sent to celebrities are a joke and not serious. If a person really wants to do phyisical harm to a celebrity, they won't waste their time sending death threats to the celebs. I wouldn't say that all celebrities bring it on themselves that they get death threats. But there are a few celebs out there that are just asking for trouble. Then again, I'm sure there are some celebrities that get death threats on a daily basis and they never tell the FBI or local police about because they figure the crazy people aren't going to carry out their threats. A fine example of a celebritiy that probably gets ton of hate mail and death threats would be none other than Bill O'Reilly.

I heard a while back that Keith Olberman got a envelope filled with a powder sent to him and he freaked out cause he thought it was anthrax.

My advice to celebs: if you don't want to worry about getting death threats, then don't tick people off and try to make your fans and even haters happy. LOL

UnsilentMajorty

False.

If a person makes a death threat against a celebrity they are past the point of it being a joke. Most of the time they are mentally disturbed, or exhibit other signs of antisocial behavior and disorders such as narcissism, paranoia, histrionic personality disorders and whatnot. Normal people do not make "idle" death threats.

There are all kinds of stalkers just as there are different kinds of rapists, terrorists, bombers, serial killers, etc. The one thing they all have in common is if they are at the point they are acting on their impulses not only have they lost their moral compass (no sense of right or wrong), they are also a certifiable threat at this point and they will hurt someone and/or themselves if the are not caught and or stopped.

False.

Stalkers often build-up to committing violent acts over an extended period of time. Sometimes years. They study the object of their obsession(s) and often have an ereotmania bond with their targets. They honestly feel they know their prey intimately and are in what we consider a normal relationship even though they never see each other face to face.

When they become dangerous is when the target does not reciprocate the advances either directly, or indirectly by alerting the authorities. This is seen as a stresser in the stalker's life that pushes them over the edge and to the point where they lose all sense of right and wrong and will do whatever it takes to make sure they are not denied their advances... And/or punish the target in the process.

All threats are taken seriously in a post-9/11 world.

In addition, most high-profile celebrities have bodyguards and 24/7 security details. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they are not there.

For instance, at a premiere, the celebrities may get out of limousine, but right behind them out of view is an SUV with smoked glass with four or five experienced (ex-Law Enforcement; Ex-Military) body guards fully armed with automatic and semi-automatic weapons "just in case".

The terrorist and the stalker's power comes from fear. Your advice is not valid because as stated above, a person who is at the point of sending death threats is beyond any rational state of mind and will not stop until they feel they have been vindicated which often ends with the celebrity dead and or the stalker as well.

ceilirose

I don't understand why anyone - be they celebrity or not - has to worry about reprecussions from comments - even controversial ones. As long as someone isn't breaking the law with their speech then that's their right to say what they want. If it's a celebrity and they lose some fans than so be it.

Let's not blame the victim here. The people in the wrong are the ones making the threats. Giving into them just let's them continue to play their mind games and power trips.

TokyoNiGHTS

It's been discovered that this guy comes from Free Republic (a right wing blog), they've since taken down his profile (not a surprise), but here's what his bio did say

Here's a mesasge he left on the Free Republic board

Jacob1983

People that send threats to celebs are most definately disturbed. I was just saying that if you are say like Bill O'Reilly, I'm sure that he just shrugs hate mail and death threats off because he probably is used to them and gets them all the time. I would say the majority of threats are probably serious but there is a small percentage of threats that are just a joke and not to be taken seriously. The biggest threat a person can ever make is when the person makes a threat against the president or the White House. You should never joke about making a threat like that. It doesn't even matter if you hate the president with a passion, you shouldn't say threatening things about him cause you can get in big trouble.

But getting death threats and hate mail is a price celebrities pay since they're famous. They don't live in the same world like us regular people do.

In America, you do have freedom of speech but you should always remember that there are some people that probably won't agree with you and they will criticize you since you don't agree with them. So we do have freedom of speech but you got remember that words have consequences. Just ask John Kerry or Mel Gibson, LOL.

TokyoNiGHTS

What this person did has absolutely nothing to do with freedom of speech.

UnsilentMajorty

This is what killed Alan Berg.

He was a controversial Jewish radio host in the '70s and '80s, and he received death threats from White Supremacists he didn't take seriously... But who found out where he lived and shot him to death in the driveway of his own home.

Oliver Stone made a movie about this starring Eric Bogosian, "Talk Radio". Rent it.

This sounds more like an opinion than fact.

What I stated above I can back up with scientific evidence such as Behavioral Analysis Unit (FBI) data and psychiatric data and the like.

What world do they live in? Do they live in an alternate universe on the planet Mars?

They live in the exact same world we do, but their views have a higher visibility due to their profession.

This has nothing to do with Freedom of Speech. It is about a mentally disturbed individual who latched onto an ideology and interpreted it to the extreme. The fact he only sent harmless white powder means he was probably building up to sending Anthrax (or another biological agent)... Or, he just did not have access to a biological weapon at this point in time.

If you want to talk about "Freedom of Speech"... Look up the Clear and Present Danger doctrine because this is what you are trying to apply to this example and it does not apply.

Lexis

Which celebrities in paticular are asking for trouble? And what are they doing to ask for it?

I damn well hope he reports them. This is terrorism we're talking about. I'm not sure if he's married/has kids but surely he would want to protect his family and making sure the authorities know that some whackos are threatening him is a good way to start.

My lord, I think the man is a shoddy journalist but there is no way that its acceptable for somehow to send him white powder in the post and threaten his life.

Yeah, the NY Post story. The one the FBI wanted to keep quiet about so as not to tip off the guy sending the letters that he reached his targets. And added bonus - they made a joke out of it! Cause we all know that white powder inside letters in just a great laugh - I mean, only 5 families lost people in 2001 when anthrax was sent through the mail.

I don't think that's funny at all. It's an act of terrorism in my mind and its not something we can joke about. No comedian or elected official or presenter should be afraid that if they use their right to free speech, they're gonna get anthrax in the mail.

Criticism is fine. Threats of death are wrong and sick. And again - I don't think this is at all funny. Take a look at this definition of terrorism:

defined by the US Department of Defense as "the unlawful use of -- or threatened use of -- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives."

frontline: teacher center: teachers guide: in search of al qaeda: glossary and identifications | PBS

I don't understand how anyone can think an act of terrorism is funny or somehow not serious.

UnsilentMajorty

It is much easier for a person to be flippant about a subject they don't really understand rather than do some research on the subject and educate themselves about it... And its severity in this case.

This is not a flame, or personal attack. This is fact if you've been around for a while and know human nature.

TokyoNiGHTS

It's just rather disturbing that anyone could defend this sort of stuff in any way. And then to say that if you don't want death threats you shouldn't say things that offend people. That's no different from the people that tell rape victims that if they didn't dress a certain way then they wouldn't have been raped.

Jacob1983

So you really think that people in America can say whatever they want and have no one say anything critical? That's ridiculous. There is always going to be a person or group that disagrees with what you say or believe. Trust me, I'm a fine example of that on FF.

If celebrities took my advice, then they probably wouldn't get that much hate mail and death threats.

Do you really believe that celebrities live in the same reality that us regular people do? You sure about that?

Brad Paisley has a great country music song about being a celebrity and what he says in the song is so freakin true. The song is called "celebrity".

However, it's impossible for a celebrity to please everyone.

Celebrities don't live in the real world. They can practically get away with murder (O.J.). They can steal things and get away with it (Wynona Ryder). Celebs don't get treated like regular people do. And celebrities don't have real jobs either. Celebrities aren't the ones that are delivering your mail, protecting and serving your communities, teaching your kids, etc... They live in a bubble. And it's sad that you can't see that.

I'm just saying that a celeb shouldn't freak out every time they get a death threat or hate mail. That's just a part of being famous.

Having no privacy, having your life under microscope, and being scrutinized for every wrong thing you do are all prices that people pay when they are celebrities. I have no sympathy for celebs that whine and cry about how bad things are. They have everything served on a silver platter to them.
I heard Chris Rock once whining and complaining about high gas prices and I'm like "shut up please". You make millions of dollars every year.

TokyoNiGHTS

Do you not understand the difference between being critical of someone saying something you don't agree with and threatening someones life? You don't seem to be making the disconnection between saying "I disagree with you on this subject and here's why" and "I'm going to kill you". That's not a joking matter. There was a girl on MySpace that got a visit from the FBI recently because she had a message threatening Bush's life. Now do you think she would've gotten a visit by them had she just wrote something being critical of him? Because if that's the case then the FBI has alot of work ahead of them.

UnsilentMajorty

This is why the Clear and Present Danger clause exists. I asked you to look it up. You apparently did not, so there is nothing more to discuss here until you do.

This is the X-teenth time you have claimed this.

I see no evidence to support this "lonely outcast" position other than your own opinion. This is a public message forum where you can discuss various issues. If you would like, I can link to you several free blog sites where you can post whatever you want (within reason) if you don't want to hear anyone disagree with you.

There is a phrase you need to append all of your "factual" statements with and that phrase is... In my opinion.

Also, why should they take your advice considering you have to my knowledge never been in a position of high visibility like a celebrity? This isn't an attack. This is a simple question that you are basing your whole opinion on.

Have you ever worked with any celebrities?

How much do you know about "Liberal Hollywood?"

It appears you are speaking about something you have very limited knowledge in because I have worked in Hollywood, and with some very famous persons in my lifetime and contrary to how you selectively liked to paint them... They are just like you and me and try to live their lives just like you and I do and be good people and parents. There are some bad ones, obviously, but there are bad people who aren't famous either... So what is your point?

Again, you are painting a very narrow and selective picture of what you perceive the problem to be when this has nothing to do with what this discussion is about. To clarify:

A mentally disturbed man was sending threatening pieces of mail to celebrities because he didn't agree with their views... And I will speculate, based on my own experience with these types of persons... He was working his way up to become a legitimate threat and it was only a matter of time before he sent real Anthrax, or showed up at one of these persons homes with a weapon and we all know how it would have ended if it escalated to that point.

To reiterate: The real problem is not the celebrities points of view it is the nut-jobs and whackos like this who believe they have the right to do harm to them because they disagree in whatever wrapped way they rationalize their behavior.

Also, you seem to be implying that most celebrities are not adults and do not have a lot of life experience to draw from. I think you need to give them a lot more credit than you do because it makes what you are saying completely baseless if you don't.

This is a stereotype of celebrities... And it doesn't apply to every celebrity as well.

Celebrities do make more money and have high visibility jobs, but this is not the point of this discussion no matter how hard you would like it to be.

Celebrities do have a responsibility for what they say... Which is why I asked you to research the Clear and Present Danger doctrine as it applies to free speech, the press and the celebrity... But they should not arbitrarily be afraid to state their minds... Like the Dixie Chicks did in 2003... Out of fear of being unpopular, and especially out of fear for their life. This is unacceptable in a progressive and modern society as much as you may not agree with it, or take for granted as well.

Jacob1983

There's a difference though when you're talking about threats about the president and White House and with ones about celebrities. Threats about the president and White House are paid way more attention to than ones about celebrities. I never said it's funny when people get threats. I'm just saying that not every single threat is credible. I'm sure there are many stupid people that send death threats and hate mail so they can make the celebrity mad. They aren't really going to hurt the celebrity. Evaluating threats and determining if they are serious and credible is probably a tough job for the FBI and local police.

Like I said before, getting hate mail and threats is just a price celebrities pay since they're famous. When you're famous, you are going to have people that hate you. It's just how our society works. It's wrong but it happens.

We do have freedom of speech in America but you got to realize that there are possible consequences of your words. If you say something that someone doesn't like or agree with then you're gonna get criticized and insulted about it.