Death Threats on Social Media; The New Normal

Just ask anyone who speaks out about social injustice.

Earlier today I was involved in a very spirited debate on Facebook (of course) and found myself defending a victim of sexual assault from quite a handful of toxic, racist, douchebags.

Look, I don’t mind throwing myself in the line of fire to defend anyone that’s being attacked by a bunch of weak little boys (I refuse to call them men) that are literally nothing more than incels who fear and loathe strong women.

None of that bothers me. What I can not abide is the person whose post we were commenting on never asked these useless boys to calm down, back off, take it easy, nothing.

That same person has known the woman I was defending her whole life. I have also known this person for nearly 30 years. We went to high school together with quite a few racist classmates.

Classmates I don't associate with (obviously), yet he still calls them his friends.

But it gets better.

As the conversation devolved into non-stop insults and idiocy, as is typical of Trump supporters, one of these weak-nuts decided to threaten me.

This guy came into the conversation late and his sole intentions were to stir the pot and talk shit. Typical. Right?

Well, here is where it gets really stupid.

Obviously, with me, it doesn’t take long to find out all there is to know about the culprit.

While I consider him to be a credible threat, I got people that can handle these things quite efficiently.

So I unlocked my gun safe, loaded some firearms, and went through the standard protocols at home with the wife and kids.

My wife and kids are all quite handy with firearms. We go to the gun range quite often and we like to target shoot for fun.

We’ve all had extensive training on how to handle firearms and we’re well versed in gun laws in our state. So when I say we have protocols, I mean we have protocols.

This isn’t the first time we have dealt with credible threats against us. Sadly, it’s an issue that’s all too common with people that speak out against racism and social injustice.

I will say, however, that this is the first time I’ve been threatened by an incel for defending a woman. A victim of sexual assault.

We’ve all seen what incels are capable of. They’ll sometimes go to great lengths to get their point across. In fact, at least three of the more recent mass shootings were at the hands of incels.

I had my people gather all the information on this individual they could find. What they found included his current address, phone numbers, driver’s license numbers, and criminal history.

I’d like to add that his criminal history included several drug charges and armed robbery.

Yeah, definitely a credible threat.

The most disturbing part has yet to come. The individual who made the threats is actually a friend of my very own brother in law. In fact, the post in question where all this took place, was my brother in law’s post.

Keep in mind that this occurred early in the day. At that point, I asked my brother in law if he was just going to allow this "friend" of his to threaten his family. His response?

"He isn't going to come after you"

"He's just talking shit"

"He's not serious"

"I didn't see his comments and I can't look because I deleted the post"

Bullshit.

Nothing but bullshit.

Folks, you already know I have receipts. So here we are. After 10 pm. Nearly eight hours later and he has yet to say anything.

I sent him screenshots of the comments so he wouldn’t have any more excuses and yet he still says, "he isn’t going to come at you, I promise."

Now, obviously I’m not too concerned with this slob of an incel "coming at me." I carry firearms everywhere I go and at home, we’re ready. My point is, your supposed to stand up for your family. Right?

Not only is my brother in law still friends with this fuckstick, but he also has yet to say a goddam thing to this fucker. It's fucking infuriating.

Not only does he not defend people from his toxic, racist, misogynistic friends in the comments of his posts, but he does nothing but make excuses about standing up to them when they threaten his own family.

Brutha, if you're reading this, you're a fucking coward.

A. Fucking. Coward.

The authorities have been notified, and we’re armed to the teeth, so I’m not too concerned at the moment.

But how someone doesn’t speak up against a person who threatens their family is fucking disgusting. It’s embarrassing. It’s wholly unacceptable. It’s absurd.

Lucky for me, I have friends that give a shit.

Those friends, my tribe, have all the pertinent information.

So if something were to happen, all the evidence I need to justify my actions is well documented and in the hands of people I trust.

It's a sad state of affairs when we have to do things like this to protect ourselves from hate-mongers, but it is what it is.

I do what I do not for myself, but for the greater good. Real change means taking risks. A better future for my kids means doing what others are afraid to do. A better future for all of humanity takes sacrifice.

Like any humanitarian before us, I don’t mind being one of those that isn’t afraid to speak out. I will not be silenced.

Will I go down in history?

Probably not.

But you never know what the future may hold. I don’t do this for accolades or awards. I do it for all of us. For justice. For equality. For women. For all marginalized groups. For future generations who deserve a better world.

All I know is that if I’m getting death threats now, just writing some blog posts and articles, imagine what it will be like when my book series finally gets released.

The series, American Injustice, draws the connections between our criminal justice system and white supremacy dating back to the Reconstruction Era after the American Civil War.

That will certainly more than ruffle some feathers. Heads will probably explode. That’s the whole point. To start a conversation towards real, tangible criminal justice reform.

A conversation no one seems to want to have. Except for people of color that is.

What should we learn from this?

Don’t let people like this go unchallenged. The more you let them get away with this shit, the farther they will take it.

Stand up to them. Call them out. Fight back.

We outnumber them.

In the end, it’s a life you could potentially save. Don’t let them get away with it. Shut them down and report them to the proper authorities.

It’s not enough to just get them banned from a platform or to just block them.

MAKE THEM PAY.