Tim Farley, who has twice been a major figure in getting the Montreal police to take threats from Dennis Markuze seriously, has written a fascinating post outlining the history of the case between his initial sentence and his recent second arrest. Go read it!
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39 comments
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Shawn
November 21, 2012 at 3:36 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“Astute observers of the Mabus saga may notice the absence of a particular name here. While this person has blogged about Markuze many times over the years (even demanding action from the authorities in some posts) I found him to be astonishingly uncooperative during this investigation. With so many others volunteering to help, he stood out in his lack of assistance. Lesson learned – some bloggers are all talk and no action.”
Is he referring to PZ??
jdon
November 21, 2012 at 4:16 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
An enlightening read.
It’s not exactly a surprise, but the lesson is that unless you take an active and thorough, time consuming and persistent role in getting the police to follow up on it then harassment laws are for naught.
I’m seriously concerned Markuze could go Tony48219 on someone else and himself.
billybob
November 21, 2012 at 6:13 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Not sure who I think less of Tim “Hang Em High” Farley or
Dennis Markuze.
The man has mental issues, so persecute him?
The_Fire
November 21, 2012 at 6:41 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
If it gets him the help he needs? Definitely. From the records of his first arrest, it was clear his family wasn’t trying to.
I believe his mother, when she heard about the online threats, called it a “phase”.
jdog
November 21, 2012 at 7:02 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
That’s an easy one to decide. Think less of Markuze.
I think you misspelled “prosecute”. This is how to get him the help he needs. He’s certainly not going to seek it out on his own, so a court has to mandate it.
scorinth
November 21, 2012 at 8:33 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Yeah, prosecute ≠ persecute.
It’s pretty clear that Markuze is mentally ill, in a way that is preventing him from having a normal life and could possibly be dangerous for himself or others. Our goal, and that of the courts should not be to marginalize him or punish him, but to get him the treatment he needs, or at the very least, minimize the harm he can do.
That the court only ordered this sort of probation deal and not mental evaluation is disappointing. It was a disservice both to Markuze and those that he harasses, and that’s why Farley is so doggedly pursuing the issue.
Kazim
November 22, 2012 at 6:01 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“I’m not sure who I think less of, the guy who was sending out hundreds of death threats a day, or the guy who helped the police catch him so he can get treatment.”
Seriously, WTF is wrong with you? And what part of the linked post says anything at all like “hang em high”? Troll.
billybob
November 22, 2012 at 8:54 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“WTF is wrong with you.”
“Troll”
Wow! Brilliant response, sorry I have a different take on this.
No need to continue this “discussion” as I do not want to trade insults. I just thought Farley turned from concerned citizen to someone obsessed, enjoying the hunt.
I guess you never saw the movie Hang Em High.
Lord Narf
November 22, 2012 at 9:13 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Russell, sadly, I don’t think this guy is a troll. He’s just a clueless idiot. He doesn’t understand the difference between an obsessive psycho and a concerned citizen trying to get the police to enforce a punishment that it took a tremendous effort to get.
I don’t think he understands what an admin is, either …
billybob
November 22, 2012 at 10:00 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“clueless idiot”
I guess this is the way this blog operates, try a new name for the blog “The Insulting Atheists”.
When you have to resort to insults it usually means you are
intellectually bankrupt.
I won’t bother you again.
Didn’t Markuze use the internet to insult and threaten? Keep up the tradition.
Lord Narf
November 22, 2012 at 10:18 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
When you start with a comment about a psycho who assaults an entire community with perverse, disturbing death-threats, equating him to the man who’s trying to bring him to justice and get him much-needed psychological treatment … well, I’m not sure how much I have to say about you that isn’t insulting.
Jasper of Maine (I feel safe and welcome at FTB)
November 22, 2012 at 10:22 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Seems fairly normal to me that atheists don’t pull punches on their own
Martin Wagner
November 22, 2012 at 7:53 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Grow up, billybob. You posted something stupid, people called you on it, ta-dah, welcome to the Internet. The minute one of us spends several years sending you hundreds of incoherent emails consisting of YouTube links and death threats, consider making the equivalence.
Lord Narf
November 22, 2012 at 11:12 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Ooh, let me get my spambot ready.
mamba24
November 21, 2012 at 10:22 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
who cares what this idiot is doing. Are there not better things to talk about?
F
November 21, 2012 at 10:57 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Boom goes the dynamite.
Jasper of Maine (I feel safe and welcome at FTB)
November 22, 2012 at 7:25 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
To answer the question, apparently there’s a lot of people who care.
mamba24
November 24, 2012 at 1:34 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Yes I see that…..why do you care?
Lord Narf
November 25, 2012 at 7:36 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Because God placed love in our souls.
mamba24
November 25, 2012 at 6:10 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
So in other words, you don’t have a good reason for why it’s so important to comment on every move this man makes?
Lord Narf
November 26, 2012 at 3:04 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Commenting on the major events in the case is a great deal different than commenting on every move the man makes.
Jasper of Maine (I feel safe and welcome at FTB)
November 22, 2012 at 8:24 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Actually, on second thought, he may have a point. Why are we spending what precious little internets that we have left discussing a potential homocidal maniac who may target us? Don’t we have some cosmological arguments to refute?
mamba24
November 24, 2012 at 1:44 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
So you are really scared that this guy…..who lives in Canada…..is going to come on this blog, deduce the identity of people commenting on here, and possibly come to your house to kill you? I’ll let you how I feel about it…..I’m not worried at all. To me he is some loser who stalked PZ Myers once. I just think there are better things to talk about man. I understand he has made threats over the internet. The police have arrested him again, great. Now let’s talk about more important issues maybe. I don’t think we need to run to our computers and talk about it every time this guy gets arrested.
Ing:Intellectual Terrorist "Starting Tonight, People will Whine"
November 24, 2012 at 4:41 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
He’s shown up to conventions before and made scenes.
mamba24
November 25, 2012 at 6:07 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Yes I know. Good thing he got arrested and is now being watched. Time to move on to other news.
Lord Narf
November 25, 2012 at 7:37 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Not me personally, no … but potentially members of our community, yes.
mamba24
November 25, 2012 at 6:07 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
…….And he has been arrested for it again…..You’re not doing anything to solve the issue by making comments on a blog. I understand this guy is mentally imbalanced, and that he should get help or be in jail. But we don’t need to make blog posts every time his name comes up in the news.
Martin Wagner
November 25, 2012 at 11:54 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Mamba, what the actual fuck are you babbling about? This blog has reported on Markuze exactly four times in all of 2012. The last time before these two most recent posts was back in July. There was only one mention of him in all of 2011, when he was first arrested. This hardly constitutes “commenting on every move this man makes.” Perhaps you could make an effort to ensure your complaints have some actual basis in reality in future. You’ve now actually commented more on Markuze than we have.
Lord Narf
November 26, 2012 at 3:07 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
He’s been arrested. The issue has been solved … at least if the police do a damned thing about him, this time.
Blogs are for disseminating information and promoting discussion on a subject, which is what we’re doing.
Lord Narf
November 22, 2012 at 10:50 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
This guy has been harassing atheists and skeptics for YEARS, man. The police have been horrible about taking care of the situation, too. Getting this guy is fairly major. A lot of people care about the news surrounding the case.
If you’re one of the people who isn’t interested, then by all means, feel free to go elsewhere. Plenty of us care, and we’re going to read about it and talk about it.
grumpyoldfart
November 22, 2012 at 10:50 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
My prediction:
Markuze will spend most of the rest of his life ignored by doctors and police. He will refuse to take any medication and he will never, ever, stop threatening atheists on the Internet.
Lord Narf
November 22, 2012 at 10:54 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
But clearly the police … have to … umm …
God dammit.
billybob
November 22, 2012 at 8:15 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“Grow up, billybob”
Is there a small chance someone can post on this forum without
personal insults?
Seems not.
I am willing to discuss different ideas or viewpoints but not
when it is just name calling and assertions of moral superiority, why bother wasting my time with you.
You win I give up no possible discussion here.
codemonkey
November 22, 2012 at 8:21 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
You’re welcome to join reality, and then we can treat you like an adult human being. If someone is deranged and making death threats, we need to isolate him for the safety of everyone else, possibly his own safety, and so we can help him. Your “hang em high” started this war of personal insults, so frankly you can just go fuck off, hypocritical bastard.
Martin Wagner
November 23, 2012 at 11:03 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Methinks the lady doth project too much.
chris
November 23, 2012 at 9:47 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
What have you offered in the way of a possible discussion? Your first post was merely an unexplained, sniping remark – really, wasn’t it designed to be startling, to get attention? You haven’t elaborated any details as to how your position might be reasonable. Every post since has been a complaint about how everyone else is insulting and unreasonable. So put up or shut up – how is Farley in any way equivalent to Markuze?
mamba24
November 26, 2012 at 1:05 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“Mamba, what the actual fuck are you babbling about?”
-First of all Martin, you don’t need to start using profane language just because you disagree with someone. It’s not that complex to figure out. I simply am letting my opinion be known about the blog entry. People responded to me. So I responded back. Apparently the people who offer a different opinion to you are “babbling”, but no one else is. Everybody babbles here Martin, it’s a blog.
“This blog has reported on Markuze exactly four times in all of 2012.”
-Yeah. And once or twice was probably enough IMO. It’s not like I came onto this blog and typed a long tirade. It was 1 sentence. A simple comment. But apparently it’s unacceptable for someone to say something like that on this blog, or Martin comes out swearing and pissed off.
“The last time before these two most recent posts was back in July. There was only one mention of him in all of 2011, when he was first arrested.”
-I don’t care about the time spans Martin so much as whether or not it’s worth discussing. I came on here seeing another story on this guy, and thought it to be unimportant. Not because it had been recently discussed 4 months ago, but because there should be better things to talk about than some loser in Canada who is either somewhat unstable or just a complete idiot. I hate that I even have to elaborate so much on this, from what was a simple and short comment I originally made.
“This hardly constitutes “’commenting on every move this man makes.’”
-Well I guess that’s just a matter of opinion Martin. Clearly I didn’t mean to say that you comment on EVERY move the guy makes like you’re watching him 24/7. But when you feel like you need to make a blog post whenever he gets arrested for violating his parole, or whatever it may be, to me there has to be better things to discuss.
“Perhaps you could make an effort to ensure your complaints have some actual basis in reality in future.”
-Basis in reality? Really? So I’m out of touch with reality because I disagree on whether or not we need to talk about the unstable internet-threat man from Canada? “Oh look, this person disagrees with the importance of this blog post, obviously his complaint has no basis in reality. I only commented on it 4 times this year, if it had been 8 then his complaints would be acceptable.”
“You’ve now actually commented more on Markuze than we have.”
-I find this comment highly ironic considering you just lectured me on ensuring my comments have a basis in reality…..(In other words Martin, no, I have in fact not commented on Markuze more than you have, and I think you know this) But I’ll assume you were just being sarcastic on that last bit if it helps you…Thanks for your thoughts.
Lord Narf
November 26, 2012 at 3:11 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Then go away and let people who care about the subject discuss it. When your only contribution to a discussion is that we shouldn’t be talking about it … well, yeah, you’re going to absorb a lot of derision and dismissal.
Martin Wagner
November 26, 2012 at 8:09 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
If you’re reduced to whinging that I used a swear word, you’re pretty much running on empty here. That would be a version of #4 on this list.
No, you’re out of touch because your complaints about what’s on the blog do not reflect the blog’s actual content. Our first time to post on Markuze’s legal issues since July, and you act like he’s all we talk about here, ever. (Oh, when we’re not obsessed with posting every letter we get from a redneck sexist moron.)
You don’t decide what’s worth posting here. We do. We’re not under any obligation to run any topic by you first to judge its worthiness. If you don’t like it, go find another blog to read. Markuze is someone who’s spent years and years making death threats to atheists. The people who’ve been affected by his cyberstalking are interested in the progress of his legal case. When new info comes up, we’ve posted about it. No more, no less.