It’s amazing what those guys get away with — it looks like the FBI was one gang of bros, while the gamergaters were a different gang of bros, and they mainly got together to high five one another and say “bitchez, amirite?” to each other. A set of heavily redacted documents from the “gamergate” file have been posted documenting how various cases. They brought in one guy for questioning about “dozens of rape, bomb, and death threats targeting women involved in the video game scene”, for instance.
The man, whose name was kept confidential by the FBI, confessed: He told the agents that he was a “tech guy,” a qualified A++ coder, who played video games a lot and lived with his parents, according to a set of documents the FBI released on its investigation into Gamergate.
He told the agents that he hung out on 4chan, the notorious online image-posting board that — according to the FBI documents — has a history of hosting child pornography. He admitted that he had mocked the women who were targets of Gamergate threats on 4chan, calling one of them “a professional victim who exaggerated the threats.”
Then the agents showed him one of those threatening emails. The man said he had created a new email account specifically for the purpose of sending threats to Gamergate targets. He “admitted to sending the threatening email,” the FBI wrote in its report, and he “understood the email ‘looked really bad.'” Crucially, he also confessed that he knew it was a crime: The man “understood that it was a federal crime to send a threatening communication to anyone and will never do it again,” the FBI wrote.
Yet despite all that — an email trail, a confession, and an admission from the suspect that he knew he was breaking the law — the FBI let him go after the suspect said it was a “joke”
It was a joke. And the FBI accepted that excuse. This is an indictment of not just the coward who was bombarding women with threats, but of our national organization for criminal investigations. The FBI has lately been doing a phenomenal job of exposing itself as corrupt and rotten.
Here’s an example of the kind of messages they were asked to address; the link contains lots more.
It was just a joke…but the author left off the smiley face emoticon! If only he’d written I will write my manifesto in her spilled blood :)
, maybe I’d find that excuse plausible.
No, not even then. That’s a serious threat made with intent to disrupt an event with violence, and no amount of back-pedaling can soften it. Imagine if, at these various hateful Yiannopoulos talks around the country, leftists had written these kinds of email messages — would the FBI and the press been apologetic and let the angry letter-writer off the hook? Of course not.
The FBI has all the emails and IDs: they can track all of it – they got the government to pass laws that force providers to keep that data. But, eh, actually using it to prevent crime? Nah. If someone connected or politically interesting were involved, sure. There’s no headlines in gamergate, and the FBI is all about appearances, nothing else.
Anyone who is being stalked or threatened: unless your attacker’s tradecraft is very good, the FBI can identify them. They’re just ignoring you because you don’t matter to them. I know people who have gone to FBI about stalking and been told “we can’t help you” – bullshit. They’re just lazy cops.
How is this possibly a thing? You don’t get to just say “lol just kidding” after committing a crime. These assholes actually confessed and they still get to go free? Ridiculous.
“Just joking” worked for The Orange Pendejo Pussy-Grabber.
Following up on @2 Marcus Ranum: I was going to comment on this as well, saying that I’ve heard in the past the FBI claimed they simply don’t have the manpower to look into this kind of case. They save it only for high-profile cases in order to try and make an example. The fact that they’ve looked into this case and decided not to do anything proves that this is utter bullshit.
I did hear of one case of someone who got the FBI to come around and help out after she pointed out to them that they were able to find time to help out Scarlet Johannson after she was hacked. So, it is possible to get through to them, but you’ll have to come armed with proof that they can indeed help. It really shouldn’t be this way, but sadly it is.
And:
So, I get that maybe the e-mail might not have been to that particular individual, but there has to be a serious disconnect between belief and action in order to insist another person is a “professional victim” and exaggerate received threats while you’re sending out threats to people. Even if he was “just joking”, he had to know that 1) he wasn’t the only one doing it and 2) at least one of the others wasn’t joking.
Welp, gonna go rob a bank, shoot Trump, and jaywalk. Don’t worry, though, it’ll all be in jest. In fact, I’ll be sure to tell everyone it’s a joke while I’m doing it. That should make the case rock-solid.
As long as it is only words the FBI will do nothing but keep their eyes on one to lock them up when something bloody happens. Federal Bureau of Incarceration. Preventing crime is not their job, only punishing one that happened.
Fuck
?
@8 slithey tove
They are not doing their job even with regard to punishing. Crime has been committed and ignored.
Well, to be fair the FBI is investigating DAPL protesters that aren’t even talking about violence. Because mumble mumble terrorism cops might have to beat them terrorism something. Well ‘anonymous’ hacker said something and its not like they are gamergaters.
http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2016/sep/15/online-threats-made-to-law-enforcement-others-associated-with-pipeline/
Duth Olec @ # 7 – Shoot Pence first! (ha-ha!)
WHAT! THE! FUCK!
And people are complaining about skyrocketing crime rates!?
CSIS and the RCMP aren’t any better. They spent more time “investigating” Occupy than they did the sexual assaults of indigenous women at pipeline construction sites.
This is anecdotal, mind, so take it with a grain of salt–but at the height of Occupy and acquaintance of mine was arrested and interrogated. They accused her of a bomb conspiracy after she sent a text message saying she’ll bring “cupcakes” to the next rally. Having only flour and no such knowledge I imagine (hope) she was released, but it went to show that our intelligence would sooner target you for associating with a flimsy hippie movement than a right-wing one with documented streams of threats and violence.
Plain old male privilege covers it I think.
@1
mostly and it has been since J Edgar
what ever you do make the Bureau look good first
and indispensable.
hence the latest actions wasn’t about the election but about the Bureau and its reputation it was a cover your ass action.
they have and I am sure still hold the secrets just as long as they need to no longer.
when they need to they send the “frighteners” to have a little talk and demonstrate their control over your life’s path.
uncle frogy
I learned long ago, some laws are simply not enforced. Regrettably, making terroristic threats isn’t enforced, unless you are a VIP.
I’ve received death threats, indeed, once, the individual was so enterprising as to first dox me, then threaten to come to my home, rape and kill my wife, then kill me. The individual was quite graphic and specific in what his intended plans were, going into great detail.
I replied back and reciprocated, explaining precisely what I’d do to an intruder bent upon harm to my family.
Thankfully, that ended the entire disgusting encounter.
Alas, the courts have decided the case law, law enforcement has no duty to protect your life. They can sit back, finish their donuts while you are murdered right in front of them, then they’ll arrest the murderer.
Civilization is ending, rule of the thug has arrived. I fear, it’ll only be a matter of time until I beat a home invading thug to death with a lasagna.
Which would be a dreadful waste of good food.
wzrd1 @ # 16 – Not if you barbecue the invader, with a nice sriracha and onions.
I don’t know if there’d be enough left after I was done with my tomahawk.
Do you know what kind of damage a tomahawk can do to a lasagna? Serious sauce in the eyes risk there!
Don’t forget the poor pan under the tasty pasta/(or in my case) Turkey tetrazzini.
I really do need to order that pan I’ve had my eye on. I loathe the coated kind, as the non-stick coating quickly degrades.
Although, I’ve been using the pyrex types of pans for my lasagna, there’s a really nice stainless steel model I’ve been wanting to order.
When my father was still alive, due to his dialysis, we had to limit how much cheese he could have. So, I substituted ricotta cheese with tofu. It’s still a big hit in our house.
I’ve also made one with eggplant slices between the pasta layers that was a super hit.
The FBI has time to radicalize at-risk youth, and then arrest them for being radicalized so they get big kudos for stopping terrorists. The latest case was an alt-right guy, but usually they go for muslims.
However, they don’t care about this real crime.
Good to know.
Serious question – how else would you have it? Do other countries do it differently? How? I’m not interested in platitudes. I’m interested in real, practice-able, practical, alternative policies. Does a
coppig get fined when they don’t fulfill this duty? Do they get criminally charged? Lol. Do they become civilly liable to friends and family? What sort of scheme do you see? I don’t see a practical approach beyond the current one of voting for new elected officials to changepolicepig policy, but maybe I’m not being creative and inventive enough.