How do you legally react to perceived violence over the internet?

August 2, 2009 1:35 PM

Someone has threatened to come to my home after I specifically told them not to on a message board. What can I legally do?

I live in NYS. After repeated threats of perceived violence against myself and others, this person is suggesting he will show up at my house whenever he wants to via said message board. I know, it says a lot about the owner of the message board to let this continue. I have screenshots, web archives and files showing the continued perceived threats. The latest, showing up my house, is really bothering me. What can I legally do to make this type of behavior stop.

Yes, the person does know where I live. And no, the owners of the site have done little to curtail this behavior other than banning him and letting him back on .. only to RSVP for a gathering I was having at my house.

posted by anonymous to law & government (15 comments total)

I respectfully suggest that the green is not where you want to ask this question. You need to go talk to the boys in blue at your local police station.
posted by frwagon at 1:38 PM on August 2 [17 favorites]

Well, first of all, stop going to the message board. Does it really sound like you should continue to go there after all this?

Second, consider talking to the police. At best, this is harassment and possibly stalking. You obviously perceive a threat to your safety.

If you know the aggressor's identity, you can work on obtaining a restraining order.
posted by saeculorum at 1:39 PM on August 2

You don't need to wait until this person has made good on his threats to contact the police and ask what your options are.
posted by Meg_Murry at 1:40 PM on August 2

What can I legally do to make this type of behavior stop.

Call the police now. As in RIGHT FUCKING NOW, SHOULDA DONE IT AN HOUR AGO...

Leave the message board. Just stop going there. Stop giving this person the pleasure of intimidating you.

Make sure your property is secure and well lit with motion detecting lights, etc. Alert your neighbors to be on the look out for prowlers (you don't have to tell them the whole stupid story of how this stems from some internet message board.)

Buy a gun.
posted by wfrgms at 1:48 PM on August 2

After repeated threats of perceived violence against myself and others

Go straight to the police. Do not pass go. IANAL, but...

18 U.S.C. § 875(c) Interstate Communications
This statute makes it a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to transmit in interstate or foreign communications, any threat to kidnap or injure another person.


NY CLS Penal § 240.30. Aggravated harassment in the second degree. (2008)

A person is guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another person, he or she:


Either
(a) communicates with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, [fig 1] by telegraph, or by mail, or by transmitting or delivering any other form of written communication, in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm; or

(b) causes a communication to be initiated by mechanical or electronic means or otherwise with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, [fig 1] by telegraph, or by mail, or by transmitting or delivering any other form of written communication, in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm; or

Makes a telephone call, whether or not a conversation ensues, with no purpose of legitimate communication; or
Strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects another person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same because of a belief or perception regarding such person's race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct; or
Commits the crime of harassment in the first degree and has previously been convicted of the crime of harassment in the first degree as defined by section 240.25 of this article within the preceding ten years.
For the purposes of subdivision one of this section, "form of written communication" shall include, but not be limited to, a recording as defined in subdivision six of section 275.00 of this part.
posted by desjardins at 1:50 PM on August 2

The big question is, do you know who they are and where they live? That's where you want to send the police.
posted by rhizome at 1:51 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]

I wonder if you might be able to get in touch with some resources by contacting a local domestic violence shelter? They might be able to get you pointed in the right direction. I'm assuming the fact that you're posting this question means you have limited financial resources to throw at a random internet troll -- if that's not the case, I'd call a lawyer first, followed by the police.

After that--kill your account, notify anyone you want to know your new identity, and create the new identity, if there's an emotional reason you're attached to that message board. If you're not that emotionally attached, stop going there.

And do not respond, ever, in text or in any other way, to anything this person says to you. No private emails, no responses in thread -- zero, nothing, never. Those people feed on the tiniest scrap of a response. And I mean, even the tiniest--so, no stray references to 'Some people' or anything on the message board. I know that's hard, but it sounds like you're in an escalating situation and it's very important to draw all the oxygen out.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:15 PM on August 2

Go to the police.

I haven't had this pop up as a result of Internet stuff, but I've most certainly had someone who I didn't know (friend of a neighbour) ring me up and abuse me, noting he "knows where I live".

The police were more than happy to explain some facts of life re: jail time to him, and I never heard from him again. I imagine the police local to you would be happy to do the same.

You could also look into tresspass notices, restraining orders, and so on, but, seriously: the police. This is the kind of thing they do, and most of them would rather deal with the problem before it blows up any worse, in my experience.
posted by rodgerd at 2:46 PM on August 2

I want to second the "stop visiting that message board" recommendation. Yes, contact the police. But avoiding the board sounds like the easiest way to avoid further problems with this person.
posted by jdroth at 2:58 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]

Contact the police. Also, the first thing the police will probably tell you to do is stop going on this message board and to stop any form of contact with the person.
posted by ishotjr at 3:32 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]

Tell the police about it, but stop visiting the message board, and stop interacting with this nut. Stalking usually escalates in stages, and if this person hasn't started sending you snail-mail or phoning your house, you have little to worry about. But the most important thing you can do is to stop any sort of interaction with this person, and that means quitting the messaging board.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:00 PM on August 2

This happened to me and someone else on a board, too. I stopped going there. The other person wouldn't and took the other person to court for harassment. Doesn't seem worth it, I think. The police didn't take the other person seriously, not to say they wouldn't take you seriously in a different location and not identical circumstances. The police are worth a shot, especially if you have already met that person or they do know where you live, and so on.
posted by Listener at 4:45 PM on August 2

One point is, she may have some sort of business where she has built an identity and reputation that has value, changing her identity may not be an option she would prefer.

You mention that you percieve these threats, that they are not self evident. It worries me that they seem not to be obvious to others. I would suggest describing these threats to a therapist to see if they agree the situation is truly a police matter. If you do have any kind of mental illness dealings with the police can go very poorly for you if you are at all irrational. You can end up committed, or, if you tussle with them, in jail.

So, talk to a mental health professional to make sure your perceptions are valid, like yesterday. One of those phone-a-therapist things is fine, just run it by a trained person not close to you or the situation. And, if this impartial person on your side of things agrees the police are needed, go immediately and take all your evidence.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 7:55 PM on August 2

You don't need to know this person's name and address when you go to the cops. If they perceive this a real threat, they can approach the site and its ISP and get this info.
posted by Sully at 3:13 AM on August 3

Threatening someone is a felony in New York State. And the police WILL take that seriously.

I speak from experience -- the experience of having a random obscene phone call suddenly turn very scary on me. But the thing that made it scary was him threatening to harm me -- and this very thing was the thing that made the police show up within only 2 minutes when I called 911, and made a detective puruse the phone records with the tenacity of a rat terrier.

Seconding what Sully says -- you don't need to know this person's name, the police will take care of that. The fact that you have screenshots and access to computer records will make things somewhat easier for them (I had a single phone call, and it took them a couple months to get the identity of my caller).

I will caution you, though, that if they are across state lines, it may be a little trickier when it comes to this being prosecutable; on the other hand, though, the fact that your harrasser has made repeated threats may indeed push the NY State Police into contacting the state police in your harrasser's location (my own detective offered to do so when we learned that my own caller lived out of state). But you may also decide, as I did, that the knowledge that the guy lives in a totally different time zone makes it highly unlikely that he WILL follow through on his threats, and that's enough to make you feel better.

But do contact the police. This person is definitely committing a felony, and the police are there to help you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:30 AM on August 3