Why I Don't Just Go to the Cops, by Rebecca Watson

Gathered together in one place, for easy access, an agglomeration of writings and images relevant to the Rapeutation phenomenon.

Why I Don't Just Go to the Cops, by Rebecca Watson

Postby admin » Fri May 09, 2014 11:29 pm

Why I Don’t Just Go to the Cops
by Rebecca Watson

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October 10, 2013

As a woman who has opinions online, I get rape and death threats on a fairly regular basis, mixed in amongst the barrage of gendered slurs and comments about how fat I am. For the most part, the “threats” are obviously empty attempts to scare me into being silent – just another aspect of the usual bullying. Every now and again, though, there’s a threat that sounds just a bit more legitimate.

The first one came back in 2005 when I lived in Boston and had just launched Skepchick. I was able to write up a short article about the project for an issue of eSkeptic, Michael Shermer’s free email newsletter. Within a day of that eSkeptic hitting in-boxes, I received a brief email from a man calling me a cunt. I responded with a chipper “Thanks for taking the time to write!” He responded with, “If I lived in Boston I’d put a bullet in your brain.”

That escalated quickly.

I checked his IP address and found he was most likely writing from North Carolina. I called the Boston police and described the exchange. They told me there wasn’t much they could do because he apparently lived in another state. They offered to take down a report, but admitted that nothing would come of it unless someone one day put a bullet in my brain, at which point they’d have a pretty good lead.

At the time, I assumed my local police department was the exception, but as the years passed I learned that they’re actually the rule. I’ve lived in several different cities since then and received several frightening threats, and never have I met a single helpful cop who even made an attempt to help me feel safe.

The last one I reported was last year. A Skepchick reader happened across the website of a man who had written disturbing things about murdering women in general and me in particular, including photos of me with targets on them. The reader alerted the other Skepchicks, who compiled as much information as they could on the person, including his real name, age, and location (about a 3-hour drive from me). Let’s call him “Rick.”

Because I knew what town “Rick” lived in, I called his local police department. They told me there was nothing they could do and that I’d have to make a report with my local police department. So I called my local police department and the operator transferred me to a detective, but I got a busy signal. I called back and the operator sent me to another line, which rang and rang for ten minutes before I hung up. I called back and finally got through to someone who told me that there was nothing they could do but take a report in case one day “Rick” followed through on his threats, at which point they’d have a pretty good lead.

My fellow Skepchick contributors and other friends suggested that because he lived in a different state, the FBI might be able to help. So, I called my local FBI office.

My first experience dealing with the FBI was wonderful. The first person I spoke to was horrified by what I described to her, and she immediately forwarded my call to an agent. I gave the agent all the information I had, and he was also very understanding and professional. He told me he’d assign two agents to the case who specialize in this sort of thing, and they’d be in touch with me soon.

Within the day, an agent called me and got all the details. After I described everything on “Rick’s” website, the agent agreed that the threat was credible and told me that it sounded as though his threats would definitely fall under the category of a hate crime (since he was targeting me for my gender), which would make it rather easy to prosecute. She asked that I send along all the screenshots and information I had gathered.

I emailed her the information as soon as I got off the phone with her, and felt much better having spoken to her. The other Skepchick contributors and I celebrated that our own Scully was on the case.

Days went by with no word from her. I emailed her again to be sure she received everything. She said she was traveling and that she’d get back to me asap.

Weeks went by and I emailed her again, apologizing for bothering her but wondering if anything was happening. She replied to say that I definitely was not bothering her, and that she’d be getting to this soon.

A few more weeks later, I emailed her to tell her that in a month I would be giving a public talk just an hour from where “Rick” lived and that I wasn’t sure what to do. She told me, “You take whatever precautions you need to take.” She also asked me to resend the screenshots, which I did. She replied saying her computer wouldn’t open the .zip file I sent but asked if the screenshots were the same as the links I had sent her. I replied to say that yes, the screenshots were all the same as what the links showed, since “Rick” hadn’t edited or taken down anything he had posted.

That was September of last year. I never heard from her again.

A good friend of mine heard this story at the time it was happening and wanted to help me, so he hired an armed guard to attend my talk and a private detective to look into “Rick’s” background.

Around this time, I started receiving hundreds of harassing Tweets and Facebook messages from a pseudonym using an IP address that came from “Rick’s” home town.

The detective worked quickly and efficiently. He almost immediately found that “Rick” had previously been arrested for domestic violence. He also found that “Rick” was responsible for vandalizing my Wikipedia page, and had a long history of making enemies online in forums and elsewhere.

The private detective called me to talk over my options. He pointed out that there’s a chance that “Rick” is just a pathetic troll who lives with his parents and will never actually do anything besides rage on the Internet. There’s also a chance he would follow through on his threats, and there’s absolutely no way to know for sure one way or another until it happens. He told me that if I wanted, I could get a restraining order, but this would have consequences. The restraining order would be delivered to “Rick” along with the information that I’m the one who ordered it. He told me that sometimes, this is enough to encourage people like “Rick” to escalate to violence. He pointed out that a restraining order is not a magical spell that would stop him from getting near me – its only purpose is to make it easier for the police to prosecute him if he does get near me, at which point he’ll have already done what he’s going to do.

The detective also told me that I should reconsider publicizing anything about “Rick” because that, too, could “escalate” the situation to one that would be very dangerous to me. That’s why “Rick” is not the man’s real name and I haven’t linked to his threats. I don’t know if “Rick” is still obsessed with me, but if he is, then he probably has read this and recognized himself, anyway, so I’m actually very hesitant to even publish this.

I am going to publish it, though, because I’m tired of people asking me why I don’t go to the cops when I get a threat like this one that came in the other day via Twitter:
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Re: Why I Don't Just Go to the Cops, by Rebecca Watson

Postby admin » Fri May 09, 2014 11:40 pm

Page o' Hate

Note from Rebecca Watson: this is a very small portion of the hate! I’ve blocked most of the haters and so these days I only see a small trickle of what gets thrown at me. This (so far) doesn’t include entire blogs devoted to me, videos people have made about me, or actual, credible threats that have been reported to authorities. I’ll update this post as I see fit, and if I have the time and the energy I’ll organize it. More likely, I’ll “hire” an intern to do it. Any volunteers??

5/21/13

-- Fuck off Watson you slanderous hag

-- Oh good grief. Someone slap that silly little brat with a wet fish please (yes @rebeccawatson that's you)

-- You are the most annoying face on youtube. Please delete your channel and your face for the sake of everyone on youtube and the internet. My kids, my wife, my friends, you are a risk to positive forward thinking america. You are non conducive, authoritarian and you need to stop shouting your opinions to the rooftops of youtube. go away. please

-- Anyone who has actually looked into the issue knows that women are far better off, by almost every metric, in Western society. Feminism, in any of it's iterations or current vanguard, is so clueless. Also, I want to shove my cock in your flabby, white ass against your will.

-- I just wanted to pass on to you my opinion. You are not interesting to watch or listen to. You are shallow and of low intellect. A bad speaker. not once have I ever been captivated by anything I have watched that you have authored. You certainly aren't funny. Maybe a good troll. Stop being a whorel let the whoring go from you. Go get an education and learn to be a Human, right now you are a subhuman and you bring shame to your family and friends.

Close your youtube account and diffuse like the stench from a filthy vagina. You bring nothing new or important or interesting to the species. Go try something else like building fences or making cakes. You are no good at this rebecca. move along kiddo before you anger a man. XD

-- dawkins crushed this poor girls soul. lol

-- You experiences twitter hate, but not rape. You should experience rape also, don't you think? I think plenty of guys want to teach your dirty ass a lesson.

-- Rebecca Watson -- Twitter Hatred is worse than Rape. strong feminism ideals you stupid bitch

-- So now you are against dialogue? You are one stupid passive aggressive fascist bitch.

-- oh god not that retard again... that stupid bitch ... why would men ever date that stupid cunt? She looks like a train wreck, she's obviously a hateful lesbian feminazi, you know... just throw some coffe in her face (in an elevator if possible). Why doesn't she spend her time doing the "scissors" with some other ugly dyke, instead of talking about dick (in a horrible way of course) all the fucking time. And now you can erase this comment because you butch lesbonobos are fucking cowards.

-- Can you hear Rebecca in the background getting raped while she's being introduced? It's so inspiring that she was able to give a keynote address like this after just getting raped.

-- She looks more like a feminist Jew every day ... she's slowly morphing!

-- Do you know what's pathetic? Sad loosers that accept what she says as gospel, just because she has a vagina. Cos she's evil.

-- As the rape threats have never been produced and are limited, it seems, to anonymous comments by trolls and others who you can't know are part of the atheist community, or if they even occurred, you are jumping the gun. As an atheist/skeptic your first job is to determine if a problem actually exists or are the inventions of a self-promoting sociopath repeated by mindless idealogues.

-- I will be dancing at blue bar on chapel street tonight from 10pm ... it's just south of malvern road. you are welcome to stay at my house. right now i have an extremely small penis but after i have had my hypnotic upgrades i will particularly enjoy shagging you and having you fightback from the intensity as you come around me. i think you are particularly hot. you are brainy ... you aren't showy and i especially like it that you are a straight talker who isn't into bullshit... you are also genuine. you not being a christian doesn't bother me in anyway. i look to enjoy us getting naked. john.

-- You're hot. I want to see the outline of your boobs in that green shirt. Nice juicy cheeks and beautiful skin.

-- I, for one, would like to see Rebecca bent over my sofa, and I would defeat an army of feminist ninjas to make it happen (pirate here).

-- how the FUCK isnt male circumcision mutilation? is it ok to cut off a hand, because cutting off the hand is worse? no, female circumcision is NOT worse than male gential mutilation 80% of the time (see type 1) MGM destroys the ability to have natural sex. ITS AN INFANT YOU SICK CUNT!! how the fuck would you feel? honestly, and i mean HONESTLY...you deserve to be raped and tortured and killed. swear id laugh if i could watch it.

-- Typical feminist cunt. What she needs is to be bent over and have her asshole cored out for a few hours until she is a sore, swollen, gaping mess and then, yes then, she will have something for her suck lips to flap about. Maybe I should ask her out for coffee.

-- This bitch needs it up the ass, bad. Fucking loosen her up.

-- I want to drug yuo and fuck yuo.

-- You are gonna get raped.

-- Please slap that bitch.

-- someone needs to stick dicks in your mouth so you stfu stupid bitch

-- Can somebody please rape Rebecca Watson? She would love it, because she is clearly a rape fetishist, given how much she talks about troll comments. Maybe then she wouldn't be such a fucking stuck-up cunt.

-- Hope Dawkins will bestially rape you... in the Elevator to Hell!

-- Kill yourself mebbe? Seriously. Third-wave feminism is a joke. You are a joke. And a cunt. A jokey, ugly cunt. Your incessant whinging will never accomplish anything. You will never make an impact ont he level of true women's rights activists. You are but a lowly, shrill third-wave feminist. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Get raped first. But also kill yourself.

-- You deserve the death nazi scum.

-- You talk too much. I think you need my dick in your mouth.

-- Hello I am a man which must mean I am evil and want to put my dick inside you! BEWARE OF MEN RAAAH!!! You stupid ignorant cynical sexist fuck. Please remove yourself from his Earth.

-- you FUCKING SLUT. I hope you die you fucking retard that guy didn't deserve to lose his job because your slutty fucking shit face didn't take his compliment. GO DIE IN A FIRE.

-- I know a guy who fucked you at TAM one year. He said your pussy smelled like rotten fish & looked like an infected axe wound.

-- You and your father seem very close. How many times has he had sex with you? Have you had sex with your father lately? The closest you ever came to being a magician is when your daddy played hide the salami with you. One day I hope that someone actually rapes you so that, then, you'll know what it's like and what the difference is. Maybe your speech impediment is not caused by a short fenulum. Maybe your mouth is just chock-full of cum. How does that not make you a slut? The only thing that's slimey around here is your slimey garbage chut of a pussy. I'd bet a million dollars that, in reality, u tried to suck off Elevator Guy, and when he turned u down, u then cried rape. You are the worst kind of whore, the type who sucks every cock in sight, but denies being a whore. Fucking hypocrite. Here's a picture of Rebecca the Whore advertising that she's in heat and trolling for some cock. You should write a blog about how ugly women, such as yourself, are forced to embrace lesbianism. Maybe one day you will learn to stop bullying others. Your teeth are all crooked. My guess is that's from your daddy shoving his cock in your mouth during your formative years.

-- get back in the kitchen and make me a sammich!

-- Rebecca Watson is a prudish whore who needs a good fuck to sort her out, even though she is too ugly to rape.

-- FFUUUUUUUUUUU!!! I can't take it anymore!!! STFU and make me a sammich! Then suck my dick, that should keep you quiet for a little bit longer. Just until I can kick you to the curb. Coffee? Sexualize YOU??? You're right. Keep the BJ, I am running away. Far away. Cunt.

-- Who the fuck would be hitting on you anyway? id rather masturbate with a cheese grater.

-- I wanna be on you. You have... A magnificent hiney. I wanna be friends with it

-- You are subhuman. More sperm as a young woman would have cured your now demonstrable psychological disconnect with reality. Remember that you aren't important. remember that you are just 1/7 000,000,000. Remember that you will, on your best day not make it anywhere near any man on His worst day. You don't have the brainpower, the integrity, the fortitude, the will power and the drive to build the species like men do. You offer nothing but a place to drain sperm into and make more men. You need to understand that you are nothing more than a vagina. You are the masturbatory device that cleans itself and judging by your outward appearance, not very well. If you would learn to stop talking your stock would go up dramatically and maybe you might gain some friends. Maybe even a man may want to fuck you, for pity. You are the result of cowardly weak parenting and a society that has allowed you to get away with your disrespectful shenanigans. Don't ever disrespect a man again. Good girl. I am pleased that we had this one sided conversation where I commanded you to comply and you have promised to do so. Regarding your videos. You are uninteresting, arrogant and as funny as milk. Wear a dress and put your hair up. Find a treadmill and drop those unwanted pounds. Men will find you slightly less repulsive and again maybe in a drunken stupor one might find, in a continuous series of dry heave convulsions, His way to draining inside you. Remember what you have agreed to do and that your entire false platform is built upon the intellect and labor of your superiors, Men to whom you owe everything.

-- you are a fucking idiot, im sure since you were not from that country you didn’t know that coffee, in a polite way is not the same as, come to my room i want to rape you! but im sure coming from a country where men are little fucking girls that seemed intimidating to you

-- You are an Idiot. How fucking stupid are you seriously. A guy asks you for coffee and you flip out WTF you stupid motherfucker. He asked for COFFEE it’s not like he asked you to suck his dick geez. And another thing if a guy finds you interesting thats a GOOD THING you should be flattered by this not freaked out. Are you gonna avoid every guy that talks to you. You say that men should not be sexist yet you do the same by thinking every guy wants to have sex with you. People fuck get the fuck over yourself and grow the fuck up. Oh and btw go get laid you stupid fuck maybe you will be less of a dumb cunt. I guess you are ungrateful that your dad fucked your mom because if it were not for that you would not have been born. So go get fucked in the cuntflaps okay

-- Take a hint! Take a hint you dumb cunt! NOBODY likes you! Get off youtube! You are your sexist idiocy has destroyed you, you will always be hated throughout the rest of your life. You fucked yourself! Now if you should be bitching about anybody…

-- You have a fish face

-- The only thing the vids bitch has going for her is a firm rack and an adequate mouth for a good cock sucking. Otherwise toss the bitch in the sack. Chiropractice for me!



http://skepchick.org/page-o-hate/
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