by Pobble Thoughts
September 30, 2013
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How do I start this one? That's the reason it isn't written yet; that question, there. How do I start this one? A while back, my friend Lori, over at This Just In, picked up a troll. Only...he was so much more than that. A troll is someone who passive-aggressively "just wants to play devil's advocate" in a marginalized person's space. Or asks stupid questions on serious forums. Or makes the cyber-equivalent of prank ~ even perhaps obscene ~ phone calls. I'm not saying these are good things. Trolls are horrible, horrible people and need to be ignored (at a minimum) or a slap down. This person...this person was more than a troll.
This person said horrible things about Lori, her son, her dying sister, her sick mother. Graphic, detailed, and grotesque. And he moved onto those of us who would comment on her posts. Making horrific statements in our comments. Less personal, but anti...everything and everyone. Antisemitic. Racist. Misogynistic. And he always linked back to a white supremacist, faux-Christian, hate group.
Some people replied. Some people became afraid. Some people had anxiety attacks. Some people stopped blogging. Some people ignored him. He never went completely away. For years. And years.
Eventually, Lori shut down her comments entirely, tired of having to filter his venom every post, several times per post. And that pissed him off. That's when he started posting the same vituperative bile on other blogs ~ under her name. Using her email address. Referencing her.
He made comments about my readers. He made comments about my father. He made comments about me and Lithus. He made comments that made no sense, were just hateful. And I wasn't the only one.
Free speech had become hate speech. And Lori had had fucking enough already. Another friend of hers mentioned a cybercrime unit in the police force, and she was off to the races.
His name is Robin King. He is a 55 year old Missouri man, who used to live in Illinois. He is an employee of the Department of Defense. He was arrested, at work, on Monday, September 23rd. So, yeah, fuck you, Robin.
We have no idea what caused him to choose Lori. To her knowledge, their paths have never crossed. She does not know the man. But what we have always known ~ and he knows now, as well ~ is that he chose...poorly.
Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee ~ and jail time.