Man Arrested for Threatening Mayor Murray and Council Member Sawant

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Can't post anything derogatory??!! I learned derogatory from The Stranger!

dnt trust me on January 17, 2014 at 4:28 PM

One can only hope.

on January 17, 2014 at 4:29 PM

HATEFUL BIGOTS!!

or mental illness.

bah...

but there's no political hay in that.

on January 17, 2014 at 4:33 PM

I was wondering why you hadn't posted this yet. Then I realized you had to wait for the PI to re-write the Times story, so you had something to link to that wasn't the Times. Because, you know, don't give credit where it's due.

pkbrown on January 17, 2014 at 4:33 PM

Yeah, it seems like "derogatory" isn't really the problem here. If making derogatory remarks were an arrestable offense, every writer and commenter on The Stranger would be doing a life sentence.

MacCrocodile on January 17, 2014 at 4:33 PM

@4 why link to something paywalled?

Lack Thereof on January 17, 2014 at 4:40 PM

@7 Because they broke it. Because plenty of people have access. And because it's not a bad thing to support journalism.

pkbrown on January 17, 2014 at 4:43 PM

@dominicholden

"Seriously, if @seattlepi keeps up this drumbeat of being a conservative screech blog on these city issues, I'm not gonna link to it anymore."

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaahahaha!

on January 17, 2014 at 4:44 PM

@5
Thank you, if I were Goldie I would have left out the word "derogatory" and been satisfied with 'threatening'. Yes, it is in the Times article, but to me, and you MacCroc, it just seems inappropriate and wrong in this case. It sounds like a sly move to shut down free speech.

dnt trust me on January 17, 2014 at 4:49 PM

I wonder where Mark Driscoll stole those gems from?

Banna on January 17, 2014 at 4:52 PM

@11

Eliminating free speech is a key point in the progressive agenda.

Who needs rights when you can have a government mandate.

Cascadian Bacon on January 17, 2014 at 5:14 PM

#14: Nice projection there.

Jizzlobber on January 17, 2014 at 5:17 PM

The poor guy was probably just confused. That sort of talk is par for the course in conservative talk radio, so I guess he just assumed that it would be perfectly acceptable elsewhere.

floater on January 17, 2014 at 5:17 PM

14: Obviously I was referring to #13, not my own post.

Jizzlobber on January 17, 2014 at 5:18 PM

We're lucky this guy got himself caught in time to prevent him from acting on his threats.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn on January 17, 2014 at 5:48 PM

@13: I see the crazies are out in force. Guess what! Death threats aren't covered by "free speech" protections.

Glad to know you're a "Constitutional expert" on more than the 2nd.

undead ayn rand on January 17, 2014 at 6:26 PM

Is a death threat in the passive/3rd person sense a legal death threat? Such as:
- Death to X (passive)
- I'm going to kill X (active - obviously a death threat)

Interesting. Or was it because Murray and Sawant feel threatened (and yes, they should feel that way) that an arrest was made or because the words of the accused constitutes a death threat according to statute?

(Academic question here, just academic.)

raindrop on January 17, 2014 at 6:46 PM

Conservatism is attractive to stupid people because it gives them a reason to be a victim, instead of taking responsibility for their various failings in life. It also let's them project their flaws onto others.

Their handlers want to keep them right on the edge, so they will be nice and paranoid, which makes them open to their ridiculous political agenda. But sometimes, because they're stupid, they go over the edge into crazy.

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 17, 2014 at 8:00 PM

@20
Catalina dear, I think that can be said for both sides.

Cascadian Bacon on January 17, 2014 at 8:04 PM

No, Cascadian dear, it can't. Conservatism cultivates stupidity, victimhood, and projection. Own it.

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 17, 2014 at 8:07 PM

@19: If you say "death to X" you are advocating for the death of X. Hard not to see that as an incitement to violence.

ɥsɐןɯouǝʌ on January 17, 2014 at 8:17 PM

A four-hour-old post about Sawant and her stalker hasn't posted yet. So Chefjoe is 32--I would not have guessed that.

seatackled on January 17, 2014 at 8:34 PM

Er.... folks if you threaten a public official you get, looked at very closely. That is one of the perks of being a public official.

Machiavelli was framed on January 17, 2014 at 8:36 PM

@24: No, he wouldn't be threatening Murray.

Hanoumatoi on January 17, 2014 at 8:49 PM

@24

You'd think. But sure he would; he's pretty much a corporatist, so he hates McGinn and seemingly supported Murray because he preferred Murray over McGinn. If Susan Hutchinson or Rob McKenna had been in the mayor's race, he'd have tried to discredit Murray, too, in favor of Hutchinson or McKenna. He generally writes posts that seem to have an air of civility, but every now and then, you'll see something that exposes his racist, misogynist values.

(Oh, and still getting around to the new stack of pancakes.)

seatackled on January 17, 2014 at 9:12 PM

@27 meant @26, not @24.

seatackled on January 17, 2014 at 9:12 PM

20
22

dear;

scrumptious big plastic bosoms will buy you a pass on a lot but you have exceeded the limit.

bacon is right.

you perfectly describe the Left.

Helpless Victims of The Rich.
Unable to provide for their own wants,
and unable to distinguish between wants and needs,
but ever blaming The Man.

Credulous Followers.
Sheeple.
Claiming to believe in Science but quick to ignore Science that does not conform to their prejudices. Which is most of it

Accusing their foes of Bigotry and Narrow Minded Intolerance.
(our favorite feature on the slog is the overweening lack of awareness of how much Danny and the FanBoys are EXACTLY like the potbellied drawling bigots of old...)

on January 17, 2014 at 9:23 PM

So the threats were made under what was likely his real name, and he's not a minor, so why aren't the rest of us allowed to know who this unhinged person is?

treehugger on January 17, 2014 at 9:24 PM

@19:

Is a death threat in the passive/3rd person sense a legal death threat? Such as:
- Death to X (passive)
- I'm going to kill X (active - obviously a death threat)

No to the first, maybe to the second, but it depends on the context. It has to pass the Brandenburg test which means that an incitement to violence will be both imminent and likely. If you incite violence but it isn't likely, then that speech is protected. If you incite violence but it isn't imminent, then that speech is protected.

delirian on January 17, 2014 at 9:29 PM

@31 Media outlets usually don't name suspects until they're formally charged.

Gern Blanston on January 17, 2014 at 9:30 PM

@22

Catalina dear, identity politics is what cultivates victimhood, projection and stupidity reign on both sides. Are you really saying that there are no stupid liberals who see themselves as victims and project their attitudes and prejudices on to other? As one of our wonderful Public Utility employees I know that you are smarter than that.

Politicians for both parties are happy to use low information voters for power and political ends.

@19
I think we have both received deaththreats from half of slog.

Cascadian Bacon on January 17, 2014 at 9:47 PM

Looks like he's been formally charged.

A 32-year-old Seattle man accused of threatening Mayor Ed Murray and City Councilmember Kshama Sawant was ordered held on $600,000 bail during a probable-cause hearing Friday.

Mitchell Munro Taylor was booked into the King County Jail Thursday night, two days after Murray’s staff found more than 20 threatening, anti-gay postings from Taylor’s account on the mayor’s Facebook page, according to court documents.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2…

seatackled on January 17, 2014 at 9:51 PM

seatackled, I have no desire to threaten Sawant or Murray. In Sawant's case, I'm just going to sit back and watch her accomplishments roll in for two years.

I voted for Murray.... but for Steinbrueck in the primary. I've got no reason to dislike Murray, yet, and I don't really think what Murray does with his genitals is much of my concern.

ChefJoe on January 17, 2014 at 11:11 PM

I'm guessing context is everything. Sure, everyone is "running around the internet" saying derogatory or insulting things (e.g. "How can anyone be as stupid as you?' "Fuck you asshole" "What a lot of bullshit"). Politicians say derogatory things about each other - hey, about the American people they are supposed to be representing (Remember the 47% percent? What about everyone on food stamps, Medicaid, or college aide programs?). If I were going to break it down, I'd say that it has to be (a) personally directed at an identifiable individual (not a unknown handle - even if you "feel like you know each other" - no, you don't really know each other if you don't have real names and faces - although, on the internet, people are potentially idenfiable) (b) derogatory based on the person's views or position, a group they belong to or identify with (male to female - "You bitch" "You whore", racist to civil rights spokesperson "you sand-ni--er lover", homophobic to gay or gay rights supporter "you fucking fa--ot," "you homo") and (c) threatening ("You're going to be dead," "you'll be sorry in a day or two," "Are you dead yet?" "I'm going to crush your head against a wall when I get my hands on you," "we'll deal with you."

Of course, there are threats delivered over the internet whereby you wonder if they can identify or locate the individual they're threatening. In this, I think it depends on the state the person who is threatening - is threatening from. I know about this because I have been threatened on the internet, and when I looked into it - the *oh so clever* threatener (who knew how to skirt the law) was doing so from a state where they have no regulations on this matter. What was scary was that the forum moderators wouldn't do anything and even appeared to be colluding in ways with the behavior in question. Since they all seemed so "close" and the moderators presumably have access to IP addresses, it stood to reason that the threats could be *more than* internet bantor, and one would have real reason to be concerned.

I wish there was more information about how to protect one's privacy in some of these forums where you are debating people who have radically different viewpoints. And particularly when the moderators seem to be biased towards one point of view or another and you have no way of knowing who they are or who is running the forum.

If someone can write an article about that or these things, I think it would be helpful to people these days. I have been threatened and attacked so much on the internet for expressing viewpoints others disagree with. On the bright side, I am stronger than ever, and better than ever at expressing my views with these idiots. :) (To finish on a derogatory note!)

on January 17, 2014 at 11:13 PM

Just to add another personal note: I've wondered, at some of these junctures with these 'fucking idiots,' "Who is this person saying these things to me?" Who's on the other end of the "phone," so to speak? Is this a thirty-something survivalist in the woods with 20 assault weapons on his wall? Is it a ten year old alone with his computer too long while Mom and Dad go out for the evening? Does the person think it's a joke and is meanwhile peeing in his pants all over himself? Or are they psychotically angry and ready to go out and do something? Do they go off and beat their wife afterwards? Anyway, I'm sure some of you relate to these experiences and reflections.

on January 17, 2014 at 11:24 PM

If this douche actually threatened Sawant and Murray, than that would be worth investigating. As it stands from what I read, these weren't threats but just mean spirited, douche bag comments. There is a difference between saying, for example "Ke$sha deserves to have a tribble shoved down her throat and be forced to shower with Klingons, making the tribble freak out and kill her" and actually saying you would take a tribble and a Klingon and do that to her or that you are planning to. Likewise, saying mean things about Sawant and Murray and wishing that they would die is not the same as threatening to kill them.

Even racist, homophobic, douche bag comments are protected by the first amendment. As much as a dirt weasel as this guy sounds, it is even more of a dirt weasel thing to do to arrest him for speech.

Granted, there may have been actual threats that warrant this action, but as it stands now it just sounds like the corporate-state once again trampling on our rights. And yes, people should have the right to be homophobic douche bags.

collectivism_sucks on January 17, 2014 at 11:25 PM

I like the Oklahoma. Well done seatackled.

Hanoumatoi on January 18, 2014 at 12:33 AM

@38, as others have noted, it all depends on context. A threat reiterated 20 times in a couple of hours is much more ominous than a one-off.

Ballard Pimp on January 18, 2014 at 12:45 AM

@40: I took the comments as incitement, but there are separate interpretations for incitement (the most stringent), threats, and fighting words. For threats, it must be a real physical threat of violence and not hyperbole. The more that I think of it, since these comments were posted on the Facebook pages of the mayor and councilwoman, they are actually threats and not incitement. If they were posted on his own page, it would be different. So there probably isn't any 1st Amendment defense that will work here.

delirian on January 18, 2014 at 1:08 AM

@33- one of the reasons I refuse to spend time w/ the conservatives that make up the bulk of the folks I grew up around is their insistence in complaining about evrything and everyone, and their insistence on claiming to be a victim. Apparently no longer being able to impose your will on the entire population is pretty traumatic. Identity politics is about moving from being an actual victim to being someone who has the legal rights to no longer be victimized.

Chris Jury on January 18, 2014 at 1:15 AM

@ 33, there's YOUR victimhood on display, right there in your last paragraph. Like your phobias, it's in your head.

Matt from Denver on January 18, 2014 at 1:15 AM

Cascadian Dear, of course there are idiots on both sides, but Conservatism is the only movement - aside from Fundamentalism, which is its BFF - that actively cultivates ignorance, anger and victimhood. They do it through a highly sophisticated media and religion complex that constantly tells its followers that all their woes are because of the blacks or the gays or the Jews or the Mexicans or the Feminists or the Muslims or the liberals or the government. And that everybody is coming to take their stupid guns. It's all done to mask the dismantling of the middle class by the corporations and the 1%.

What's really sad about it is that they often take people who are naive but generally good, and turn them into bitter, complaining, racist, homophobic bores. They pull them in by using cornball appeals to patriotism that are right out of a 40's MGM musical, and tender concern for "the babies" (abortion). I've seen it in my own family, and in friends who stayed in Iowa.

Show me the equivalent of a Michelle Bachman or a Ted Cruz, or a Rick Santorum, or a Sarah Palin on the liberal side of politics. I'm not talking about eccentrics - I mean hardcore sociopaths who relentlessly spread misinformation. Guess what? There aren't any.

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 8:19 AM

@44: And particularly, none of them that have their own tv talk shows, or who have been elected to national public office. Cascadian Bacon is just another of these "both-sides-are-bad-so-vote-Republican" types who want to paint a false equivalency because he thinks he can actually fool people into voting Republican (or whatever his hapless third party* du jour is currently).

* = or, I guess, "fourth party" now that Socialist Alternative is more or less legit.

NineOneFour on January 18, 2014 at 8:53 AM

You people are full of hate and hypocrisy. It is disgusting watching you pat each other on the back.

NancyBalls on January 18, 2014 at 9:13 AM

Nancy dear, welcome to our little corner of the web. It's always so nice to have new friends.

But if you think this post is a particularly jarring example of "hate and hypocrisy", you're in for some unpleasant surprises. I don't know if Slog will be your cup of tea. Unless that's your "thing", of course.....

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 9:23 AM

@46: Balls, there's a solution to your problem. fuck off and don't visit Slog.

i know at one point or another i've told multiple "conservatives" on Slog to fuck themselves. but i've never made a death threat.

Max Solomon on January 18, 2014 at 9:38 AM

I've been around at least as long as you have @47, under various pseudonyms, and have seen the intolerance to dissenting opinions grow to the point where any alternative point of view is shunted to the margins of the conversation. Slog has become as self affirming cesspool of group think, and the writers at the stranger are stoking and supporting this anger and divisiveness, and shutting out meaningful conversation. This place is starting to suck as much as any right wing circlejerking news aggregation website (cough drudge cough), and is beginning to look like a parody of itself.

@48 99.999999% of conservatives have said a bunch of stupid incendiary bullshit and haven't made death threats either. I guess you have more in common than you think.

NancyBalls on January 18, 2014 at 10:01 AM

Well then, Nancy dear, perhaps it's time for you to change your home page to something less distressing. Maybe Marthastewart.com, or readersdigest.com (I love their "life in these United States column. So funny!) ? Ask your parents or the librarian how to do that - they may have a permission lock or something.

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 10:15 AM

@46: It's only hypocrisy if you're a conservative who thinks it's okay to make death threats to liberals but not conservatives (which you apparently are.)

It's not in our case because we also don't want death threats being made towards conservatives.

undead ayn rand on January 18, 2014 at 10:45 AM

"I've been around at least as long as you have (Mrs. Vel-DuRay), under various pseudonyms...."

Who could Nancy be? Seattleblahs? Loveschild? Lord Basil?

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 11:07 AM

First openly gay mayor??? I am new to Seattle.... Have there been gay mayors who were closeted????

pupuguru on January 18, 2014 at 11:15 AM

I expect investigators will take an active interest in this fellow's whereabouts the night of the Neighbors arson attempt.

RonK, Seattle on January 18, 2014 at 11:18 AM

Goldy says "shut up." Because, Democracy.

hmmmmm on January 18, 2014 at 12:04 PM

Nancyballs is probably one of Seattleblues' monickers.

seatackled on January 18, 2014 at 1:31 PM

@55 says "Goldy says 'shut up.'" Because, Illiteracy.

Backyard Bombardier on January 18, 2014 at 1:37 PM

Goldy might want to do a bit of research closer to home.

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives…

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives…

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

fairly.unbalanced on January 18, 2014 at 1:52 PM

@ 33 please link to death threats you and @19 have received from Slog commenters. You say it was half and collecting all those would take a lot of time so how about 10 of the best?

thatsnotright on January 18, 2014 at 2:20 PM

@59

I think the comment you just made there would be considered a death threat by him, which is why it's important that he carries a firearm at all times.

seatackled on January 18, 2014 at 2:31 PM

I'm being threatened because I am in the majority religion, and I have encountered someone who does not think exactly as I do. Therefore, I am a victim.

Classic conservative thinking. Such boring lives they must lead....

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 3:26 PM

Catalina Vel-DuRay > Five Large

Catalina Vel-DuRay > all of John Balio's sock puppets

I'm surprised these little pipsqueaks found the nerve to walk into that buzz saw. Kudos for being brave enough to court certain doom? I guess?

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn on January 18, 2014 at 4:55 PM

@44
"Show me the equivalent of a Michelle Bachman or a Ted Cruz, or a Rick Santorum, or a Sarah Palin on the liberal side of politics."

Catalina dear, I will see you with a Diane Feinstein and raise you an Al Sharpton. As far as a misinformation speaking sociopath goes Barack Hussein Obama seems to have claimed that throne from George W Bush. Then you got pants on heads retards like Sawant who is going to have the city council nationalize Boeing and use the world’s largest factory make city busses; however I feel that Sawant, like Bob Avakian falls more into the eccentric category.

Politicians on either side of the aisle tend to be serve only themselves and the interest of their big business pals. You get the occasional statesmen like Kucinich, but they are all too few and far between.

Cascadian Bacon on January 18, 2014 at 7:25 PM

Five Large, you do know that Sharpton is not an elected official, don't you? Bet not raised. And while Feinstein is no hero of mine, Catalina did specify that you had to find someone who "actively cultivates ignorance, anger and victimhood." So bet not met.

Matt from Denver on January 18, 2014 at 7:38 PM

Cascadian dear, Dianne Feinstein? You've had almost twelve hours, and the best you can come up with is poor old Dianne? I can think of at least four current politicians on the left that are much more "wacky" (in your world) than Dianne Feinstein. Is it because she's from San Francisco?

Also, Al Sharpton, was never an elected official, but nice try.

Finally, just because you feel threatened by Council member Sawant (that whole victim thing again), that's no reason to use an offensive term about intellectually disabled people. Does your mother know you use words like that? And does she know that you apparently think only in cliches?

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 7:48 PM

Left wing elected dizzies include:
- Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
- Rep. Maxine Waters
- Sen. Al Franken
- Rep. Alan Grayson
- Former Rep. Anthony Weiner
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz (not elected but head DNC)
- Sen. Claire McCaskill

Oh and Catalina, how dare you equate Martha Stewart with Readers Digest? Maybe Paula Dean/Rachel Ray and Readers Digest, but not Martha.

raindrop on January 18, 2014 at 8:17 PM

I'm not the most eloquent of posters, but I do read most of them and can agree that the republican party and most religious conservatives are going to have a very difficult time attracting any educated voters in 2014 and 2016. That's been a problem for Democrats as evidenced in the mid-terms when all the tea-bagger loonies got elected. The republicans and the scumbaggers rely on the poor and uneducated voters down south for their support, staying away from the areas that have a good economy and an educated workforce. sarah palin is a big hit in the south, along with rush and all the conservative vomit that goes along with their lies.

longwayhome on January 18, 2014 at 8:28 PM

Raindrop dearest, I asked for "hardcore sociopaths who relentlessly spread misinformation". You've given me a list of prominent politicians that you don't like. It's not the same. DO try to focus, love.....

And how dare YOU compare two longstanding American institutions like Reader's Digest and Martha Stewart with the likes of Rachel Ray or Paula Dean. Are you a communist?

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 8:33 PM

@67: There will always be a struggle between right and left in America. Granted, the R has their deep systemic problems, nevertheless the ultimate distillation of the debate (away from all the silliness) is between Left: The government trumps the individual, or Right: The individual trumps the government.

This debate is very healthy, it keeps over-taxation and under-taxation in balance; it keeps over-regulation and under-regulation in balance.

You know of course, that the evils of the left, and the evils of the right meet up with each other on the dark side of the moon and have both the basis for totalitarian and repressive regimes throughout history.

raindrop on January 18, 2014 at 8:46 PM

Raindrop dear, I take back 64.456% of the awful things I've said about you over the years. That's just the sort of statement that I give a hearty yowsa! to. Where's that ballsy nancy lady when we need her?

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 9:09 PM

@70: Wow, did I really hit the nexus there? Actually, I can't remember anything awful you've said about me, it's been mostly your reprimands over fallen soufflés and inappropriate centerpieces as I recall. Thank you!

raindrop on January 18, 2014 at 9:39 PM

Raindrop dear, I keep an awful lot of things in my heart. Just like the Blessed Mother.

Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 18, 2014 at 9:42 PM

@69: You are seriously wrong about your characterization of left and right as authoritarian and libertarian respectively. The left IN THIS COUNTRY tends to be authoritarian economically but libertarian societally, while the right IN THIS COUNTRY is the opposite.

ɥsɐןɯouǝʌ on January 18, 2014 at 10:08 PM

@73: True, for the current political times - but what you said does mesh with the parallel of what I said.

raindrop on January 18, 2014 at 10:17 PM

I thought I was straight, then Catalina made me cum. I'm so confused.

Bohica on January 19, 2014 at 12:34 AM

@69 & 70

I think despite our many misunderstandings this is what we are trying to get at.

Also Catalina dear, my sincere apologies for using such old fashioned language. I feel it may have something to do with my being born off the power grid.

@73
They are all authoritarians, fuck em.

@75
Such vulgarities, but you are right.
Catalina is a wonderful person and we are blessed to have her in our fair city.

Cascadian Bacon on January 19, 2014 at 2:11 AM

@73 - Fuck me, I had no idea that plutocracy was the opposite of economic authoritarianism. I mean, the individual is clearly put on a pedestal by robber barons and the right wing that promotes increasing economic inequality.

This must be some kind of parody, please wake me up. I think I am having a nightmare.

anon1256 on January 19, 2014 at 7:42 AM

@61: It's really some form of personality disorder.

undead ayn rand on January 19, 2014 at 11:46 AM

Man Arrested for Threatening Mayor Murray and Council Member Sawant

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