If that manly man Howie Carr gets hit, you'll know who went after him (thanks to his book and talk show). Similarly, If MassResistance/Article 8 Alliance/Parents' Rights Coalition staffers and volunteers get hit, you'll know what groups went after them.
This is just one tool in our arsenal of SELF-DEFENSE. Those wishing us ill should also know that there are (believe it or not -- in Massachusetts!) still law enforcement agents who believe in protecting the rights of all citizens, and who are alerted to the various "persons of interest" targeting yours truly. Let's start with definitions and citations:
Stalker - (noun) a person who illegally follows and watches someone, especially a woman, over a period of time (from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
General Laws of Massachusetts, Ch. 265, Sec. 43 Stalking; punishment:
Section 43. (a) Whoever (1) willfully and maliciously engages in a knowing pattern of conduct or series of acts over a period of time directed at a specific person which seriously alarms or annoys that person and would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and (2) makes a threat with the intent to place the person in imminent fear of death or bodily injury, shall be guilty of the crime of stalking and shall be punished by ... Such conduct, acts or threats described in this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, conduct, acts or threats conducted by mail or by use of a telephonic or telecommunication device including, but not limited to, electronic mail, internet communications and facsimile communications....
General Laws of Massachusetts, Ch. 12, Sec. 11H Violations of constitutional rights; civil actions by attorney general; venue:
Whenever any person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interfere by threats, intimidation or coercion, or attempt to interfere by threats, intimidation or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any other person or persons of rights secured by the constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the constitution or laws of the commonwealth ... [and]
General Laws of Massachusetts, Ch. 12, Sec. 11I Violations of constitutional rights; civil actions by aggrieved persons; costs and fees:
Any person whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the constitution or laws of the commonwealth, has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, as described in section 11H, may institute and prosecute in his own name and on his own behalf a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief as provided for in said section, including the award of compensatory money damages...
It's the little things that trip such people up -- the wrongdoers who think they're so smart.
For instance, newspaper wedding announcements that connect the dots, or a curious misspelling that appears in harassing emails then reappears on a hateful intimidation blog.
One stalking blogger seems to "shudder" frequently when confronted with traditional values and Biblically-based moral standards. Problem is, he spells it "shutter" in his three attack aliases. First there was "Gaston", then "Maver" in harassing emails sent to the Article 8 office, then an obsessive stalking hate blog was born, targeting this publication. In a recent posting on his blog, he "shuttered" to think about a child being reared by a parent such as the MassResistance blogger.
I shutter to think of the children being brought up in a hatefilled household. God help those kids who are brought up learning that hate is ok. Now THAT is unnatural.
In response, an acquaintance of ours posted the following comment on that hate blog:
Hey, Buddy, nice to see you still don't know how to spell "shudder." In order for everyone else to ascertain the obsessive-compulsive nature of this "blogger," please visit http://www.article8.org/docs/issues/harassment/gaston28.htm. Take note of the third harassing e-mail from the top....
Well, blogmeister BostonBud (a.k.a. Gaston, Maver, Gay Boy Scout) immediately deleted this comment, and put up this reason:
BloggerÂ’s Note: A comment was posted, but deleted from the site because it directed readers to a posting with inaccurate and personal information. In the interest of disclosure, however, the substance of the post was: (1) to correct my use of the word shutter when I meant shudder (darn those homonyms); and (2) to direct readers to the Article 8 website, which if anyone cares, is available by link on the adjacent panel.
No, they don't like being exposed. The hate blogger's response to the deleted comment could be construed to be self-incrimination. "No -- don't look there!"
BACKGROUND from our Article 8 email alert (Dec. 2, 2005): ...[A] volunteer in our office has over the past few months been stalked by homosexual activists, was threatened in an email that they know where she lives and would come to her house. Recently, she had her house broken into and her credit cards stolen and used. And we described that the Massachusetts Attorney General's office, Denise Barton, a staff attorney who runs the "computer crimes" division at first acknowledged that these threatening emails were clearly criminal acts. But it seemed clear to us that when she realized who WE were, and possibly that the perpetrator was a gay activist, Barton became very difficult and condescending. Read full report on this disgusting incident here.
Since the break in to her house and a second of her credit cards was stolen and used, the volunteer's lawyer had requested a new meeting with Barton to at least discuss re-opening the case. But no. As the lawyer reported back, "[Barton] has reviewed the break in, and the credit card fraud, and has decided that since those are not the type of cases the AG investigates, she does not think it appropriate to have a sit down."
Thanks a lot, Attorney General Tom Reilly. Suddenly, email threats and credit card fraud over the Internet do not constitute "computer crimes." Yes, this is the same Tom Reilly who is running for governor. (And who has a male top staff attorney who just "married" another man.) We can tell you this: The criminal investigation is still continuing (from another government source) ... But as for Reilly and Barton, they're both a disgrace to law enforcement. They both need to be booted out of public service.
