First, I want to thank everyone for pushing me to report this thing. You're right. And absolutely: If he were to harm anyone and I did nothing, I couldn't live with myself.
So, I've finally got my detailed explanation written and ready to send to the feds -- it took some time, as it's lengthy, requiring some detailed explanation, and I wanted to make it very clear I have no idea who the sender is, or how I ended up on his list of recipients.
Now I'm trying to find the easiest way to report it. I'm looking at the FBI 'Tips and Public Leads' form (
https://tips.fbi.gov/ if you're curious), and hoping I don't screw up.
Yeah, I know I'm being a wimp, but I'm sweating bullets here. As I said, I'm clean as a whistle (my only "crime" was a speeding ticket in 1990) -- and I know contacting them is freaking me out for no other reason than that I don't know what to expect from
any federal law enforcement agency in this scary political climate.
Is it true that if you
don't have an FBI file, just contacting them will automatically
open a file on you?
Thanks to the folks who've mentioned contacting the FBI in the past, and how it was no big deal. Did you do it via phone, mail, Web...?
God, I wish there were a DU-friendly FBI agent among us here. (Uh, if there is, PM me!)
Incidentally, this story has gotten only more bizarre since last night. I just discovered a third message from this lunatic, sent last week, but which got lost amidst all the "normal" spam. I noticed it this morning as I was cleaning out my inbox:
I have attached a picture of the Sheite POW.
They have captured a Muslim Sheite and accused him of shooting down an American Cargo Plane. Yet, they have not presented one bit of evidence that this plane was not shot down by one of their own American Helicopters or Ground Patrol. They are accusing him of being a Top Level Operative with connections all over the World. I have drawn a picture of the Sheite and the 2 American soldiers who beat him up with their rifles on CNN prime time. They bashed in his face. They were in full camaflouge as the Sheite was in his grey gown. He wasn't even wearing any underwear. He was in a Military Stronghold and his whole right side of his face was swollen up like a grapefruit.. Cerebral Spinal Fluid was dripping from his brain, it was visibly dripping through his right nostril. They smashed his face with their rifles. I present to you.. immediate release of the Sheite Muslim. He is over 50 years old, and I don't think 2 soldiers of 20 years of age should be smashing his face in with machine guns when he's been unarmed. They are going to try to lie and say that he was killed on the battlefield so they can hide him and torture and interrogate him. We are demanding for him to have enough food and water. No torture.
Furthermore, there's and Indian Family who was firebombed in their own business on Sunrise Boulevard and Powerline Road in Fort Lauderdale..right after the Trade Center Incident. They were burned alive. Why are these Americans attacking Indians after the Trade Center Tragedy. They haven't spent one day in School or opened one book, and they want to Firebomb Indian families and burn them in their own business ??
They can't even tell the difference between an Indian and a Sheite Muslim. My heart goes out to the Sheite in the Grey Pajamas. I am his reflection. When he is cut, I bleed for him. I opt for Immediate Release of the Sheite. He is the equivalent of a 4 Star General of the Sheites.
The sender's e-mail address was different from the first two, but the message was again copied to the same 50 recipients.
But wait! There's more!
As I said, all 50 recipients appear to be gay or lesbian individuals or businesses. Some are easy to identify as gay, e.g., joeblow @ gaytravelguides.com or the like, and a few I recognize as the addresses of L/G webmasters. So, for whatever reason, this guy is targeting the gay community, at least in these e-mails.
Now, what bothers me even more is this: I Googled the "Chardees" restaurant he mentions (and threatens), and guess what? It's listed in just about every gay business directory on the Web. Apparently, it's a popular gay nightspot near Ft. Lauderdale.
Knowing this, if you re-read the original bizarro message, a few things jump out: He says the cop who's "stalking" him is gay, and being chauffered around town by a gay couple, and that he's being protected by "young musclemen."
Are you starting to feel sick, as I am? This might be, on top of everything else, a real, live, planned hate crime.
Okay, with that disturbing little revelation, I have to go tell some feds about a crazy person.
Wish me luck. Send good vibes. My stomach is in knots.