Hey, there! Log in / Register
Trumpland, MA: Death threat in Natick
By adamg on Sun, 11/13/2016 - 10:43pm
A white man with a black tenant in Natick has gotten three notes in recent days warning them to flee the town immediately, or else. Two were stuffed in his mailbox, the third was sent via US mail (so, hey, federal offense now). Yes, he's gone to the police and, yes, they're investigating.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Resources priority
I would totally get fingerprints from that letter, top priority. There are national reasons to make an example of the perpetrator.
disgusting
our country has a long way to go.
im glad that a-hole bill bellichek lost last night. what kind of leader writes a letter to trump saying how great a leader trumps is????
Go Seahawks.
You're cute
STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE!
-SoBeYuppie
Lemme guess
If Bill wrote Hillary a letter you'd be screaming about the liberals ruining the NFL.
No!!!
He should have not wrote anyone period? He should have not got involved! The is a likeable very famous person, who have thousands or millions that adore him even idolize him. To do something of that nature for me was beyond irresponsible and I'm a die hard fan!!
#PATSALLDAYSINCETHE90S
The kind of person who maybe
The kind of person who maybe thinks differently than you do?
got it.
So you mean like a racist, white nationalist fascist? Yep. Much different than me.
Go Seahawks, Go whoever the cheat-triots play next.
forgot to metion..
i hope whoever is working the case is one of the good cops. If a "trump-voting" cop works the case, i'm sure no one is getting arrested.
You can go back to SoBo-Yuppie if you want
I deleted the account that was registered just to block you.
Just a friendly reminder, Adam
That most of the frequent commenters here would be totally fine with you getting rid of anonymous accounts. The barrier to entry for an account is almost nonexistent, it lets the rest of us put a name to a commenter so we can keep track of identities in bigger threads, and it lets you ban repeat offenders without having to play wack-a-mole. If you're worried about losing commentary from one-off visitors (obituary notices in threads about shootings come to mind), your name and Twitter handles are pretty prominent, so maybe add a note to the comment page telling people to route it directly to you?
I don't think the anonymous comments here add a whole lot. They're mostly people who aren't even willing to attach a pseudonym to their own words, which doesn't speak highly of the content. It also makes it much tougher for me to curate a decent killfile.
It's crossed my mind more than once in the past week
Obviously, my anon policy is more, um, liberal than some folks would prefer.
On the plus side, I have developed index fingers of steel from all the times I've had to check the Delete box in the anonymous-messages queue since the election - I guess the white-racist crowd has to work off its energy somehow and has found posting comments that will never go public on UHub to be therapeutic or something (it's way beyond Herald-style blather; did somebody at Breitbart or Infowars publish the URL here?).
I may yet ban anonymous comments - it's becoming more of chore checking Delete so many times a day - but there are still people who say something worthwhile as anons (I'm thinking most of the discussions we have about development in places like Roslindale and Hyde Park - really - along with regulars who've forgotten their logins or whatever), so I need to think some more about it before I go to that one config page and uncheck that one box that let's anons comment.
I would like a setting that says "Don't ever log me out"
Much too often on my mobile phone, I find that I am no longer logged into Universal Hub. Can you add a setting that says I should remain logged in, no matter what other address I am also logged in from (such as a laptop)?
Anonymous Posts Are Useful — An Echo Chamber Is Not
You do an absolutely phenomenal job of filtering out the most offensive posts, Adam. When I see the discussions on any other Internet site, it's apparent it must be a huge amount of work to accomplish what you've achieved here!
I think it's very useful to have a full spectrum of opinions presented — we need to hear them to know what we're up against. The wonderful thing is that through the resulting, reasoned and civil discussion by the Universal Hub community, false information is successfully challenged and ideas are exchanged.
Even people who don't participate in the discussion benefit from the takeaway. Occasionally, minds can actually be changed. That would never happen if we all agreed with one another here.
Universal Hub is truly a treasure!
anonymous coward here
I really appreciate that adamg goes to the extra work to support anonymous commenting.
But I can see why he might be fed up with that. It's unpleasant, and it's taking up his time.
Getting rid of anonymous accounts won't make the comments trolling go away, though. A lot of it comes from logged-in people.
I don't think Adam needs a
I don't think Adam needs a lecture. Start your own news aggregator site if you prefer all comments be attached to a registered user with nonsensical name and/or non-identifiable name such as yours, erik g. I would have much more respect for a comment expressing your views from John A. Keith who is a registered user who uses his actual name and not a pseudonym. Any of us could create an email account for the sole purpose of registering to this site to post comments under a goofy user name to add supposed legitimacy to our views. Why are you and a handful of others so obsessed with this? For the record, I'm a democrat, vote in every election, and I actually LIVE IN BOSTON.
No, please don't go there
Let me put this right up front: I am more willing to consider what somebody who has registered an account has to say than somebody who is anonymous. I truly appreciate people who have an account, and I'm just going to discount criticism of their suggestions about UHub from an anon user.
It is not a question of knowing who these people are. There is no link between a UHub user name and your real identity unless you choose to make it so. And while I have, in fact, met some of the folks behind the user names over the years, I have no clue who most of the registered accounts on UHub belong to. I don't know Erik G. any better than I do you.
The real issue with registered users, based on my long years of running forums like this in Boston, is that, for whatever reason, people who put the two minutes or so of work (if that much) to register an account put more thought into their comments - yes, even the people with whom I really disagree. They own their words.
Yes, I've banned a couple of registered users, yes, I've deleted the odd comment from a registered user. But the signal/noise ratio is far, far better than with anonymous comments.
Obviously, I still see some value in anonymous comments, even though my life would be vastly simpler without them. I understand the various reasons why somebody might not want to register. But at the same time, I am going to think about what Erik wrote, and I didn't think for a second he was attacking me or deserving of a snarky retort.
Judging by their spelling and
Judging by their spelling and grammar you can tell they didn't graduate middle school.
Emboldened
I wonder if President-Elect Trump's new chief strategist will recommend a statement rejecting these reprehensible acts taking place all over the country.
I think
It's a good thing in the long run. I'd rather these anal sphincters announce themselves so they can be dealt with, rather than hide in plain sight and be stealth racist.
Not announcing
The letter-writer is not "announcing" themself. Unless the cops figure out who's writing these things, they certainly are being stealthy (and hence, cowardly) racists.
And regardless of what Trump may say now, the racists he validated are not going to stop their hate. He's not actually their hero; he's just the closest thing to a Klan Wizard they've had a chance to vote for.
I fear it would not matter.
I fear it would not matter. He is "sorry" wink wink, nudge nudge. I hope our local PD's can get to the bottom of this and go after these folks who have very much been embolden by Trump's nomination and now election.
You might be surprised
or you might be cynical, but here it is:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/13/politics/donald-trump-60-minutes-first-int...
Actually
I didn't see the interview tonight, so I didn't know he said it. It's certainly a step in the right direction. I would still prefer something more concrete and declaratory ala Bush 43 when he made a very strong statement on anti-Muslim hatred post-9/11.
Either way
The appropriate comeback has elevated from a tearful 'this is still an open city' to a confident and dismissive 'Hey! Trump said to knock that shit off!'
was Walsh actually crying?
Not a fan of Marty, but wondering if he was actually crying or you're just engaging in a little alt-right projection.
Did Bannon and Breitbart get the memo?
What a joke!
Trump says knock it off while making Bannon chief strategist? But everything's cool now?
Actions speak louder than words.
This will never be tolerable to decent Americans.
This isn't Ukraine!
This isn't Ukraine - stop jumping off Constitutions!
Oh. That'll convince them.
Yeahright. After having his feet held to the fire, after trying to derail and deflect blame onto "professional protesters" and various other imaginary unicorns goring his ox, he grudgingly said, "Stop it." Following months of explicitly encouraging violence against those with opposing views, exactly how effective do you think this obviously insincere statement will be? I encourage you to hold your breath awaiting compliance from Trumpland.
On the other hand
it was a total softball interview. "Did you really mean it?" not "Why did you say that?"
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2016/11/13/60-minutes-already-helping-...
Southern Poverty Law Center has Advice
and a reporting mechanism on its website
I hope the tenant knows about all of this, and that the police department is providing stepped up patrols.
More local?
Attorney General Maura Healey has launched a new hotline to report incidents of bias-motivated threats, harassment, and violence that have surged in Massachusetts and across the country since Election Day.
People witness to or experiencing bias-motivated threats can report the incidents over the phone at 1-800-994-3228
http://www.politico.com/states/massachusetts/story/2016/11/healey-launch...
looks like
some kids got their iphones taken away and resorted to old-school methods of trolling
i like the initiative kids, but perhaps refocus your efforts into something more constructive. maybe volunteer for a political candidate that has similar views to yours!
First things first
This nutjob could use some schooling in how to write in English, dammit!
the whole thing is a bit odd to me
in the second note they appear to indent the beginning of the paragraph but then can't spell worth a shit? who the hell remembers to indent but can't spell simple words.
im not excusing it, with something like this you need to only really take it at face value. i just dont buy all the errors as being legitimate.
the letters frankly read like somebody that thinks they're smarter than they actually are attempting to appear dumber than they perceive themselves as being.
Someone Who Attended School, But Didn't Learn Very Much
But I agree with you, they probably tried to hide their identity in cowardice.
Someone who didn't learn
How to spell "of"? Come on. Nobody is that dumb.
Someone who is trying too
Someone who is trying too hard to appear to be something which they are not.
Priorities
Here's a repeated flat-out racist threat, and the "first thing" you want to address is their writing skills? WTF?
There is a flat out multiple
There is a flat out multiple murder threat and the first thing you want to address is their racism WTF?
Wow
Miss a clue much?
Maybe you should reread for clarity what their racist motive is.
Not just a climate denier, but murderous racist apologist now, eh?
Time will make sure that you get yours on both counts.
oh lord.
get over it.
"get over it"
"get over it" is your response to concern over a death threat? Well, in this rapidly changing world, I suppose there's comfort in consistency, at least: you're still a sociopath.
...no
lol. are you illiterate or just unable to comprehend how replying to a comment works? when somebody whines about the fact i choose to look at the letters from a form/inconsistency angle and i tell them to get over it, you can assume i am in fact, telling them to get over their complaint over my analysis.
funny how you call me a sociopath, yet have seemingly very little issue crossing me
seems inconsistent. i mean, if i'm a sociopath, who knows what i could do.
"unable to comprehend"
Are you, yourself unable to comprehend how replying to a comment works? My comment, to which you replied, was itself a reply to Swirly's "First things first" comment, not to any of yours.
You win today's petard award.
FALSE FLAG !!! SOROS !!! FALSE FLAG !!!
(sarcasm)
If there is one thing I learned from trumkinLand it is that 100% of these incidents are FALSE FLAG operations being run by demon-crats who are getting paid under the table by George Soros.
(/s)
The data is starting to become more clear -- people who normally kept their bias hidden are becoming a lot more "emboldened" right now. On the plus side, however, none of these people seem to be particularly bright and instead of the expected kudos/support they probably thought they were going to get they are instead facing the harsh light of judgement from their peers, community, police and employers when they get busted. And they do get busted because ... they are not that bright. This is one swamp of bottom-barrel people that is sorta gonna drain itself over time as they expose themselves :)
I also think that these folks think the local Police have their back and are gonna give them a wink-and-nod if caught. They could not be more wrong. Sure a fair number of PD folk may have voted Trump but they can separate politics from work and on the job they really hate this sort of neighbor-vs-neighbor intimidation. Have no doubt that BPD, Natick PD etc. etc. are gonna come down hard on bias crimes at least in our region.
Final diversion ..
The young college-age alt-right folk wrapped up in this mess also seem phenotypically very very similar to the peers I went to college with who fell under the Ann Rynd "Eff you, I've got mine so you can kiss off ..." style of libertarianism for a few years before they changed their ways and admitted with a bit of embarrassment that the real world is a bit more complex. Hopefully they'll grow out of this. A few years from now they are gonna be really embarassed to see their social media posts about "cucks" and "whitegenocide" ...
Fake?
I live with African-Americans and worked with great ones. Zero tolerance for racism, and made my share of arrests for Civil Rights violations. If I was the Detective assigned to this case I would handle it aggressively with an open mind that this could be another of the many fake hate crimes we've seen in recent years. Epidemic. From my vantage point, conservatives and moderates are happy and excited at the election results while the "progressives" are angry and rioting. There are crazies on both sides but I'd put even money on the note being written by a bitter liberal trying to portray racism where it doesn't exist. Hopefully someone recognizes the handwriting.
I wouldn't dream of using the "N word" but it amazes me when African-American friends play music and almost every song by a current black artist contains it. I think it has largely vanished from the white lexicon so I can't wait to see the results of this investigation.
-I'm not racist because I
-I'm not racist because I have black friends
-racism doesn't exist
-this is definitely a fake even though I have no evidence
-rappers are the real racists
You really checked off all the boxes there. Christ...
Content of their character
Wrong on all points, nice try. I judge people on the content of their character. It has nothing to do with my black friends. Racism exists but hate crimes are rare. Ask your favorite police officer when they last made an arrest on Civil Rights charges, if ever. I did not say it was definitely fake, merely to keep an open mind that the extreme nature of the writing raises a red flag in my training and experience. Yes indeed, it is very embarrassing to hear some of the lyrics of the current rap music and those artists should be ashamed. I'm not sure if they block the "N" word on 94.5 but almost all of the current songs are sprinkled with it. Despicable. At least it was nice to see the country reject Jay Z and Beyonce.
Google "fake hate crimes" and get the laundry list/epidemic. I only took a few psych courses on the way to the Master's but there is surely a sub-culture of people faking these things. There is a reason why state and federal laws cover false report of a crime. They're out there. We'll see.
"Racism exists but hate
"Racism exists but hate crimes are rare"
And how do you know this? Why are you assuming that these incidents Adam has reported so far in this area are "fake"?
I think you need to dig deep down and realize that if you are white, you have no way of really knowing what it is like to be a minority in this country.
Er
That isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for your contention that there are very few hate crimes.
Connotation and Denotation
Look up "Denotation" and "Connotation" as linguistic concepts.
There is nothing inherently wrong with "the N word". It can be used to express hate and denigration -- it has also been adopted by the target group to express solidarity in the face of racism: as a way of de-fanging the word itself.
"Epidemic"?
Really? Do tell. Provide documentation. I can't wait.
it happens
http://www.fakehatecrimes.org/
Yes, it does
But that doesn't mean actual hate isn't being expressed, either.
Hate being expressed is protected Hate crimes are not.
And "fake but accurate" journalism is one of the reasons Mr's Tomatohead is our next President. In my humble opinion.
It seems to be very easy getting the media to report on made up hate crimes these days, and when the truth comes out it's just swept under the rug.
When you're at the Thanksgiving table,
look around, and see if you can spot the relative who's only been invited because of familial inertia. The one who has forced the entire family to huddle up beforehand, and come up with rules for how to handle him when he inevitably starts blaming the Mexicans for chemtrails, or openly wondering where all the FEMA death camps are. The one who the entire younger generation is treating with kid gloves, because they're all secretly taking bets on when the racist uncle is going to let slip with his first slur of the night. It's kind of like sitting at the poker table: if you can't spot the rube, you're the rube.
Anyway, Fish, when you're eating turkey this year, here's hoping that when you accuse the majority of the country that voted for Hillary of an elaborate false-flag operation meant to make the proto-fascist president-elect look bad, that the rest of the room doesn't just keep quiet because they don't want to be written out of the will. Because there are plenty of us on the internet who will tell you to take your racist horseshit and shove it where the sun don't shine, and maybe this will be the year that the few remaining people willing to put up with your shit in real life decide to do the same.
"there are plenty of us on
"there are plenty of us on the internet who will tell you to take your racist horseshit and shove it where the sun don't shine",
LOL
This gets funnier by the day.
Easily recognizable at Thanksgiving
At Thanksgiving, I will be the lucky man with the beautiful African-American woman beside me. The love of my life. We'll also be at the inaugural in January if I can afford the dress she wants. Reminder, presidential elections are based on the electoral college. #noplaceforhate
Trump 306
Clinton 232
Someone likes oversimplified numbers
And ballot tallying systems with their roots in gaming slavery for the slave states.
More people voted for candidates other than Trump than voted for Trump.
But she still lost. Trump
But she still lost. Trump won with the system that is currently in place, the same system Obama won with, and so on...
Getting your tickets soon?
Don't tell them that she's your black girlfriend - she'll only get 3/5 of a seat, in keeping with the spirit of the Electoral College.
http://samuel-warde.com/2016/11/electoral-college-created-protect-slaver...
Adam can we get slashdot-style moderation
'cause I want to mod this one down so bad...
Why?
Because you know so little about history that you don't understand the reference?
History Lesson
-2 for not getting the joke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Fifths_Compromise
Minus infinity
for making "jokes" like that. If one of us tried that, we'd be ridden out of town on rail...until that somehow became a racist reference.
Dorchester Trash?
Our neighborhood has history, diversity and houses selling for millions of dollars. We have parks, bike paths easy access to public transportation, the ocean and fine dining. We are home to the JFK library and U-Mass Boston. All you have to offer in Natick is a mall and a view of the turnpike.
There are 30,000 people in Natick
You are right about Dorchester, but I suspect almost all of the people in Natick are waking up in disgust at this.
There's also a lot more to Natick than the mall, including some significant (if depressing) history.
Dont forget Wonder Bread !
Dont forget Wonder Bread !
Which was long ago reduced to rubble
To make way for a new wing of the Natick Mall/Collection/Back to Mall Again.
Natick is more than Route 9
South Natick is gorgeous.
This seems a bit heads to
This seems a bit heads to believe. I feel some of these are fake. I have my doubts to the legitimacy of this blog at times.
Easy fix for that
Nobody's forcing you to read it. There are plenty of other sites out there.
I agree
I have played "Clue" a number of times, including the famous night in 1998 when I correctly maintained that the evidence against Professor Plum was manufactured and exonorated him, and I thus feel confident in my crime-solving techniques, and there is no reason for me to believe that any of this is actually happening
No
No.. it was the butler in the library with the candlestick.
/funny
False flag!
There is no butler in Clue! Stop denigrating the fictional servant class!
/s
Whoever wrote these notes clearly has a lot of economic anxiety. Just like most Trump voters. Just so anxious about that economy.
America needed Trump
First things first, I'm black. Second things second, America has never dealt with it's race issues. It just swept it under the rug in the hopes that everyone would forget and move on. Trump needed to be elected so that we can finally deal with this issue head-on, with everyone feeling empowered to speak their minds, even the bigots. I hate to see where this might go at its worse, but maybe we can finally purge the pains and issues that many people have felt, black and white and in between.
And hopefully Trump doesn't tank our economy, and appoint a far-right justice to the SC in the mean time.
Ralph Nader? Is that you?
Well, that's a theory. Specifically, it's classic revolutionary theory: let's make things as bad as possible so they can get better, and too too bad about the human beings who are crushed in the issue. You don't get rid of anger and pain by diving down into them, is all I can say.
Kidding, right? He's going to do both of those things. He's going to create a trade war with China, other countries as well, and he's already got a short list of Supreme Court nominees specifically vetted for their willingness to roll back reproductive rights, gay rights, business and finance regulation, and civil rights across the board. I know we said yes on 4, but please stop smoking and start thinking.
You must be one of Trump's
You must be one of Trump's advisers to have so much information on what he is definitely going to do!
He's said it himself
No, but I am capable of reading something other than Breitbart and not so fearful of experts that I can't listen and critically evaluate when they analyze a statement. Go read Trump's 100 day promises, and then go read the analysis of whether they are doable and what effect they will have. If you're not a Breitbot, you'll come to the same conclusions I did
The great voters of this
The great voters of this great nation have decided that things need to change, with little regard for if that change will be positive and productive or not. Seems like it was only a matter of time before we got to that point. Lets not forget that fair amount of racism, both blatant and implied that Obama dealt with. I'm not an advocate for violence, but some people you just can't talk to for whatever reason.
And I wasn't kidding per se, more wishing. I fully expect the election of Donald Trump will set us back in more ways than just our race relations. The only hope I think is to appeal to his ego, I'm sure he wants to go down as the best POTUS ever. Add to that he's never been a republican prior to now and maybe there is some hope somewhere.
I agree. I do believe he
I agree. I do believe he wants to be a great president, even if it is his ego. Maybe, just maybe some good will happen while he is president.
you probably know this quote
— H. L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, 26 July 1920
Seriously. Calling the town
Seriously. Calling the town Trumpland because of a serious threat? Utter nonsense, and anyone with half a brain knows it.
What a despicable propanda rag univetsalhub.com is. You people are garbage.
Trump supporters are about the rule of law being followed in this country. That has ZERO to do with race.
I'm sure the police are also investigating the very real possibility that this is a left-wing activist trying to make Trump look bad.
Takes one to know one. Oh, and I'm rubber and you're glue
I've oiled the hinges on the door, so it won't hit you too hard when you leave.
In any case, no, I'm not calling Natick by itself Trumpland (but if you promise to be good, I can tell you stories about antisemitism and violent immigrant bias in the old days, back when I was a reporter there; I'm sure you'll enjoy them). It's a sort of tag I've been using for all stories related to local incidents since the election involving this sort of crap here in Massachusetts. Lookee here! I'd say more, but I need to hurry up - I hear the local supermarket is having a sale on false flags, and I want to stock up.
Bears
If you'd like to link to an anti-panda blog in order to provide balance, feel free.
Thanks for the support, Ron
Back off the pandas, lady! You want to start trouble with them, you're going to have to deal with me first.
Adorable!
I am also pro-puppy
And, so, of course, pro-puppy-panda
Adorbs Beyond Belief!
Operator ... Operata' ... Show Me That ... 'Dorable ... Adorable!
Conspiracy Theories
Sad that these seem to soak up the best of many people's imaginations, when they could be using all that creative energy for more fruitful things.
For more of Ms. Ianni's writings, search the Metrowest Daily News.