April Reimer: I had 300 death threats in one night

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Hey remember when some people on the webs (including Calgary Puck) were spreading the rumor about Brian Burke having an illegitimate kid with another public figure, and then Burke sued them for libel or defamation or whatever?

i really enjoyed that.

It was nice to see someone take on the giant ****-talking mass of the Internet and hold people individually accountable for the crap they sling anonymously.

[MBates]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I certainly ####ing hope not. Such laws would be an affront to the constitution and liberal democratic values. If there ever are, I'd be so pissed I'd be tempted to take on the constitutional challenge pro bono. And I bet I'd have to get in line to do so.

The Gregory Allen Elliot saga was an embarrassment to our entire justice system.

I think we need to be clear whether we are just talking about being mean which might be morally wrong but legal or if we are talking about death threats and actual harassment which are both crimes.

From the article people were apparently threatening things like to come stab her in the heart because her husband lost a hockey game. Any person might choose to ignore such stuff, but there is little question that is a threat that could be successfully prosecuted as a crime either under s. 264 (harassment) or s. 264.1 (uttering threats)...and at least in Canada death threats while they may be part of 'free speech' are outside of what we constitutionally protect.

It is not necessarily well-known, but indecent or harassing "telecommunication" are also criminal offences (s. 372(2) and s. 372(3) of the Criminal Code).

[PeteMoss]

Not to defend the tweets or anything, but if you're an athlete or connected to an athlete - should probably just avoid your twitter mentions for a few days after a big loss.

[MarkGio]

I don't know why this stuff isn't prosecuted more. We need a few headlines about someone getting a little jail time and then people would be in check.

Honestly, anyone who threatens to kill another on twitter deserves a month in the slammer. They would likely lose their job, be humiliated among their circles, and would always be taking a risk at the border when going on vacation. The system works if cops and lawyers and victims are willing to put in the effort to get a person punished.

[hwy19man]

Back in 1992-93, Mitch "The Wild thing" Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies and his family went through this before twitter was happening. His house was egged and littered along with death threat phone calls to his home number. The Phillies lost to the Blue Jays and Williams threw the pitch to Joe Carter who hit the winning home run for the World Series Champions.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by hwy19man

Back in 1992-93, Mitch "The Wild thing" Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies and his family went through this before twitter was happening. His house was egged and littered along with death threat phone calls to his home number. The Phillies lost to the Blue Jays and Williams threw the pitch to Joe Carter who hit the winning home run for the World Series Champions.

Happened to Paul Macallum in the CFL as well. People are idiots.