The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that it has busted “intermittent internet radio talk show host and blogger” Hal Turner for allegedly making murderous threats against three judges who issued a decision he didn’t like.
Hal Turner (source: SPLC).
“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed,” the FBI says Turner declared online after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban on handguns in Chicago.
According to the bureau, the post mentioned a Chicago judge whose husband and mother were murdered four years ago.
“Apparently, the 7th U.S. Circuit court didn’t get the hint after those killings. It appears another lesson is needed,” it allegedly continued. “Judges official public work addresses and a map of the area are below. Their home addresses and maps will follow soon. Behold these devils.”
An all-purpose white supremacist sort of guy, Turner’s certainly got a rep in his home stomping ground of North Bergen, New Jersey. The Jersey Journal refers to him as an “infamous hate blogger,” who may get out on bail today.
Being the blogotunist that I am, I accessed the Federal Communications Commission’s database to see if this Turner fellow has ever filed with the agency. Chances are that he did. One Hal Turner of North Bergen wrote to the FCC last year expressing concern over reports that Comcast was throttling P2P downloads. You can verify this yourself by typing “Hal Turner” in field four here.
“Comcast’s blatant and deceptive blocking of peer-to-peer communications is exactly the problem millions of Americans have warned would occur without Net Neutrality protections,” Turner’s comment begins (it doesn’t get interesting until the end).
“The FCC must take serious and immediate action to put an abrupt end to this harmful practice and prevent other Internet service providers from following Comcast’s example of discriminating against the free flow of online information,” it continues (keep going).
“The Internet is a vital engine for economic growth, civic participation and free speech. We simply can’t allow corporate gatekeepers to smother these democratic communications by discriminating against new technologies, secretly interfering with Internet traffic and stifling innovation” (wait for it).
All this reads like some public interest group’s web form petition, until you get to the customized add-on tacked to the end of the comment.
“They must be owned by a JEW,” Turner concludes.
Oh well. Various bloggers have their takes on the guy, among them Think Progress and Hatewatch.
