Threats

Something very scary happened on Topix today.

Many of you know about the on-going "feud" between a few of my imaginary friends and a poster who calls himself "ex-ferrerman"

Well, it's never been pleasant and despite my attempt to smooth things over with an open letter and his response, he continues his frightening, vindictive vendetta against us, following us, reading the innie threat searching for any mention of him - though most of us are content to pretend he doesn't exist.

At one point in our original argument, he frightened me badly. He had changed his name to "Boss of EEE" and wrote "See you on Facebook - Ooops!" which I took as a threat. It scared the shit out of me. Here was someone pissed off at me reminding me that he knew my real name.

But from his comment on my blog, I thought I could breathe easily, that he was "safe" but now I am back to being afraid of him.

Because today on Topix, he posted the real name of a dear friend of mine.

He changed it up a small bit, but it was clearly a threat.

This is a single woman who he's never met but for some reason he felt it appropriate to post her personal private information to the world. He has put her personal safety at risk and THREATENED her out of spite.

And make no mistake, posting another poster's real name in any form can only be considered a threat. It says "I know who you are and I can tell everyone if you make me mad enough."

I can't believe that I ever considered this person a friend.

I even friended him Facebook at one point - though only after he had found me through someone else. I was never fully comfortable with it and I wish to hell I'd never done it. But it would have made no difference. Because we had a "friend" in common (a "friend" who has since un-friended me in retribution to un-friending ferrerman) he was able to find my real name.

And now I'm terrified.

He knows my real name. And he's proven that he can't be trusted with this information.

I am very afraid. He claimed to me that he "just doesn't operate that way" yet here is proof that that is precisely how he DOES operate.

We all use psuedonyms and anonymous monikers on Topix out of a desire to protect our privacy.

Outing another poster in such a way can be interpreted as nothing more than a threat.

I have toyed with the idea of outing him in return, but _I_ have class and would never sink to his level.

I am disturbed by the number of people who continue to stand up for this creep. He has annoyed me in the past and I generally do not hold grudges, but now a very dear friend of mine is TERRIFIED for her own safety and that is something that I NEVER forgive.

But mostly, I'm heartbroken for my friend and the very real fear that she is going through right now.

What started as a stupid, petty argument has progressed to threats on his part.

I warn anyone dealing with him to be wary.