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CNN: How a Montana mom became the target of a neo-Nazi troll storm

Makonero

Member
Gunshots rang out from voice mails. Emails and texts read: "I hope you die," "Kill yourself," "We will take pleasure in your pain."

Tanya Gersh found herself buried in an avalanche of hate, one she had not seen coming and one that focused on one fact: She's Jewish.

Gersh was called a "bitch," "a worthless c**t," and told countless times she was nothing more than a filthy "k**e." The vile and ugly words were spelled out in full when sent to Gersh.

The messages began late at night and continued into the early hours, keeping her family awake. Or there was a night of silence, broken by an onslaught at 4 a.m., jolting the family from sleep.

One voice mail -- "You are surprisingly easy to find on the Internet. And in real life" -- ended Gersh's lifelong practice of leaving her home and car unlocked in her little Montana town, nestled by a lake in the Rocky Mountains.

Gersh appears to have become a target for hate after contacting the mother of known white supremacist Richard Spencer. Gersh says she warned Sherry Spencer about looming protests at a building owned by Spencer in Whitefish, a Montana town of 7,300 where both women live.

Gersh says she advised Spencer to disavow the views of her son, including that the United States is a country for white people. She says she offered to sell Spencer's property as of a way of defusing tensions in town. Gersh suggested Spencer donate money to a human rights group.

Sherry Spencer refused to speak to CNN when we reached her on the phone. Earlier, she wrote in a blog post that Gersh, a Realtor, had threatened her, saying protesters and media would turn up and drive down the building's value if she didn't sell.
Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said Sherry Spencer did not file a complaint with police, though her son Richard Spencer accused Gersh of extortion in interviews and a video diary. No law enforcement agency has filed any charges relating to the dispute.

There was comment aplenty, though, on DailyStormer, which spews neo-Nazi propaganda.

Andrew Anglin, the site's founder, accused Gersh of extortion in a blog post. And he exhorted readers to send Gersh -- whom he also identified as Jewish -- enough messages to make a point.

"Let's hit 'em up," he posted. "Are y'all ready for an old-fashioned Troll Storm?"

He then told them: "(I)t's that time."

Anyone who read Daily Stormer had access to all Gersh's information after Anglin posted it time and again. He put up photos and personal details: phone number, address, workplace and social media profiles -- including one used by her 12-year-old son. Each contained instructions to tell Gersh how they felt.

"Listen here you fucking Jew. You had better back off and leave Richard Spencer's mom alone, you dirty scumbag," one caller said on Gersh's voice mail. "You fucking Jew. You had better back off of Richard Spencer's mom. Everybody is watching you."

The Daily Stormer published more about Gersh and her "Jew agenda," once with a doctored photo showing her and her tween son on the gates of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

A tweet was sent to Gersh showing her surrounded by gas, with the message: "Hickory dickory dock, the kike ran up the clock. The clock struck three and Internet Nazis trolls gassed the rest of them."

More messages referenced crematoriums and said she should have died in the Holocaust.

A tweet to her 12-year-old son had an image of an oven with the message: "PSsst kid there is a free X-box inside this oven."

More here

Fucking ridiculous. The same damn tactics as GamerGate and other related bullshit. Hope she wins her lawsuit.
 
Not shocked.

Angry white men like that that joint hate groups are used to using violence and intimidation to get their way. As American as apple pie.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Something something free speech something something sjws just as bad something something legitimate political position so please respect.
 
I can't imagine what it must be like going through that.

Hope she wins the lawsuit and more will follow against each and every one of these assholes. And that is too good for them, this is straight up terrorizing a family and should be punished by time in jail.
 

FreezeSSC

Member
Please tell me she can sue richard spencer into the ground for this? certainly this cant be protected undef free speech?
 

Zaphrynn

Member
Sigh. Same shit, different day in America.

No it didn't but GamerGate was really a canary in the coal mine. We should have seen this coming.

This. This. This. I followed GG close as hell. I even read 99% of both massive threads. The overlap with the alt right is undeniable.
 
Not shocked.

Angry white men like that that joint hate groups are used to using violence and intimidation to get their way. As American as apple pie.

This is hardly an American phenomenon though, or at least at least similar shit is happening all over the world. Regardless it's awful.
 
Gersh appears to have become a target for hate after contacting the mother of known white supremacist Richard Spencer. Gersh says she warned Sherry Spencer about looming protests at a building owned by Spencer in Whitefish, a Montana town of 7,300 where both women live.

The article doesn't elaborate on this. What were the protests about? Why did Gersh know they were coming, and about Richard Spencer's racist views?

Please note, I am not defending anything. I'm just curious about what earlier contact took place. These people are scum. Anglin in particular should be in jail for posting her personal info on his site, and his site should be taken down.
 
The article doesn't elaborate on this. What were the protests about? Why did Gersh know they were coming, and about Richard Spencer's racist views?

Please note, I am not defending anything. I'm just curious about what earlier contact took place. These people are scum. Anglin in particular should be in jail for posting her personal info on his site, and his site should be taken down.

Not sure about the protests, but Spencer's racism has been widespread knowledge for at least the past 7 months
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
I had thought GAF came to the consensus that punching Richard Spencer is 100% A OK.
I wish, instead there's always a contingent of users basically saying that they deserve a platform, that both sides are just as bad, antifa, that violence never solves anything in the country literally founded on violence, along with intellectually dishonest bullshit like debating the semantics about whether or not we should call them nazis. Fuck Richard Spencer, and unsurprisingly, his family seems to be no better.
 
The article doesn't elaborate on this. What were the protests about? Why did Gersh know they were coming, and about Richard Spencer's racist views?

Please note, I am not defending anything. I'm just curious about what earlier contact took place. These people are scum. Anglin in particular should be in jail for posting her personal info on his site, and his site should be taken down.

Yeah, the Spencers are scum, no doubt. But what did Gersh expect as an outcome? Was it her belief that the mom would see the light, and sell the property? She seemingly knew so much, yet had no idea that the mom was sympathetic to her sons plight? Feels like she poked the bees nest here
 
Maybe its time for a good old fashion Nazi hunt!
It'll be necessary eventually if they get to roam freely like this.

Hate speech should be fined. They all will shut up or pay up. Don't care if it takes their free speech away. They don't deserve it. It's a basic human right. Human right. They don't count.
 

Makonero

Member
Yeah, the Spencers are scum, no doubt. But what did Gersh expect as an outcome? Was it her belief that the mom would see the light, and sell the property? She seemingly knew so much, yet had no idea that the mom was sympathetic to her sons plight? Feels like she poked the bees nest here

there were rumors that his mom didn't share his views and that she'd suffer due to protests or something

it was all bullshit
 

Jenov

Member
lol, the piece of shit behind it all moved to Lagos Nigeria to run his pathetic little hate site and avoid any legal backlash. Fuck him.
 

AndersK

Member
lol, the piece of shit behind it all moved to Lagos Nigeria to run his pathetic little hate site and avoid any legal backlash. Fuck him.

So a pro-white power shitstain who's into doxxing moved to a predominantly black country?

That's a bold strategy cotton, let's see how that works out for him.
 

Makonero

Member
Isn't what those shits doing a crime? What are the police doing?



Cops Don't Take Harassment of Women Seriously—Especially Online

The police aren't set up to deal with this kind of thing, especially when enough of the perpetrators are savvy enough to use proxies and other ways of hiding their identity. Or they live in a different country. Hard to pursue someone in Australia for harassing an American.

Police stations need dedicated teams for internet crimes.
 

Orayn

Member
Isn't what those shits doing a crime? What are the police doing?

Too busy escorting and protecting the KKK.

Not really joking, there can be a lot of indifference in situations like this where someone's being hounded by a lot of different individuals but there's not as much presence in the local community.
 
So who's first up to "converse" with these people and tell them how naughty their anti-Semitic, threatening and violent rhetoric is? I'm sure the people who leave ominous voicemails of gunshots and want to bake a 12 year old are ready to come to the kumbaya table in good faith.
 
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