#deaththreats

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was outraged about a video that placed AOC's picture next to Kim Jong Un, As Ronald Reagan’s voice proclaimed “As for the Enemies of Freedom…”

It didn't matter to AOC that they apologized before The Twittering Twit Tweeted her outrage.

READ MORE 

If you are an Ex-Muslim who have spent some time critiquing Islamism and Islam on online forums and social media, it won’t be long before you find yourself badgered with abusive messages and potential death threats, more so if you are writing from countries that are predominantly Islamic, e.g. Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia.

Photo: Secular bloggers, writers, and a publisher killed in Bangladesh in recent years. Source: Time Magazine

The threats you receive will either be direct – where a known or an anonymous sender will clearly state that they will harm you. Or threats can be indirect or implied threats – urging you either in a friendly tone or intimidating tone to not criticise Islam or be a visible Ex-Muslim as something bad might happen to you.

What to do?

·         Take snapshot of the message containing the threat as soon as you receive it.

·         Does the message contain anything which means the sender has identified where you live, work or travel to daily? Whether this is the case or not, document the time you received the threat and the events that up to it in a brief summary. Documenting will help you remember the incident and keeping evidence of the threat received means police will be quick to help you.

Ex-Muslims based in US, Canada, or UK:

Find your local police station, if you feel you are in immediate danger, call them now

If you are not in immediate danger, email their enquiry desk explaining the threats you received. You can find their email address by a simple internet search. At this point, the summary you drafted will help you write this letter, or just copy-paste it.

Keep your email concise – to the point, as police stations are often busy and operate on limited resources – if you want them to take you seriously, write your concerns clearly

Once you have sent the email, allow for two working days for them to get back to you. If they don’t, call them – their number will be listed on their website.

If their number is not listed on the website, call the non-emergency number of your country (e.g. in UK it’s 101), explain the situation, tell them you have emailed your local police and would like a follow-up.

In most cases, you should receive a response from your local police who would help you with essential advice.

Alternatively, instead of sending them email, print your evidence and your short summary and leave it to the reception desk of your police station. One way or other, they will help you.

Ex-Muslims living in Islamic countries:

If you are based in an Islamic country, e.g. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, where leaving Islam is punishable by death or imprisonment, contacting the local police may do more harm than good. If you are an Ex-Muslim from such places in the world, it is important that you maintain anonymity online when expressing your views so that even when you receive threats and abusive messages, the sender cannot get hold of your real identity or locate where you live/work.

If you feel your life is likely to be in danger for being an Ex-Muslim but think that the state might prosecute you, or kidnap you for being an Ex-Muslim – there are few organisations who may be able to help you, make sure you approach them anonymously in case you use a public Wi-Fi or likely to be traced by Islamist cyber-jihadists.

If you have been receiving persistent death threats, journal everything into a short summary in a word document or as a draft email

Those sending you abusive messages and death threats are also likely to sympathise with jihadist ideologies

 Retain the sender’s email addresses, screenshots, text messages of any such person threatening you

Pull together the threats you received, who sent them, at what time into an email

Your local police in Islamic country may not be able to help you, so contact FBI: https://tips.fbi.gov/ - send your email here.

Once you have contacted them, find your local FBI overseas office from here: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/legal-attache-offices - call them at the number of your local country. Explain that you’ve been receiving threats from extremists and are concerned that your local police won’t help you.  

If things turn out well, even if your local FBI branch cannot help you, they will point you to a direction, e.g. a non-profit or a charity who can help you with more useful advice.

There are few non-profit organisations who you can contact, although it is not certain how promptly they respond to you with relevant advice. These are reputable organisations who do a great deal of respectable work to support human rights and freethinkers such as you who are at risk of persecution -

1. English Pen

2. Pen International

The coach of the Carlton AFL football team received a death threat. The Carlton Blues have not been performing up to expectations in season 2025 and there is lots of noise around the future of the head coach and whether he has one at Carlton. Most footy fans hearing about this death threat are appalled but assume it is from a disgruntled Blues supporter. Upon finding out that it was from a Collingwood supporter, yes, a few eyes roll back and heads shake. The Collingwood Magpies are on top of the ladder and multiple games clear of second place. A normal supporter in this position would be too busy gloating to bother with such god awful behaviour. The dangers of tribalism, when carried too far, are a retrograde step in the wrong direction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQfzWTKRTF4

The Dangerous Dance Of Tribalism In Sport

Sporting clubs trade on the tribalism of their supporters. It is the life blood of it that makes the whole thing work. I know, personally, the passion one can feel barracking for your team in a contest and how that can get you going. It makes watching a sporting contest a completely engrossing experience. The difference between spectating at a game involving your own team and one involving neutral sides is like chalk and cheese. Nothing compares, as the song says. Obviously, you can take things too far and this is the danger of tribalism. We see the negatives take over during times of war, when the passions of tribalism tip over into hatred and vileness. Lies and misrepresentations are made up about those on the other side. Many innocent people are made out to be monsters.

Footy Tribalism Can Be Taken Too Far The dangers of tribalism can take immature or mentally unwell folk into dark spaces. Making death threats toward an opposition coach is an example of this. Football is a game, not anything more, when you get a grip on things. Our tribal affiliations with a club are about having fun and not about spiteful shit directed at anyone else. The Collingwood supporter has been banned from the MCG for 5 years and from AFL games for the same period. Collingwood needs to step up and make appropriate condemnation of this appalling behaviour as well. Michael Voss and his family do not deserve such awful spite directed their way. We could all do with the reminder that footy is just a game. “A Collingwood member who directed a threatening message at Carlton coach Michael Voss has received a five-year ban from all AFL and AFLW matches and the MCG. The man’s threatening text message was left on the MCG’s anti-social hotline service during the Blues’ loss to Collingwood last Friday night and referenced a “brutal end to his life”. It was passed on to the AFL integrity unit and then the Blues and while not treated as a credible threat was enough for the MCG security team to pass it on.” - (https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/carlton-blues/afl-news-2025-michael-voss-press-conference-video-after-receiving-vile-death-threat-carlton-blues-struggles/news-story/e951ec04b923070650f099df2e937f32) “Do you want to know why the AFL media always gets it wrong? Essentially, it is because they invariably focus on the wrong things. All the ‘so-called’ footy experts are, in the main, not coaches but ex-players and TV announcers. Yes, they do know a lot about AFL via their first hand experiences but not necessarily  the secret sauce that delivers consistently winning performances. If they did they would be earning millions as head coaches. In the media they are paid to pontificate. Paid to fill the air time with the hot air of their opinions.” - (https://www.golfdom.com.au/why-the-afl-media-always-gets-it-wrong/) Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters and America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©GolfDom

Willi Rioli is in trouble for carrying things too far in the internecine trench warfare that goes on during AFL matches. The AFL is the home of the cheap shot. Unsportsmanlike behaviour is rife in games with players illegally slapping and bumping usually from behind. This stuff must come from the coaches and is part of some sort of psychological warfare to gain an edge on the day over their opponents. The unexpected hit from behind and trash talk are marring our great game. It is not a good look; and in Willi Rioli’s case things have gotten out of hand.

Football - AFL Multicultural Round Commemorative Ball, Lin Jong, 8 Aug 2015 by Photographer: Benjamin Healley is licensed under CC-BY 4.0

Illegal AFL Byplay & Willi Rioli

There is a weak version of leadership installed currently at AFL HQ. They seem to be watching on whilst the game descends into a morass of unsportsmanlike behaviour on field and it is spilling over into the fetid realm of social media. Veiled death threats intersecting with good old Australian racism by the fans is the result in the Rioli situation. An angry young man, a warrior by nature it seems, is caught up in something which is more than a game. Football clubs and their fans take footy way too seriously downunder. The passion to achieve victory is being exploited by this tacit encouragement of behind the play jostling and cheap shots.

Cheap Shots From Behind Are No Sign Of Toughness In AFL These coaches are encouraging their charges to bully opponents wherever possible, which says more about the character of these coaches than anything else. The tackled player prostrate on the ground is subjected to further violence in an unnecessary encore action slamming head and shoulders down. This bullying is tough stuff, according to these coaches who sanction this unsportsmanlike behaviour. They are polluting the great game of AFL and defiling it for all to see at the game and on TV. Apparently, this body of men are whinging about not being paid enough as assistant coaches. Perhaps, this is their revenge on the AFL management by actively encouraging ugliness in the game. Their jealousy toward players earning millions and head coaches not far behind must be frustrating in the ego driven world of elite sports. “More claims of threats towards opposition players have emerged against Port Adelaide's Willie Rioli, with three different clubs now involved. The claims range from threats made on the field to at least one made via a message off the field.” - (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-07/willie-rioli-explainer-threats-to-other-players/105262442)

The Spiteful AFL & Social Media AFL is home of the cheap shot in season 2025. Players are dissenting acrimoniously in this atmosphere of nasty tit for tat spite so prevalent on the field. Is it any wonder that Willi Rioli might be taking things a mite too far? I mean he leaves the field and cops a barrage load of vile racist taunts and death threats on social media. Yes, that does not condone his behaviour but let’s see it for what is really going on at this point in time. Social media is a shit show of antagonism. I mean the algorithms are set up this way to drive traffic and engagement from enraging the viewers. The players are young men by and large. The fans a mixed bag, I suppose. This situation calls for leadership but it is sadly missing – MIA, right now. “Power football boss Chris Davies said it hadn't been an easy time for Rioli but he knew he needed to front up and answer questions from the AFL and do whatever he could to move the situation forward. "With what he's gone through in the last 24 hours, not taking away from the fact that we're dealing with a real issue here, it's fair that he will see how he goes after training (to decide if he plays against the Crows)," Davies said. “ - (https://www.afl.com.au/news/1316061/port-adelaide-incredibly-angry-after-more-willie-rioli-allegations-emerge)

Get The Unsportsmanlike Behaviour Out Of The Game In the current global environment, this is not like the fake entertainment of World Championship Wrestling back in the day. This nasty behaviour has crossed over the line and encouraging teams to hate each other to attract extra viewers is not a sensible policy. Take the bullying and cheap shots out of AFL – the game does not need it. Pull these coaches back into line re-unsportsmanlike player behaviour. Revenue raising on the back of fines for melees is not the main game here. You are losing fans, especially mums who watch this spiteful and violent stuff. Would they really want their kids exposed to copycat behaviour of this ilk? The umpires are copping so much dissent right now in a game that is bloody hard to umpire. The fury on the field is toxic at this moment in time. The temperature needs taking down. AFL may be entertainment but they are all real human beings out there despite their worth as cattle. I heard one blow hard ex-player commentator describing one current player as the Don King of AFL. This Trumpian celebration of low acts and cheap shots seems to be embraced by the AFL media. What will it take a Willi Rioli with a gun? Does the game really need the clowns egging on the crowd to revel in violence to flourish? “If these footy faces in the media give you a headache, then, going directly to the source might save you the need for relief in terms of your hearing.”  - (https://wordsforweb.com.au/a-bloke-named-daniel-hoyne/) Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb