Death threats have become the “go to” tactic of the emotionally frustrated. A few years ago I had an Indian graduate student who believed he was being purposely excluded from group project meetings led by a Chinese student. It was true. He learned from a friend the time and location of yet another group meeting and showed up. He then grabbed the group leader by the collar and uttered the fierce words, “I will kill you!” before letting go. Fearing for his life, the Chinese student went to campus security and filed a complaint. The Indian student was arrested. In his defense, he claimed that saying “I will kill you” was an empty threat as people in his country say that all the time when they are angry. He was charged with assault for grabbing his peer by the collar, but the “I will kill you” threat got him no more than a reprimand from university officials, including me. And that’s the problem.
In a country where anyone can obtain a firearm, death threats carry far more intimidation. This isn’t as true in most countries where gun ownership is rare. I watch a lot of South Korean dramas and the term, “Do you want to die?” is routinely used to tell someone to stop their annoying behavior. I routinely laughed when Dr. Cliff Huxtable (Cosby Show) would remind his misbehaving television children that he brought them into this world and that he could take them out. However, in the current climate, particularly in the U.S., death threats have taken on an undeniable level of intimidation used by emotionally unstable, frustrated, hateful and potentially armed individuals. Death threats in the U.S. against my favorite K-Pop band BTS back in 2015 lead them to cancel their concert in New York. Too many Americans have been forced to hire security, move, change jobs, or go silent because of such threats.
It has to stop. In the public sphere, I believe it is time for the Supreme Court to rethink the meaning of “true threat” as it has become impossible to know who has the willingness and the means to carry out a death threat these days and whose “political hyperbole” will result in actual violence. We saw the results of such threatening speeches on January 6th. The First Amendment guarantees free speech, but it has exceptions and death threats were an exception for three reasons: 1) protecting individuals from the fear of violence, 2) protecting individuals from the disruption that fear engenders, and 3) protecting individuals from the possibility that the threatened violence will occur.
In our private lives, I am absolutely thrilled that on Friday, October 1, the parents of Sandy Hook victims won their defamation case against Alex Jones who repeatedly called the 2012 massacre a hoax, leading to death threats against the grieving parents. He will have to pay damages to the parents for his lies that further tortured them. I hope those financial damages are huge! We need to see a lot more accountability for the people making the threats and those who trigger their violent behavior through lies.
In California, death threats are illegal. Penal code 422 states: “Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family’s safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.” Law section (ca.gov)
It is imperative that we know the laws of our state regarding death threats and that we as decent human beings use alternative means to persuade those around us. Death threats are never acceptable. But this fear of violence is costing us. Reasonable parents who care about masking and vaccinations to keep children safe in schools and those who want actual American history taught in schools have abandoned school board meetings, leaving board members to be overrun and threatened by misinformed and outrageous parents. I know many people who are afraid of expressing their opinions on social media out of fear. I’m no longer one of them. I refuse to cower in fear. Perhaps it is because I’m convinced that the price of allowing vaccine and election misinformation, hateful rhetoric, and rampant xenophobia to go unchecked is too high.
History has shown us what happens when the truth is silenced by apathy or fear. The lies become the basis for human decision making and harmful actions. Our voting rights are in jeopardy because of lies. 200,000 people have died, post-COVID-19 vaccine and people still aren’t getting the COVID-19 vaccine because of lies. I’m disgusted by NBA players who are promoting the flawed narrative that getting vaccinated against a “contagious” virus is a “private personal” choice. Someone needs to inform them that they do not live in a bubble and that their decision affects others.
Silence over these important issues is a form of consent. So, I refuse to be silent. And I hope many more Americans will be brave enough to speak up, too. There is power in numbers. There are many more for reasonableness than against it and the crazies will back down in the face of massive vocal opposition. And lets remind those who make death threats hoping to silence us that they will face legal consequences.