Swatting and the Libs of Tik Tok

It happened to me...

Yesterday was rough.

I live in a rural town of 480 people. We have had a decrease in population as evidenced in the census every ten years. My town once had a bank and a couple of restaurants and a farm implement store and a beauty shop and two grocery stores. We had an art gallery and a bakery. Those buildings were razed years ago and downtown is empty except for a grain leg and a bar open a few nights a week.

I can still buy a pop, beer, or even cigarettes in town, but I have to drive 25 minutes for a gallon of milk.

A typical Missouri small town.

I am also the typical rural woman, with one exception…I am a progressive. And I’m loud. And I have a large platform. And I call out the GOP, which is why what I’m about to tell you might not shock you: my family was swatted.

Swatting: a criminal harassment act of deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person's address. This is triggered by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a mental health emergency, such as reporting that a person is suicidal or homicidal and may be armed, among other things.

The swat unfolded in such an odd manner.

I was gardening — no surprise — and I heard my dogs start barking. They do this when anyone pulls into the drive. I looked up to see a County Sheriff’s SUV parked down the drive. He didn’t pull up close to the house. My first instinct was panic. We have four adult children and my first thought was that something had happened to one of my kids.

The deputy was apprehensive which made me even more nervous. Then I saw he had a piece of paper in his hand. Whew! I thought maybe he was looking for someone or that I had a summons or something of the sort.

He stood away from me and asked if my name was Jessica. He knew the answer, he lives down the highway, but I affirmed it. He then asked me how many kids I have. Again…panic. I asked him what this was about? He walked up to me and handed over the piece of paper he was holding.

It was a printed email that had been sent to several law enforcement offices and several state offices in Missouri…it had even been mailed to my local water department.

The email claimed to be from a close family relation. The letter stated that the family member had murdered me and my husband the night before. It went on to state that they intended to shoot and kill anyone who came on the property.

Oh my god.

I couldn’t even read the letter. My glasses were in the house and I was so confused by what he was telling me that I couldn’t focus. He asked to make sure those in my house were safe and this confused them too. He then went on to ask why someone would do this to me? Did I have any idea who it could be?

I mean…how much time do you have, sir?

This is going to be a long list. I can think of several state legislators who would like to see police storming my house with guns drawn. I get threats nearly every week online, but I brush them off as bots. And, then something came to mind that happened last week…

Libs of TikTok Creator Seems Overjoyed at Report Highlighting Her Dangerous Posts

I wrote a tweet last week that got the attention of an account called “The Libs of Tik Tok.”

I wrote about a doctor at the fatal Trump rally who gave medical attention to the fireman who later died at the rally. I talked about being so confused to see a doctor, an OBGYN, wearing a MAGA hat and shirt. In the tweet, I spoke about not wanting to think about the treatment an immigrant or a person of color or a woman in need of an abortion would receive from that doctor. I was horrified to know that a practicing physician could support Trump.

There is an important distinction for me: The doctor wasn’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, conservative Republican. He attended a rally in which others had signs for mass deportation and concentration camps. That’s not okay.

The tweet took off, but nothing too wild until that evening. I saw my phone blow up. I muted the tweet, but it was being quote-tweeted. A lot. So, I caved and looked at what was going on. It was the “Libs of Tik Tok.”

Shit. Here we go.

They were not only threatening me on Twitter, they found me on Facebook and started replying to my posts. They moved to my Tik Tok account and did the same thing. I spent a couple hours blocking and deleting comments and then really didn’t think much more about it. I thought it was over.

I was wrong.

Chaya Raichik runs the Libs of Tik Tok account. Her posts have repeatedly been linked to harassment and bomb threats against children’s hospitals, medical providers, schools, teachers, drag performances, and more.

For those and many other reasons, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) added Raichik to its “Extremist Files,” which profiles both individual extremists and extremist movements. Raichik is joined on the list by white nationalist figures like David Duke and the Proud Boys.

Raichik uses her platform to harass teachers and LGBTQ folks especially, but anyone in general. I am a former teacher and a progressive activist…prime for the attack. Her minions often call in bomb threats and send police officers to the doors of progressives.

Someone pulled my swatting off, but there is something they should know: I was rattled, but not terrorized.

You didn’t win.

I am a rural woman…most in my community know me and my politics. When an email came in claiming to be a close relation who shot and killed me, they thought better than to send a SWAT team out. They knew it sounded off because they know of me. They sent my neighbor, the Deputy Sheriff. They were right.

But, here is something else I know…I am lucky. If I had been someone they didn’t know, the police likely would have shown up with guns blazing. I mean, the email indicated a double-homicide. The person who swatted my family could have killed someone in my family. What if one of us failed to raise our hands quickly enough or if we made a wrong move or if we refused a command.

*This is why officers should be part of the community they police.*

This swat was intended as a death threat and I don’t take it lightly.

I will never know who sent that email. The Deputy said the address originated on the dark web and I nearly laughed out loud…I didn’t think that was a real thing. I guess I learn something each day.

In the end, this is the time in which we live. The internet has allowed me to find a following with like-minded people. It’s allowed me to organize across the state and remind people that folks like me exist in rural spaces. A whole lot of us live here and it’s getting out. We are contesting more rural seats and this will lead to more Democratic wins in my state.

But, with the good comes the bad. I have folks threaten me on a regular basis and now it has escalated to a swatting. But, I can’t bend to fear and I can’t stop the momentum we are building. So, I move on. We move on.

We lock arms. We do this together. I could not organize without support.

In solidarity, friends.

~Jess