Blog post prompts police to seize weapons from Arlington businessman.
Remember Travis Corcoran, the owner of HeavyInk.com who lamented that the man who shot Representative Gabrielle Giffords didn't kill her? Well, he's under investigation by the Arlington police department for his comments.

Police have seized a “large amount” of weapons and ammunition from an Arlington businessman while investigating if comments he allegedly made online were intended as a threat to U.S. Congressmen and members of the U.S. Senate.

Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan has also suspended the firearms license of Travis Corcoran, 39, who runs the online comic book business HeavyInk.com in Arlington.

Police Captain Robert Bongiorno said Monday that police suspended Corcoran’s firearms license on the grounds of “suitability” pending the results of an investigation into whether a comment Corcoran allegedly made online was intended as a threat in reference to the Jan. 8 shooting in Arizona that left six people dead and 13 wounded.

After U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head in the rampage, Arlington Police Captain Robert Bongiorno said police received information that Corcoran posted a comment online saying “one down 534 to go” in reference to Giffords and the other 534 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Bongiorno said police found the comment reposted on ComicsAlliance.com in a story that said Corcoran first made the comment in a blog. Bongiorno said Corcoran has since redacted the comments, but police consider the threat to be credible until they can prove otherwise. Police have also contacted federal law enforcement agencies about the comment.

Corcoran, who did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment Tuesday, has not been charged with a crime, Bongiorno said.

Corcoran surrendered his weapons and ammunition to police at his home on Evergreen Lane in Arlington last week after his firearms license was suspended, police said.

Bongiorno said the length of the suspension or whether Corcoran’s license will be revoked will be determined by the outcome of the investigation.

Source.

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esorlehcar
2011-01-19 07:50 pm UTC (link)

I'm not sure any of it is still up, but the quote was "Dear God, please choke George Bush with a pretzel." There was no threat involved, there were no instructions to anyone to go kill someone. Investigating this asshole was legit; the Secret Service showing up at the other blogger's house was not, nor was them telling her that she was no longer allowed to voice her support for Kerry in her own blog.

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kita0610
2011-01-19 10:36 pm UTC (link)

It isn't up anymore but the whole thing is easy to trace.

The issue is that the Secret Service is OBLIGATED to respond to any complaint. Someone complained about this blog post (because of an online grudge if I recall correctly, what an asshole) and it's the job of the Service to check it out. Even THEY said it was ridiculous- they still didn't have a choice but to investigate.

OH GOOD TIMES.

(I don't remember the Kerry support part- are you sure about that bit?)

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	esorlehcar 2011-01-20 03:24 am UTC (link)
	I actually just realize I may be repeating tales out of school--I was on the blogger's friends list at the time, and I think she gave a more comprehensive account in private than she did in public. Oops. (OTOH, maybe I'm insane and I made that whole thing up, but I remember it very distinctly. Who the hell knows.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kita0610 2011-01-20 03:28 am UTC (link)
	HEE. I was on her Flist too... but I really don't recall that bit, which is why I asked. Hm. Ah well, either way it was a shitty thing to have happen to somebody we all knew was completely incapable of harming anyone. (Reply to this)(Parent)

els_chan
2011-01-19 11:01 pm UTC (link)

nor was them telling her that she was no longer allowed to voice her support for Kerry in her own blog.

Unless that came from an official source, I have to call bs on that as it's a clear violation of First Amendment rights. More likely the blogger in question was peeved she got a visit and was told not to tell the president to choke on pretzels on her blog anymore and blew it up into something very, very different.

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	els_chan 2011-01-19 11:01 pm UTC (link)
	(Er, not calling bs on you, but rather on whoever said she'd been told to STFU about Kerry in the first place.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

eleutheria
2011-01-20 02:48 am UTC (link)

I'm calling BS on that too. I remember that incident as what

kita0610 said, I don't remember anything about her being told she can't support Kerry. I also remember that blogger making a Very Big Thing of it-- not a thing over how obnoxious it is that someone with a grudge made a Secret Service report over it (because yeah, asshole), but how horrible it was that the Secret Service investigated at all.

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	esorlehcar 2011-01-20 03:31 am UTC (link)
	She didn't. It got picked up and distributed around the blogosphere as a big thing, because it was actually a pretty big thing, and IIRC it got local news coverage in her area, but her "making a a Very Big Thing of it" consisted of one relatively short, calm, rational public post. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	eleutheria 2011-01-20 03:54 am UTC (link)
	TY, I stand corrected. I remember the firestorm of posts, I didn't know she wasn't encouraging them/starting them. I just remember thinking it was ridiculous that someone took a grudge that far but also ridiculous for people to be freaking out so hugely that the Secret Service... did their job. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kita0610 2011-01-20 06:11 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, she was VERY mellow about it. And funny. She was good with the funny. I miss her. (Reply to this)(Parent)

esorlehcar
2011-01-20 03:20 am UTC (link)

Telling her not to use her blog to pray for the president to choke on a pretzel would be an equally clear violation of the First Amendment, but you don't seem to find that unbelievable. *shrug*

I don't think it's particularly hard to believe that the Secret Service would try to intimidate a college student into shutting up--clear violation of the First Amendment or not--and I trust the blogger in question more than I trust the Bush government. This was years ago, however, so it's entirely possible what I'm remembering and what actually happened don't entirely match up.

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