For those of you who don’t know me, I have never been into politics. I say that because this post is NOT about politics even though it does address the response to a political hot topic. I have believed in people, integrity, love, and doing what’s best or what works well for the collective. I adamantly believe division is what deeply erodes peace in our country, and our true power lies in unity, so I have never bought into the duality of our political parties.
I am not saying my views are correct or that these views should be yours. In fact, there is massive fault in some of the views I held over the years. I was lulled to sleep, like so many people, being told things such as life is unfair, there’s nothing we can do about it, it’s always going to be this way, there are no answers. When this is the belief system you function from then you go through life ignoring all the injustices around you because you expect them, and you’ve denied having any empowerment to impact them. Afterall, it’s just the way life is.
Some of the injustices in our systems I could see, like the brokenness in the immigration system, the child welfare system, the health care system, the political system. My response had been to do nothing AND to not participate. As though not being in the systems or boycotting them would affect the change I felt people deserved. I was so wrong.
As I began awakening from my sleepy stupor and seeing the massive injustices in the justice system, I began seeing the evidence around me of what I had previously not been able to see. Merely writing it off as life is not fair no longer seemed to be satisfactory either. I may not have the answers today or tomorrow, but every person who sits in these euphemisms is replicating the ‘do nothing’ rhetoric I was unintentionally buying into.
In late June, Roe v Wade was overturned. This is NOT about Roe v Wade, but rather the response to it. If anyone is not familiar with Roe v Wade it is a landmark case on abortion rights. People feel incredibly passionate about this topic: ending a life or having the right to choose. What people are passionate about they speak out about. Including on social media.
I saw post after post of violent direct threats, using “I” with an explanation of the action they were threatening to take, being made to the Supreme Court Justices, especially Justice Thomas, and many, many more vitriol comments without direct language. Outrage. Hate. Anger. Vile threats to their life. I sat reflectively for a moment and thought about how this had come to be common social media expressions. I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t appalled. But I should be. It is offensive. If I heard someone speak those words in real life, I would have far stronger feelings about their choice of expressions than when it’s on social media. Since I don’t condone this kind of self-expression, I had avoided it. I had ensured the connections I made on social media were positive ones with uplifting content. I had created my own peaceful world which I built right around the belief system there was nothing I could do anyway.
These expressions of outrage were awful, but clearly something would be done about it since the Department of Justice (DOJ) had a whole task force to regulate acts of domestic violent extremism, right? Not really, and to date I have not seen one case filed against anyone for their violent threats cast toward the Justices. Even more perplexing was Twitter’s response to people reporting these threatening posts on their platform: this does not violate our community guidelines. If you do not like what someone is posting, you can block them. 
Something is not right here. Is this entrapment? If social media platforms do not have guidelines congruent with what the DOJ is enforcing then everyone is set up for failure. Twitter is saying go ahead, say whatever you want whenever you want on our platform, and then if you are prosecuted and sentenced to years in prison for your words, that’s just too bad. I would love to see social media platforms openly post the legal consequences if threats are posted on their platform and have social media platforms remove threats when they are made.
You might be thinking there is moderation for threats and comments made on the social media platforms already. While that might be it is not congruent. Stating Kyle Rittenhouse is innocent the day before his verdict is not a threat, it’s an opinion. Saying you are going to kill a Justice of the Supreme Court is a threat. The former was taken off of social media and flagged for violence, the latter did not violate the community guidelines.
Last week I promised court cases to demonstrate the inconsistencies in the system. Please keep in mind Travis’s case was the very first of its kind so I ascertained cases with as similar of elements as I could find.
Dawn Lee Bancroft. She is from Doylestown, Penn. And was sentenced to three years probation, 100 hours community service, and $500 restitution for a misdemeanor charge of ‘Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building’. Dawn Lee Bancroft had no prior criminal history. The factual basis of her case according to the Washington Post: on January 6th Ms. Bancroft entered the Capitol twice where she made a video and shared it with a friend. In this video she stated she wanted to shoot Nancy Pelosi “in the frigging head”.
In comparison to Travis’s case where the prosecution stated they did not believe he ever had any intention of taking action, Ms. Bancroft took action and was physically present in the same building as Nancy Pelosi at the same time, used direct threat language asserting “I” and yet was only convicted of a misdemeanor, given probation, community service, and restitution. Perhaps since Nancy Pelosi is not an election official, having no role in conducting elections in America, this sentence is in the best interest of justice.
Eugene Huelsman. Mr. Huelsman threatened Congressman Matt Gaetz by calling Mr. Gaetz’s office on 1/9/21. When no one answered the phone, Mr. Huelsman left a profane laced message: “tell Matt Gaetz to watch his back, tell him to watch his children, tell him to watch everyone. I’m coming for him. I’m going to (expletive) kill him. He’s a (expletive) despicable (expletive) tyrant, and I’m going to (expletive) kill him. I’m coming for you. I am going to put a bullet in you, and I’m going to put a bullet in one of your (expletive) kids too. I hate you.”
Mr. Huelsman plead to one count of Transmission of a Threat in Interstate Commerce. This was not the first time Mr. Heulsman had made threats involving political figures. He had been investigated in the past for threatening a member of a former President’s family via social media. Mr. Huelsman was sentenced to six months house arrest, five years probation, and a $10,000 fine.
Urooj Rahman. Ms. Rahman was a public interest lawyer and threw a Molotov cocktail at an empty police cruiser in New York during the 2020 George Floyd riots. She originally was facing 10 years in prison on seven federal charges. Her text messages indicate she had said before the incident that all the police stations need to be burned down and probably the courts too, and she took action on her words. However, Ms. Rahman was deemed not to be a threat to society and was allowed to be bonded out of jail while her charges were pending.
Court records indicate an agency within the DOJ intervened on her behalf writing a document to the court stating she was coping with unprocessed trauma, had been in abusive partnership relationships, was taunted as a Muslim after 9/11, and should be praised for her commitment to social justice. Ms. Rahman ended up pleading guilty to only one count of Knowingly Making & Possessing a Destructive Devise and was sentenced to 15 months in prison with a $300,000 restitution. Despite the fact her case demonstrated violent behavior and premeditation, the judge stated she was a good person who did a terrible thing one night.
How is this consistent application of the law and sentences which are in the best interest of justice?
Lesson Learned: From the wise words of Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Don’t ignore what’s right in front of you and resign to a lie that it’s just the way life is. Life is the way it is when we accept, ignore, and deny inequality and injustice. However, when you do take action, let it be loving action with kind words.
Sign up below to access all the blogs of this story as they are posted so you don’t miss a thing. Read the entire series in the story beginning with this blogpost.
Follow my journey, hear more about this story, and consider all things seen and unseen on my internet radio show, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ airing every Wednesday evening at 6 pm EST/5 pm CST/3 pm PST.
Thank you for praying for us, supporting us, sharing our story: givesendgo.com/travisford
GiveSendGo.com is a free Christian Crowdfunding site. They are built on the fact as Christians they know money, as helpful as it is, is only part of the equation. Their platform is designed not only to encourage Christians to raise money to make a difference in the world, but to also remind that sharing hope (through prayer submission) is even more important, as it is a lasting solution.
Peace & Love,
Janessa