# Anti-war website operator threatened by armed thugs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316 "2008-08-08T18:06:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/1 "2008-08-08T18:06:47Z")
Story [here:](http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35387) > [@](#): > > The operator of a leading alternative news and strongly anti-war website has become the target of nefarious thugs apparently in the employ of the U.S. government who have continually harassed him and ordered him to shut down his website. > > Tom Feeley, owner and editor of InformationClearingHouse.info, has endured public harassment, home invasions, death threats and threats to his family simply for running a website. > > Counterpunch writer Mike Whitney has circulated an e mail describing what happened to Feeley in an attempt to draw attention to the matter. > > Whitney writes that earlier this week Feeley’s wife was startled to suddenly discover three well dressed men standing in her kitchen who told her that Tom must “Stop what he is doing on the Internet, NOW!” > > To emphasize the point, the thug pulled back his jacket to reveal a gun while barking out the warning. > > Tom’s wife was hysterical and refuses to go back to the house. She contacted the FBI but was told there was nothing they could do. > > According to Whitney, “The well-dressed man told Tom’s wife that he knew where her son lived, what line of work he was in, and how many children he had.” > > Subsequently, two men in a parked car a block from Tom’s mother’s house were spotted using laptops and sped off when they were approached by Tom’s son. There’s no independent verification for this story AFAICT. I’m Pitting Feeley if it’s made up, these mysterious MIBs if it’s for real. Good RO material either way. [Feeley’s website](http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/2 "2008-08-08T18:13:34Z")
“…apparently in the employ of the U.S. government…” gives me pause. There have been and are currently lots and lots of anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-government websites and materials out there…why the suppression here? Where are all the other stories from other webmasters being threatened? I’ll have to clicky linky to see if this guy’s site is any more inflammatory or “closer to the truth” than anyone else’s. EDIT: Nope, seems like pretty standard fare. Maybe in all his shit-slinging he stumbled upon something that stuck and pissed off the higher-ups? Maybe his website is the first to be assualted in a series of jack-booted attempts to threaten others that run similar websites? Maybe it’s all a bunch of bullshit for publicity? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/3 "2008-08-08T18:19:42Z")
This sets off my bullshit alarm, big-time. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/4 "2008-08-08T18:28:51Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Good RO material either way. [/QUOTE] No, actually, it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/5 "2008-08-08T18:53:59Z")
What did she expect the FBI to do? Why didn’t she call the police? Please. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/6 "2008-08-08T19:28:04Z")
I’m going to ask for verification from a secondary source. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/7 "2008-08-08T19:35:44Z")
I like the “apparently in the employ of the U.S. Government” bit. Because only government agents have guns and laptops? Maybe when the thugs are saying, “You need to stop what you’re doing on the Internet,” they are actually threatening this gentleman with assault if he continues running a website that looks like it was stolen from 1995. Plus, considering the design, it ought to be about chemtrails. Shit, I looked at that website for 14 seconds and I started feeling violent. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/8 "2008-08-08T20:34:05Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] What did she expect the FBI to do? Why didn’t she call the police? Please. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] What do you mean? It was the FBI threatening him! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/9 "2008-08-08T21:09:41Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] Maybe when the thugs are saying, “You need to stop what you’re doing on the Internet,” they are actually threatening this gentleman with assault if he continues running a website that looks like it was stolen from 1995. Plus, considering the design, it ought to be about chemtrails. [/QUOTE] Word, I took one look at the website and started looking for the “Republicrats _ **CAUSED** _ 9/11!!!1!” articles. Whoever designed that website needs to start remembering to take his Ritalin. Maybe take an information architecture class? > [@](#): > > Tom Feeley, owner and editor of InformationClearingHouse.info, has endured public harassment, home invasions, death threats and threats to his family simply for running a website. Tom Feeley has endured public harassment, home invasions, death threats and threats to his family for being an annoying little fuckwit. If guys like Tom want to protest the war, they should stop making guys like me want go down to Homeland Security and sign up just to piss them off. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/10 "2008-08-08T22:15:40Z")
No matter how crazy or annoying he is, he still has the right to be free of threats and harrassment, **Linty**. I’m not buying that the government is threatening this guy, but it’s still possible that some random fucks decided to do it on their own. Right now, there’s not enough information to know what, if anything, actually happened. **Bricker** is right that calling the FBI makes no sense, but if it’s a nutty, conspiracy-minded couple, they might still do it. Right now, I’m going to say that it’s just this side of plausible that some idiots might try to intimidate this guy on their own, it’s well on the _other_ side of plausible that the government would do it, and it’s more than plausible that they made the whole thing up (or perhaps, their paranoid imaginations exaggerated something innocuous into something sinister). ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/11 "2008-08-08T22:19:42Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] No matter how crazy or annoying he is, he still has the right to be free of threats and harrassment, **Linty**. [/QUOTE] Did I say otherwise? I believe that Phred Phelps and his silly phucked-up family have every right to protest the funerals of homosexuals, but if they happened to get their asses handed to them it will be because _they’re_ annoying too. I would support the prosecution of anyone who harmed them, but it’s not like I’m going to feel too sorry for the WBC. This guy is not nearly as malignant as the WBC, of course, but he _is_ an annoying little asshole, and shit like blaming it on the FBI or gummint doesn’t exactly help his case. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/12 "2008-08-08T23:24:39Z")
You can tell if it’s really FBI agents by listening for “Yakety Sax” playing in the background. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/13 "2008-08-09T01:07:39Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] “…apparently in the employ of the U.S. government…” gives me pause. There have been and are currently lots and lots of anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-government websites and materials out there…why the suppression here? Where are all the other stories from other webmasters being threatened? I’ll have to clicky linky to see if this guy’s site is any more inflammatory or “closer to the truth” than anyone else’s. EDIT: Nope, seems like pretty standard fare. Maybe in all his shit-slinging he stumbled upon something that stuck and pissed off the higher-ups? [/QUOTE] Maybe he accidentally figured out a plot to assassinate the president via Space Shuttle-induced earthquake, and it was actually Patrick Stewart and two of his friends who visited his house that night! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/14 "2008-08-09T01:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Maybe he accidentally figured out a plot to assassinate the president via Space Shuttle-induced earthquake, and it was actually Patrick Stewart and two of his friends who visited his house that night! [/QUOTE] He was working with Jeff Goldblum and they found a “countdown signal” from our satellites… ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/15 "2008-08-09T01:51:55Z")
> [@article](#): > > Whitney writes that earlier this week Feeley’s wife was startled to suddenly discover three well dressed men standing in her kitchen who told her that Tom must “Stop what he is doing on the Internet, NOW!” > > To emphasize the point, the thug pulled back his jacket to reveal a gun while barking out the warning. > > Tom’s wife was hysterical and refuses to go back to the house. She contacted the FBI but was told there was nothing they could do. The well-dressed men had already fled on the backs of magical flying unicorns that live by inhaling chemtrails. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/16 "2008-08-09T02:08:31Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] The well-dressed men had already fled on the backs of magical flying unicorns that live by inhaling chemtrails. [/QUOTE] [NPH]If you want to know the secret of being, you’ll come with us[/NPH] ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/17 "2008-08-09T07:49:45Z")
I wouldn’t be stunned with amazement if there actually were people in his kitchen,friends of his pulling a stunt to try and make it seem as though his stuff was hardcore rather then the childish tripe it actually is. In my younger days I was extremely interestedin U.F.Os and did actually believe that some of the reports of MIB were actually true though again I always believed that the mysterious strangers were U.F.O. nuts attempting to sow the seeds in peoples minds of a government conspiracy. The reasoning being if theres no truth in the UFO reports then why bother to try and hush it up? The basic error with that was strangers from nowhere telling people to keep quiet about what they had seen or else… (Though funnily enough the "or else " never happened,not even once, inspite of the witnesses not only quite happily telling the whole world about what they thought they had seen but also all the details about their menacing visitors.There might be some purpose in making empty threats a few times at the start of the phenonema but every single time? Completely pointless) …served only to draw attention to to something that would otherwise be forgotten in a very short time but i suppose it did (and does)sell a few more books Any "secret bureau"so consistently inept over such a long period of time should be sacked and save the U.S. taxpayer a few bob. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/18 "2008-08-09T08:28:38Z")
Well, this story will certainly get him some hits. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/19 "2008-08-09T18:51:43Z")
I wonder if these agents looked like Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316/20 "2008-08-09T20:08:12Z")
His wife then ate piece after piece of sweet potato pie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-website-operator-threatened-by-armed-thugs/459316.md?page=2)