So, it turns out that Eric Cantor has gotten an actual, real-live death threat.
TPM is reporting that:
A 33-year-old Philadelphia man was charged today with threatening to kill Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) in a profanity-strewn Youtube video that has since been pulled down.
In the video, Norman Leboon says Cantor will "receive my bullets in your office, remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer's abominations."
A couple of things here. First, kudos to the FBI for finding this nutjob and getting him off the street. Threats against government officials ought to be taken seriously, investigated robustly, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But it's clear that this man is deeply, deeply disturbed.
The affidavit paints a picture of Leboon as a deeply disturbed person. When he was visited by federal agents on Saturday, he "stated that he is the 'son of the god of Enoch' and that his father speaks through him. Leboon stated that Eric Cantor is 'pure evil'; will be dead; andthat Cantor's family is suffering because of his father's wrath."
He seems to be a prolific YouTuber of threats. And he's fairly even-handed in his religious approaches:
Many of Leboon's videos appear to have been removed from YouTube. But in one clip dated Aug. 23, 2009 that bears his name, he appears to be reading, shirtless, from the Koran. "That he may punish the hypocrites ... men and women who imagine an evil opinion of Allah ... the wrath of Allah is on them."
Now, let's parse the reality of this. What the threats against Cantor have in common with the threats against Democrats who supported HCR is that they are all death threats.
Here's what they don't have in common:
Democrats have not, for months on end, been egging on extremists by telling them that elected officials are trying to overthrow the Constitution, subverting the will of the Founders, and selling out the United States to terrorists.
Eric Cantor's lunatic is motivated by his own internal demons.
The lunatics threatening Democratic officials are motivated by . . . Republican officials.
Remember this as you watch Republicans try to equate these events over the next few days.
H/T to DelicateMonster for the link to another news source.
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A quick update on his YouTubing. His page is here.
This guy is a real nut. He threatens the YouTube folks, and just about everyone else. A real loon.
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Second Update:
From Beninten's comments:
He gave over $500 to Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. Seems to have real anti-Semitism issues, as he dislikes Cantor and Arlen Specter and pretty much everyone else who's Jewish. Was involved in 2007 in a class-action lawsuit over the NSA warrantless wiretap program and was quoted in a news story on Truthdig.