Did Brett Kimberlin Stalk BlogCon? UPDATE: Confirmed or Not?

Posted on | June 6, 2012 | 40 Comments

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
New developments today in the story of convicted terrorist bomber-turned-progressive activist Brett Kimberlin: Sources report that conservative New Media activists believe that Kimberlin — whose activities are funded by the tax-exempt 501(c) non-profits Velvet Revolution and the Justice Through Music Project — showed up in April at BlogCon, a conference sponsored by FreedomWorks and the Franklin Center.

The incident was uncovered by @JDonels, who reported on his Tumblr blog that a person using the Twitter alias “Robert Slydell” appears to have been involved in the incident:

Did a left-wing activist infiltrate BlogCon Charlotte? Try to intimidate bloggers on Twitter? Did this person know someone who may have hacked Twitter accounts, and have his real name accidentally exposed in the process? And did this person know of efforts to put conservatives in TwitterGulag?

A photo of Kimberlin was circulated among online activists and, sources say, it was confirmed that Kimberlin showed up at the hotel in Charlotte, N.C., where BlogCon was held. Sources say Kimberlin was seen collecting information about the conference proceedings and was eventually escorted from the premises by hotel security.

Kimberlin has been accused of engaging in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against conservative bloggers, including Patrick “Patterico” Frey, Aaron Walker and National Bloggers Club president Ali Akbar. The case has drawn widespread attention, and major news organizations are taking increased interest in the story. Bestselling author Michelle Malkin wrote today:

[Award-winning conservative blogger] Ace of Spades has called for a National Day of Blogger Silence this Friday to focus Capitol Hill’s attention to this vital free speech fight.

UPDATE: Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute called attention to the Kimberlin case Tuesday in a letter to the editors of The Washington Times. Meanwhile, Examiner columnist Joe Newby contacted a board member of Kimberlin’s non-profit Velvet Revolution, who claimed there have been “coordinated right wing attacks” leveled at Kimberlin “based on no facts.”

Kimberlin’s criminal career has been the subject of extensive reporting by Massimo Calabresi of Time magazine, Mandy “Liberty Chick” Nagy of Breitbart.com, Ed Barnes of Fox News and other news organizations, and was covered in-depth by New Yorker reporter Mark Singer in his 1996 book, Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin..

UPDATE II: Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) just became the first member of Congress to officially demand investigation of the “threats and intimidation [which] have no place in our national political discourse.”

UPDATE III: Instapundit and Dan Riehl on Chambliss story, which is also now the subject of a Memeorandum thread.

UPDATE IV: Another source contacted me this evening to express uncertainty about the identification of Kimberlin as the person escorted out of the North Carolina hotel where BlogCon was held in April. Furthermore, this source said, there is concern — based on Kimberblin’s known modus operandi — that heightened scrutiny may prompt the convicted bomber to desperate measures.

“He’s a megalomaniacal sociopath,” the source said, adding that the Mark Singer book Citizen K makes clear Kimberlin’s complete contempt for law enforcement and his belief that he’s “smarter than the cops.” Thus, whether or not Kimberlin was at the April event in Charlotte, he might single out individuals associated with the conference as “enemies,” targeting them for “lawfare” harassment or other types of intimidation tactics.

– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

UPDATE IV (Smitty): Welcome, Instapundit readers!

Category: The Kimberlin Files

Comments

40 Responses to “Did Brett Kimberlin Stalk BlogCon? UPDATE: Confirmed or Not?”

PaulLemmen
June 6th, 2012 @ 3:38 pm

Holy shit-snizzle Batman!
If Tabitha weren’t such a cold b … err person, Stacy would have been there and this all might have broken sooner …
Adjoran
June 6th, 2012 @ 3:57 pm

Jimmie Bise Jr. is reporting on Twitter that Senator Chambliss is demanding Holder look into the interstate intimidation:

http://po.st/YeqdM4

I’m not holding my breath waiting for bag man Holder to enforce the law, but it’s a start.
Adjoran
June 6th, 2012 @ 3:59 pm

He was actually retweeting Jake Tapper, so maybe it IS getting through the fog.
Aaron Walker Appealed Gag Order Imposed By Maryland Judge | The Lonely Conservative
June 6th, 2012 @ 4:15 pm

[…] been more developments in the Kimberlin saga over the past day or so. Be sure to read latest at The Other McCain, as well as his earlier post. Also, Michelle Malkin joins in the call for our representatives in […]
robertstacymccain
June 6th, 2012 @ 4:34 pm

There is no reason to make this personal, Paul. We are all equally endangered, and this crisis has been the occasion of extensive fence-mending: Erick Erickson actually mentioned me in his post about Kimberlin, and Tabitha Hale has done the same. The story is too big and too important to allow irrelevant resentments or old animosities to get in the way.
PaulLemmen
June 6th, 2012 @ 4:42 pm

I am impressed Stacy! The King of Butt-Hurt allows his crown to slip.
Actually, you are absolutely correct! As I stated in my post yesterday, “My second point: I am not important in this situation. I stole their thunder so I now am a zero, without value. Circle the wagons around those that make a difference. I am old and
disposable. Ali, Stacy, Liberty Chick, Aaron, Patrick, all of them are young and important players in this effort. Circle the wagons on them. Contribute to the National Bloggers Club fund started for this purpose. Blog about them, their efforts regarding the publishing of factual information about a public figure. This is where the forward edge of the battlefield exists, not in a backwater in Florida with a broken old man.
Move forward, defeat the foe, those that would silence each and every one of us. Rally to the commanders listed above and give them your support.”I’ll abide by the directions of the commanders, among whom you are listed.
McGehee
June 6th, 2012 @ 4:45 pm

I might have to vote for Saxby again in 2014 after all. Depends on whether he stays on it or is grandstanding.
Smitty1e
June 6th, 2012 @ 4:51 pm

If SC is grandstanding, he sure is getting a prime location. But will it spread to Stacy’s cousin, for that special family reunion photo op?
EmmanuelGoldstein
June 6th, 2012 @ 5:23 pm

PaulLemon is such a liberal fascist loon
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 6th, 2012 @ 6:57 pm

Kimberlin is a creep and dangerous. We do not raise personal issues when a rattle snake is crawling around our feet.
Good News: Saxby Chambliss Demands Inquiry Into SWATing » Pirate's Cove
June 6th, 2012 @ 7:41 pm

[…] The Other McCain mentions this, and also wonders if Brett Kimberlin was stalking BlogCon. […]
The Damn Dirty RINO
June 6th, 2012 @ 7:58 pm

Huge thanks to Saxby Chambliss . . ….

Sen. Chambliss: One of the good ones. . . . for being the first United States Senator to take action against Brett Kimberlin and his phalanx of flunkies. It’s disheartening to see how many of our purported leaders have remained silent on this sto…
Walt Gilbert
June 6th, 2012 @ 8:05 pm

Excellent news. And, yes — this story has been occasion for considerable fence-mending, and there has never been a time when it was more desperately needed. Situations like this one have a way of subordinating differences of style and putting them into the proper perspective. It’s a shame that it takes something like this to do it, but I’m not going to quibble with that, either.

What’s most amazing is just how many erstwhile warriors have yet to poke their heads out of the foxhole. Maybe being shown up by Chambliss will light a fire under them.
richard mcenroe
June 6th, 2012 @ 8:09 pm

That sounds like criminal trespass to me. Isn’t bad boy Brett still on federal parole?
richard mcenroe
June 6th, 2012 @ 8:15 pm

If Cusin John does weigh in, he’ll probably blame the Tea Party…
The #BrettKimberlin Report D+12 Part II: Flak And Return Fire [#War - Updated Below][BREAKING: ABC News Report] « The Camp Of The Saints
June 6th, 2012 @ 8:46 pm

[…] McCain has filed a report on the news that Brett Kimberlin may have infiltrated BlogCon back in April: FROM AN UNDISCLOSED […]
Why Sure – Brett’s Guilty As Sin? | Daily Pundit
June 6th, 2012 @ 10:00 pm

[…] Did Brett Kimberlin Stalk BlogCon? : The Other McCain UPDATE: Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute called attention to the Kimberlin case Tuesday in a letter to the editors of The Washington Times. Meanwhile, Examiner columnist Joe Newby contacted a board member of Kimberlin’s non-profit Velvet Revolution, who claimed there have been “coordinated right wing attacks” leveled at Kimberlin “based on no facts.” […]
ABC News Reports Sen. Saxby Chambliss Requested DOJ Investigation of Blogger Swattings | The Lonely Conservative
June 6th, 2012 @ 10:47 pm

[…] Kimberlin denies running. He denies a lot of things. There’s also a sub-thread linking to The Other McCain, American Power, Riehl World View, Political Insider, The Jawa Report, UrbanGrounds, The […]
Dianna Deeley
June 6th, 2012 @ 11:10 pm

Excellent question, one I have not been able to settle to my own satisfaction. If you get a solid answer, please post it.
Adjoran
June 6th, 2012 @ 11:31 pm

My understanding was that at some point after his last release on parole, he was released from federal supervision, which under the rules existing at the time of his offense (and those are the ones which apply) means he is no longer subject to parole rules. He’s out, done his time.
Dianna Deeley
June 6th, 2012 @ 11:40 pm

Thank you. It’s been harder to get solid information than I expected.
nastygram
June 7th, 2012 @ 12:14 am

So, if I understand this correctly, Kimberlin was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1981 for the bombings, he somehow finagled paroled in 1993 after serving just 12 years of his 50 year sentence, he had his parole revoked in 1997 for bad behavior, he was somehow re-paroled in 2001, and now, in 2012, 31 years into his 50 year sentence, he’s somehow totally released from federal supervision because he’s “done his time.” What’s wrong with this picture?
Adobe_Walls
June 7th, 2012 @ 12:57 am

Everything is wrong with that picture. I read somewhere, I’ve no idea where, that when he was re-incarcerated he and his lawyer made a deal similar to a plea bargain eliminating any supervision or parole.
Adjoran
June 7th, 2012 @ 1:24 am

Kimberlin was sentenced under the OLD federal rules – before “truth in sentencing” all but eliminated parole in the old sense. When they changed the rules, those whose crimes were committed before the change are not affected.
Jerry Wilson
June 7th, 2012 @ 1:31 am

You may be old, but you’re not disposable!
An Update On He Who Must Not Be Named | Goldfish and Clowns
June 7th, 2012 @ 1:44 am

[…] numerous conservative pundits are continuing to investigate and/or expand upon the story, including Stacy McCain, Ace of Spades, Dan Riehl, Michelle Malkin, Donald Douglas, Bob Belvedere, Eugene Volokh, Paul […]
PaulLemmen
June 7th, 2012 @ 7:58 am

Might have been one of my suppositions. Unless you’ve read my unpublished mega-post. It explains exactly how that happens under the new federal guidelines …
PaulLemmen
June 7th, 2012 @ 8:01 am

Once my attorney clears me to be able to post about this person again, You’ll have your answer. It’s been written for over a week …
John Galt Report
June 7th, 2012 @ 8:50 am

Great update to this important story
Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » …and the media dam cracks in the US on “Swatting” » Datechguy's Blog
June 7th, 2012 @ 8:59 am

[…] Department on the Swatting issue, and while the MSM might have ignored bloggers this is a different kettle of fish to wit: ABC News spoke with two prominent conservative bloggers who were victims of SWAT-ting, a […]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 7th, 2012 @ 9:37 am

http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2012/06/senator-saxby-chambliss-calls-out-for.html Good news. ABC now reporting the story. All-American Blogger reports it.

This action from Senator Chambliss is helping (a lot).
» Stand with Ali - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
June 7th, 2012 @ 9:46 am

[…] at Michelle Malkin, Patterico, The Other McCain. 00 […]
Sarah Bluemerle
June 7th, 2012 @ 10:34 am

Was the gentleman escorted out of Blogcon a teeny tiny little elf man?
Because BKs diminuitive proportions are rather conspicuous.
Mm
June 7th, 2012 @ 12:08 pm

Michelle Malkin had a link in a post a couple days ago to a blogger who found, apparently, that become.com shares the same IP address as VU, etc. Wish I could find it.
blaster
June 7th, 2012 @ 12:12 pm

Spam? Easy to check by pinging. Answer: no.
ThePaganTemple
June 7th, 2012 @ 4:27 pm

Aaaaarrrgggh, that ‘splain’s things then, he got him a little pecker complex and needs to blow things up, and twould also ‘splain certen other past praclivities.
Who is the Domestic Terrorist Targeting Conservative Bloggers? | Wizbang
June 8th, 2012 @ 11:53 am

[…] in Charlotte, NC. Guess who snuck in and “infiltrated” the event? That’s right, Brett Kimberlin snuck into the event. Now, if this creep just wanted to be left alone by these darned ol’ conservative meanies, […]
My Letter to My Congressmen Regarding Convicted Domestic Terrorist and Perjurer Brett Kimberlin
June 8th, 2012 @ 12:08 pm

[…] 'charitable' foundations and their funders, most of whom (I imagine) have been duped into funding activities of which they would not approve, if they knew […]
RosalindJ
June 8th, 2012 @ 8:22 pm

Mm, here’s a post that makes that connection. HTH.

http://www.conservativecommune.com/2012/06/the-strange-pairing-of-brett-kimberlin-and-become-com-guest-post-by-flynn/
Who is the Domestic Terrorist Targeting Conservative Bloggers? : Stop The ACLU
June 9th, 2012 @ 1:05 pm

[…] in Charlotte, NC. Guess who snuck in and “infiltrated” the event? That’s right, Brett Kimberlin snuck into the event. Now, if this creep just wanted to be left alone by these darned ol’ conservative meanies, […]