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NYPD Subpoenas Twitter For Info On User Threatening Mike Tyson's Broadway Show
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 7, 2012
Modified Aug 7, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 7, 2012
Modified Aug 7, 2012
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The NYPD is on the hunt for a Twitter user who threatened to open fire at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway, where Mike Tyson is currently starring in his one man show The Undisputed Truth. The unidentified Twitter user attracted investigators' attention when he wrote on July 29th: "I might just shoot up this theater in new York I know they leave their exit doors unlocked. Ha now I gotta plan it step by step." Later, he added, "This s--t ain’t no joke yo — I’m serious, people are gonna die like aurora."
Investigators asked Twitter to turn over the user's information, but the company refused, telling the NYPD, "We appreciate the timeliness and sensitivity of this matter, and have reviewed the reported Twitter account. While we do invoke emergency-disclosure procedures when it appears that a threat is present, specific and immediate, this does not appear to fall under those strict parameters as per our policies."
And so the NYPD got a subpoena from the Manhattan DA’s Office yesterday to obtain the user's info, and there has been increased enforcement at the theater. But the unidentified individual has not yet been apprehended, and NYPD spokesman Paul Browne "fumed" to the Post, saying, "We needed a name and we needed it fast. Twitter said no." According to NBC New York, when another Twitter user asked the suspect why he had not yet made good on his threat, he replied, "I had last minute plans. I'm in Florida rite now but it'll happen i promise I'm just finishing up my hit list."
Tagged
aurora massacre
mike tyson
nypd
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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