Anonymous threats and stalking - why Northsiders don't want to talk

As Sheila Regan and Ed Kohler both illustrated lately in the Twin Cities Daily Planet and The Deets, there's a bit of drama swirling around the Northside blogosphere these days.

What's unfortunate is that the most nefarious aspects are being perpetuated under a cloak of anonymity.

There's been plenty of speculation as to the identity or identities of the "Jordan Hawkman Group*" but of course, unless someone sues them (or Blogger/Google) it seems unclear as to whether or how these theories can be proven. (But in case you haven't been following the story, word on the street is that it's at least partially Don Allen. Hence the above-linked stories causing a backlash on JHG.)

In the meantime, the angry personality(ies?) hiding behind this moniker are having a grand old time spreading misinformation and -in some cases- outright lies about a variety of Northsiders.

Is it any wonder that nobody wants to talk?

Here's an email I received from "Jane Doe" just today:

from Jane Doe
to Minneapolis Girl
date Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 9:59 AM
subject Constance E. Nompelis
signed-by rocketmail.com
hide details 9:59 AM (2 hours ago)
Don't feel left out as of late, we have not been forgetting about you.

JHG has a few questions for you:

1. How is the completion of the TISH orders coming along for your North Minneapolis House?

2. Were you involved in any way with the Jeff Skrenes accident? In any case, was there alcohol involved in his accident?

3. Have you ever been investigated for Real Estate transactions? Which ones?

As you well know, we keep our word as to what is on the record and off the record. If we dig up the answers on our own we have moved forward with stories. As stated before, we are willing to put up your side of the story....your call.

Your friends at JHG

For the record, this is not the first time I've been contacted by JHG, and while the questions in this particular message are mostly related to me, in the past they've attempted to blackmail me for info about others. Take this message, for example:

from Jane Doe
to Minneapolis Girl
date Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 8:17 AM
subject Time
signed-by rocketmail.com
hide details 8/28/10
What's it going to be?

We know you represented the buyer side of Goodmundson's house among other things. We have known this all along, yet have not brought it up when there were logical times to publish it. That should prove that JHG can be Connie friendly.

Now would be the appropriate time to slide us information that focuses our attention towards Hoff and Goodmundson. There are others working with us already. Don't be late to the party, because it will not count if you are.

The dumbest part about it all though, is that threats of exposure *should* only work if the threatened party has actually done something wrong. The JHG have implied OVER and OVER again that I had some unethical or illegal role in Megan Goodmundson's home transaction, but the reality is that I did not. The JHG have also implied OVER and OVER again that I have romantic relations with any number of Northside characters, but the reality is that I do not.

So why should I (or anyone else) be afraid?

Well, because they lie. And lies really suck.

And I know a dozen other people over here who won't dare say one word about any of the local issues because they're afraid of some anonymous-lying-COWARD-blogger posting lies about THEM TOO.

Which really is a terrible shame.

I spent a few months trying to ignore this whole mess, hoping that it would just die down, and feeling like the best response was none at all. However, things have not in fact died down.

So, I decided to respond.

******

Oh, and for the record, I'm happy to answer the questions posed in the initial email. Here goes:

1) All the corrections have been made. (PS - Did you notice the beautiful new paint job on my home? I know you drive by it a lot as part of your intimidation efforts.)

2) Nope. Jeff's car accident took place in Northeast Minneapolis and I was nowhere near him at the time. (But how nice of you to take the friendly act of picking him up and driving him to the hospital and try to twist that into something seedy.)

3) Not unless it's been so super-secret that I wasn't informed about it. (And not unless your obsessive googling and defamatory insinuations count... which I don't believe they do.)






*Which I REFUSE to link to. If you want to read that garbage and you don't already know where it is, please consult with Google.