Charles C. Johnson is showing no sign of letting up on his disgusting campaign to out “Jackie,” the University of Virginia junior who says she was brutally gang-raped in her freshman year. Since Sunday night, the right-wing blogger and provocateur has made several posts on his blog, GotNews, revealing what he claims to be details of Jackie’s identity, taking the line that the discovery of discrepancies in Rolling Stone’s story about her ordeal are proof she made the whole thing up. Just on Tuesday, for instance, he posted supposed archives from what he claims to be her former Facebook account revealing her to be just another librul. He’s also tried to turn her name into a hashtag on Twitter. You’ll have to take my word for it–for obvious reasons, I’m not linking to it.
With apologies to Keith Olbermann, you would think that this has cemented Johnson as the Worst Person in the World. Far from it. To my mind, it’s whoever assisted him in obtaining this information on Jackie’s supposed identity. It’s one thing to willfully try to out someone who has let it be known that she is afraid of retaliation for coming forward. But putting together information that tries to unmask that person, then actively mining for someone disreputable enough to make it public? Now that is absolutely heinous. Whoever did this to Jackie gave Johnson her name, address, phone number and other personal information, knowing that it would be plastered online, and knowing that it would put Jackie and her family in great danger.
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The apparent justification for this doxxing campaign is a misguided attempt to bring Jackie to justice for smearing seven supposedly innocent men. I say “misguided” because there isn’t a judge or prosecutor in Virginia–or anywhere else, for that matter–who could let this information be used as evidence and still keep his job. Even if you buy Johnson’s claim that Jackie is lying, did it occur to Johnson and his “sources” that an important corollary of “no one is above the law” is “no one is below the law”? If there is any difference between this mentality and the mentality that led to the torture of detainees at Gitmo and other locations, I’d really like to know.
Moreover, whoever helped Johnson may have exposed himself, at an absolute minimum, to astronomical civil liability. Johnson claims to have called Jackie’s parents–using information obtained by means of a despicable invasion of privacy. In so doing, he handed Jackie’s family grounds for a lawsuit that could potentially drive him out of business–with anyone who helped him as a co-defendant. And if that person is a UVa student, he or she could have potentially put his or her academic future in extreme jeopardy. I would be surprised if this wasn’t grounds for a lengthy suspension, if not expulsion. No student should have to be afraid of being treated this way if he or she decides to speak out.
As I mentioned earlier, this affair actually justifies why Jackie asked Rolling Stone not to contact the suspects for fear either they or someone else would retaliate against her. Rolling Stone has since said honoring this request was a mistake. I have to disagree. Where Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely failed was in rushing the story to print. But this story could have easily been written without contacting the suspects. Given the circumstances, Jackie’s request was more than reasonable. I have some idea how afraid Jackie was of someone trying to get back at her for speaking out, because I’ve lived that fear. As many of you know, my ex-wife goaded her son into beating me up on the day I finally left her. When I pressed charges, she turned around and filed false charges against me for supposedly making a girl staying with us watch X-rated movies. When that didn’t work, she sent me fake divorce papers–thus potentially exposing me to bigamy charges if I ever married again. Fortunately, I got a divorce for real. So you can probably imagine how horrified I was two years ago, when my ex had the nerve to try to friend me on Facebook. I don’t think I’ve ever hit the block button faster. Ten to one Jackie felt the same thing when she found out what Johnson was doing.
Johnson may be getting well-deserved heat for this disgraceful stunt. But whoever helped him deserves even more heat for feeding him this information in the first place–and for searching for someone callous enough to plaster it online.
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Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
