Antiwar webmaster asssasinated

[therapist]

On Monday evening, the webmaster of Forsake The Troops was brutally assaulted by two men, thought to be members of the military, in response to their opinions about this website. Mr. Crook had been the target of numerous death threats and trespassers at his residence. All of these threats were saved and have been turned over to the authorities.
UPDATE:

At 6:19pm Eastern time, Michael Crook died of his injuries, after being rushed by ambulance to the leading hospital in the area for head trauma. The two men who allegedly assaulted him are currently in the custody of police. Mr. Crook died with his wife and infant daughter present.

It is therefore the decision of his family, and associates that Forsake The Troops goes offline, to prevent further incidents of violence and threats against his family. Therefore, this domain will permanantly go offline at around 5pm Eastern time, on Tuesday, May 17th, 2005.

http://www.forsakethetroops.info/

:grr: :grr:

[MADem]

1. HOLY SHIT

It IS happening here. This is frightening. I am nominating this, I think everyone needs to see it.

This guy was no Prince, but no one deserves to die for their views, no matter how angry they may be.

Edit to include some cached info I got off his site:

This website is proudly dedicated to the following ideals:

The excessive base salaries must be reduced.

All of the extra allowances must be eliminated. Soldiers should be made to pay all of their expenses (food, rent, uniforms, etc.) from base salary, just as it is in the real world. The soldiers should be made to pay 100% of the cost of medical insurance, and co-pays should be doubled from their current rate.

If a soldier chooses off-base housing (and is eligible) he/she should pay for it out of base salary. We, the taxpayers, should not pay their rent. Isn't it enough our taxes pay for barracks? We'd be better off with pup tents.

No soldier should get a tax break, as referenced to in IRS Topic 853-- No amount of money earned overseas by a US soldier should be exempted from taxes.

The taxpayers should not have to pay for burial. If life insurance won't cover it (i.e. war) then the family should pay for it, just as it is in the real world. How is it our fault they chose to die?

Our underlying problem is this: the military is a lifestyle these morons chose. What idiot risks their life for a country? It's what they chose. Hopefully, they knew in their hearts this is abusing taxpayers' money, and they enlisted anyway. So...Forsake our Troops! Let 'em die in combat-- we don't need their ilk in this country!



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NINE MORE MARINES' CAREERS BLOW UP IN THEIR FACES
Don't military pukes learn anything? Nine more Marines bite the big one in combat. Stupid is as stupid does!




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WE BRING YOU ANOTHER NEW WEBSITE!
We bring you a website with a different tone. Forsake The Police is a new website that discusses the police. Some are honorable heroes, while too many others are rogue officers that abuse their powers, harrass, and bring shame to law enforcement. This is the site to discuss it, and it's coming soon!


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Number of US soldiers killed in the Iraq War, of their own doing, because they CHOSE to be leeches: 1,583. These scumbags asked for it, and got it. Simper Cry.

See the original iteration here: http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:NS-xzT3bXjMJ:www.forsakethetroops.info/index.shtml+forsake+the+troops&hl=en

[tjdee]

5. Well of course it is. Freeper types are usually violent thugs.

I'm surprised they didn't use guns, since they're so obsessed with them. I'm nominating too. How not surprised yet utterly disgusted I am.

I feel for his family and children.
:(

[hexola]

50. I've always said - "In real life - they would just kill you dead..."

about the Freepers...

[FreedomAngel82]

107. Talk about

respecting freedom of speech. :mad: These people are disgusting.

[KittyWampus]

27. Sounds Like Crook Was Against The Socialism Implicit In Military Life

one would think the Freepers would LIKE that.

As for some of the other comments- they are disgusting & provocative.

Does that in any way excuse his murderers?

No, they must be held accountable.

Should Freedom of Speech be upheld and protected?

Yes, that is imperative.

However, whenever ANYONE speaks, it's important to realise that there are consequences. And yet brave souls like Martin Luther King speak out anyway. King knew his days were numbered yet he went on.

I don't put crook in the same category as King, however.

More like Ann Coulter... just slightly less inflammatory as her nonsense.

[jmowreader]

102. Okay, so which side killed him?

I have a hard time deciding whether the dipshit that killed this dipshit was a really stupid freeper (who thought this guy was a liberal) or a really stupid liberal (who thought this guy was a really stupid Libertarian).

That little manifesto sounds like it could have been written by an ultra-Libertarian. Your general-purpose Libertarian thinks the only thing government is good for is defending the homeland; everything else should be privatized. There have got to be some Libertarians who think privatizing the army is a good idea; this guy sounds like one of them.

[cestpaspossible]

123. Wouldn't be accurate to call that rhetoric 'anti-war'

I don't see anything there condemning the war, or war in general. It seems to be all anti-soldiers.

[Griffy]

127. 63 posts for original poster.. just saying.. relax and get facts!

dont jump the gun, if we are getting close to busting some Iraq war lies into the open, we will see an increase in fake stories designed to scare... like they diverted another flight today.. and them leet the guy go... BOO

Stay alert, there are some real dangers.. so .. are we smart, like we think... stay calm, focused and alert!

[Gman]

2. That's how the RW operates

That's how they intimidate.

[Protagoras]

92. and apparently how they KILL

:(

[Freddie Stubbs]

144. And how easily some people will believe the worst...

http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

[Tyler Durden]

3. And so it begins...

The fate of Michael Crook is the future for all who oppose the new Nazis and their new Hitler. Make no mistake.

[therapist]

9. We shouldn't be intimidated

http://www.wwnorton.com.nyud.net:8090/college/history/ushist/tinimage/bgwoman.gif

[Tyler Durden]

Initimidated? YES. Cowed? NO.

When one feels just a little intimidated, it makes one CAREFUL enough to be absolutly certain that when one replies to a some big tough cretin intent on beatin you up that you don't give them their causus beli.

Not advocating capitulation, just caution, and only the "caught alone in a dark alley" sort at that.

[Tigress DEM]

133. Was Pope Benedict a "Hitler Youth"?

http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=rsc


<clip>
I believe that my German uncle, the spitting image of my American father, was a decent man who >>>>>> like the new pope who once joined the Hitler Youth <<<<<< was swept along by events far beyond his control. He recalled that as a teenager, Hitler was a distant voice on the radio promising to return order and prosperity to a depressed country. Little did he know that the highway built near the town in the '30s, eagerly welcomed for creating local jobs, was intended to carry tanks to conquer Paris, or that the coming war would leave him near death on the Russian front.


That would explain why one of his first moves was to convince the liberal minded priest Father Thomas Reese that he wanted to resign from American Magazine which he edited.

One of the articles Reese probably wrote has Penraker lying up a storm...


original article exerpt:

http://www.americamagazine.org

"For those of us who grew up under the terror of the mushroom-shaped cloud, this was an extraordinary achievement. And he (referring to Pope John Paul II) brought it all about as a nonviolent revolution without shedding blood, proving foolish the conservative hawks who had counseled violent confrontation and first strikes that would have cost the lives of millions."


Per Penraker:

http://www.penraker.com/archives/001441.html

The left has to lie in order to make its case; no conservative ever "counseled violent confrontation and first strikes that would have cost the lives of millions". Catholic priests should not be spreading lies like this. Anyone responsible for this editorial should lose their job. I thought it was part of being a priest to tell the truth.

and also per Penraker

1. Father Thomas Reese of America, The National Catholic Weekly Magazine. http://www.americamagazine.org The Media loves to put Father Reese on display, because he agrees with them. Reese is a Jesuit, and nowadays you have to be careful of Jesuits. They used to be considered a tough and disciplined order; now it is widely reported that they have been taken over by a "lavender mafia". An unusual number of Jesuits are dying of AIDS, and many of the priests accused of teenager abuse were Jesuits. The order has fallen from about 8,000 priests several years ago to about 2500 now. It is said there are more ex-Jesuits than Jesuits. Garry Wills, a liberal, confirms the rot, as reported here. http://theviewfromthecore.com/20020408/column.html


Shall I forgive the Penraker in advance for I'm sure they know not what they speak of even without looking it up, but... let's find the facts.

That didn't take long. Doesn't anyone at Penraker know how to Google? 943,000 hits for communism first strike

http://www.georgetown.edu/centers/woodstock/publications/article18.htm
"Bush's 'first strike' threat: Can it be justified?", Our Sunday Visitor, June 23, 2002.
<clip>
Speaking to West Point graduates earlier this month, Bush began floating a doctrine of preemptive military action against nations viewed as terrorist threats, especially Iraq.

"If we wait for threats to full materialize, we will have waited too long," the president said. His defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, followed by saying the United States should not wait for "absolute proof" of an impending terrorist attack before acting militarily.
Since September 11, those in the mainstream of Catholic thinking on a "just war" have affirmed that the use of deadly force against terrorist havens in Afghanistan and elsewhere is a moral option. However, in Church doctrine a just war is a defensive war, and the tradition has offered little ground for justifying offensive military action.

On top of that, in recent years the Church has voiced growing doubt about whether war can solve deep-seated social and political conflicts, and therefore about the likelihood of a "just cause" of armed conflict. Pope John Paul II has seemed to put greater hope in the prospects of non-violent resistance to evil, and in healing wounds between fractious parties and addressing injustices through non-military means.

"The Church has been narrowing the just-cause categories," said Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, an international ethicist who reflects the thinking of the U.S. bishops and Holy See, referring to one of the just-war conditions. "The Holy Father has been increasingly skeptical about the use of force being able to accomplish the aims" of restoring peace and order.

http://www.voiceoftheturtle.org/library/porthuron4.php

<clip>
Universal controlled disarmament must replace deterrence and arms control as the national defense goal.
The strategy of mutual threat can only temporarily prevent thermonuclear war, and it cannot but erode democratic institutions here while consolidating oppressive institutions in the Soviet Union. Yet American leadership, while giving rhetorical due to the ideal of disarmament, persists in accepting mixed deterrence as its policy formula: under Kennedy we have seen first-strike and second-strike weapons, counter-military and counter-population inventions, tactical atomic weapons and guerilla warriors, etc. The convenient rationalization that our weapons potpourri will confuse the enemy into fear of misbehaving is absurd and threatening. Our own intentions, once clearly retaliatory, are now ambiguous since the President has indicated we might in certain circumstances be the first to use nuclear weapons. We can expect that Russia will become more anxious herself, and perhaps even prepare to "preempt" us, and we (expecting the worst from the Russians) will nervously consider "preemption" ourselves. The symmetry of threat and counter-threat lead not to stability but to the edge of hell.


http://www.cfr.org/pub5035/max_boot/who_says_we_never_strike_first.php
Who Says We Never Strike First?
By Max Boot
The New York Times, October 04, 2002

Some critics, such as Michael Walzer, the political theorist, argue that the current threat from Iraq is different from and less immediate than those faced in the past. Attacking Iraq now, they argue, would make this a preventive, not a pre-emptive, war, and hence less morally justified.
Boot, whom I think it safe to say is easily identified as a Conservative Hawk, continues.... This is a distinction that may have made sense in the past, when mobilization took time and diplomacy proceeded at a slower pace. But today weapons of mass destruction can be used without warning. For this reason, the distinction between pre-emptive and preventive collapses. "Preventive" actions like Israel's 1981 raid on Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility have become essential.
Nevertheless, as Congress and the American people debate war against Iraq, there is unease that pre-emptive war, even to eradicate weapons of mass murder, runs against the American grain. The presumption of those, like Dick Armey, the House majority leader, who have made this argument is that Americans are a generally pacific people who will put down their ploughshares and take up swords only if attacked first. Leave aside the question of whether we can afford for the enemy to strike the first blow when that blow might leave millions dead. What about the historical accuracy of this idea that we are a nation animated by the spirit of Cincinnatus?
As support for this proposition one can cite the defensive justifications offered for major American wars, from the attack on Fort Sumter to the attack on Pearl Harbor. But some supposed provocations do not stand up to much scrutiny -- as critics at the time pointed out.
Mexico attacked United States troops in 1846 because they had moved into disputed border territory; President James Polk used this as a convenient casus belli, but he was preparing a war message for Congress even before the attack. A half century later there was no credible evidence (there still isn't) that the Spanish sank the Maine in Havana harbor; Congress declared war anyway to liberate Cuba and flex American muscle. And the United States entered Vietnam not to avenge two attacks on American warships in the Gulf of Tonkin (one of which didn't occur) but because President Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to prevent the spread of Communism.


Geese, the rot runs deep and way back..

But I think Penraker is only referring to Reagan's forked tongue which said, "No" to preparing for First Strike Capabilities all the while he was deploying a program that could only be effective in a first strike situation.

I mean if you only look at Reagan as having the "millions of lives" in the balance that Penraker referred to then technically they were right... he didn't actually come our and say it. But then they did say "no conservative ever..." so they are still wrong.

http://www.clw.org/scoville/nyt-100881.html
October 8, 1981
First Strike
By Herbert Scoville
Deploying the ''counter-ICBM'' MX in silos known to be vulnerable can only signal to the Russians that we plan to launch them in a first strike before their own attack could wipe them out. After their attack, we could not rely on having any missiles with which to retaliate. Thus, with this MX program we are giving the Soviet Union strong incentives to launch a pre-emptive strike in a time of crisis.
The entire MX program should be canceled now, and President Reagan should listen to his closest Senate advisers, Paul Laxalt of Nevada and Jake Garn of Utah, who urged in June early negotiation of a ''strategic nuclear offensive arms reduction agreement - particularly in those weapons which constitute first-strike counterforce systems.''

[demnan]

4. That's scary

I nominated it too.

[unhappycamper]

6. Is this the start of Krystalnacht?

[MADem]

10. Ya gotta wonder.... n/t

[patdem]

7. This sounds like BOGUS CRAP!--Edited!

I have NEVER heard of this website ... and 'Forsake the Troops'...give me a fricking break

http://dreadpundit.blogspot.com/2005/04/forsake-troops-interview-michael-crook.html

He is NOT what he seems...a White Supremacist who wants to 'restructure the force? Make it MORE WHITE? I have NEVER heard of him and NOW I know why!

[ET Awful]

13. Agreed

I've seen the site before and considered it bogus then, my opinion hasn't changed.

[MADem]

16. I posted a link to the cache of the page above

This guy appeared to have been agressively antiwar, and anti-soldier, as well. I do not agree with his argument that our standing military should be shunned and shafted (they get that from the chimp already), but at the same time I do not agree with this war. I am rather "Trent Lottian" in my view -- I can support the troops but not the President, as it were.

That said, NO ONE DESERVES TO DIE FOR THEIR VIEWS. NO ONE. This is AMERICA, damnit!!! Or it was.....

[tjdee]

21. It's for real.

Check the cached version on Google.


"Number of US soldiers killed in the Iraq War, of their own doing, because they CHOSE to be leeches: 1,583. These scumbags asked for it, and got it. Simper Cry. "
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:NS-xzT3bXjMJ:www.forsakethetroops.info/index.shtml+forsake+the+troops&hl=en

I don't agree with the message of his site (he seems to misunderstand why we pay for soldiers' burials and expenses...DUH), but I did think we had a first amendment in this country.

[foo_bar]

26. it still has hoax potential

At 1:51 AM, thedingo said...
I'm doubting it is true, though. This guy's enough of an attention whore to fake something like this. I've yet to find any mention of his death on anything other than his blog, and nobody I know in his area has noticed anything in the news or other sources (which would show up if the assault actually happened). Haven't found anything on the local police blotter either.

http://trueorbetter.blogspot.com/2005/02/do-it-yourself-cointelpro.html

On edit: there's more:
http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

Goodbye, Mike
Submitted by lauriegirl on Mon, 2005-05-16 22:32.
It's been about four hours since Mike died. I am coming into Syracuse from New Jersey later tomorrow morning to help with the funeral preparations.

Mike fully expected to die at someone's hands, and was prepared. His family is very well taken care of financially, and he saved every death threat he got, which is now in the hands of law enforcement. He saved it in a folder which was readily accessible to his wife at a second's notice. Justice will be served, as the men who allegedly assaulted him are in jail at this moment.

I would like to thank those who have sent kind words. I can understand the hatred pointed towards Mike, but I would like to point this out: he was feeling very bad about this site, and wanted to take it down. But, he felt that if he did he would be seen by his critics as a punk who couldn't stand up for his views.

[leftchick]

22. Info on Crook...

The Border radio station at the Mance Radio Mall on Wealtha Avenue wanted to do something positive for the soldiers and their families, after a Syracuse man figuratively “spit in their faces” by way of a defamatory website.

Michael Crook is the author of the anti-soldier website forsakethetroops.info. Morning radio hosts Johnny and Erika talked to Crook on the air about his website on Monday, and he agreed to come to the station for an interview. Station owner Dave Mance canceled his appearance, fearing safety issues.

This is not the first time Crook has outraged a community. In January Crook found a soldier's digital camera during a Philadelphia Eagles football game. Crook offered to return the camera to the Army specialist, but only if he was paid a thousand dollars.

The rally is going on all morning in front of the radio station.

http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=44C4E253-9192-4EB8-BA6B-B0781BFAB25C

[KurtNYC]

93. He didn't find the camera

In January Crook found a soldier's digital camera during a Philadelphia Eagles football game.

It appears that he heard about a missing camera then called from Syracuse down to Philadelphia to say that he had the camera and would only give it back for $1000. He emailed some pictures to a local TV station in Philly and they weren't from the camera in question. So perhaps he simply wanted to outrage the community and get publicity.

[therapist]

34. I guess i'm still gullible

Should have investigated a bit more before posting in breaking news.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

139. Someone close this thread!

This is clearly a hoax. I believe his website got hacked.

Threads like this should be closed because they confuse and misinform people, who reply with angry posts after not reading the entire thread..

[entanglement]

8. The Stormtroopers are back...

Nominated. This is the second brutal murder I'm reading about today and I'm really :mad:

[MaineDem]

11. Where did this happen? (nt)

[ET Awful]

12. Well, my first instinct when I saw this site months ago was that it was

a hoax site. I remain unconvinced that it was a serious site, and will take this story with a grain of salt unless I see further substantiation.

Considering that they only say "the leading hospital in the area" instead of actually providing any verifiable facts is a good indicator that it's bullshit.

[therapist]

18. I've never heard about it before, but i checked archive.org

http://web.archive.org/web/20050222142820/http://www.forsakethetroops.info/

also mentioned here:

Michael Crook is the author of the anti-soldier website forsakethetroops.info. Morning radio hosts Johnny and Erika talked to Crook on the air about his website on Monday, and he agreed to come to the station for an interview. Station owner Dave Mance canceled his appearance, fearing safety issues.

http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=44C4E253-9192-4EB8-BA6B-B0781BFAB25C

[tinanator]

31. Thats not anti-war

thats psycho. this reeks of tainted fish.

[katinmn]

38. I googled him. Was he also a white supremacist?

http://dreadpundit.blogspot.com/2005/04/forsake-troops-interview-michael-crook.html
The Dread Pundit Bluto: For a time your "Citizens Against the Troops" site seemed to change into a white supremacist site. What are your beliefs regarding race relations, and what, if any, associations do you have with white supremacist groups?

Michael Crook: I am a member of an organization that preserves the rights of White men and women. It does not, despite popular opinion, condone violence or hate crimes towards members of other races. Just as blacks have the NAACP, we have our organizations. I personally believe that we each have the right to live our lives, and each racial group has the right to promote and preserve their causes.

More nasty stuff:
http://xrlq.com/2005/02/19/idiot-of-the-day-michael-crook/

[Scooter24]

14. Something just doesn't feel right about this.

Could he really be dead or is he just fed up with the death threats and thought this to be the easy way to fade back into public life?

Plus notice where he said "All death threats have been turn over to the authorities?" This is probably just a game to him - a way for him to scare those who threatened him.

[eridani]

15. OK researchers--

--let's find out WTF is really going on here.

[MADem]

19. Here is a start

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/078624.php

Would it surprise any of you to know that the man who wrote this:

Two entertaining photos for your amusement..an injured US soldier being carried away like the candy-ass punk he is, and a dead US scumbag (aka member of the US military) who will now probably cost the taxpayers money for many years to come.
Is also a white supremist? From Bluto's interview:
I am a member of an organization that preserves the rights of White men and women. It does not, despite popular opinion, condone violence or hate crimes towards members of other races. Just as blacks have the NAACP, we have our organizations. I personally believe that we each have the right to live our lives, and each racial group has the right to promote and preserve their causes.
Right, you're no racist pig. Go read the rest.

[tjdee]

23. He's a jerk, but you don't kill someone in this country for that.

At least, didn't used to.

[Xithras]

100. Well, it's hard to believe that there's no supporting evidence.

The guy was apparently a well known personality and controversial figure. According to the registration info on his domains, he lives in an apartment in Syracuse NY.

Now, if a controversial figure were savagely beaten to death on the streets of Syracuse, you'd think that there would be SOME mention of it in SOME press SOMEWHERE. As it is, there are no news articles, no obituaries, NOTHING to indicate that this guy really died. Couple that with the posting inconsistencies that others here have already found on his blog, and the whole thing begins to look like a big hoax.

[BlueEyedSon]

17. He wasn't anti-war, he was anti-troops.

The same way it's possible for us to oppose the war and "support the troops".

[MADem]

24. He was also EX MILITARY apparently - for all of TWO WEEKS

http://goldfalcon.org/index.php/2005/05/07/forsake-the-troops-founder-is-a-phony/

Of course, the website Forsake The Troops has been in the news a lot since the beginning of the year, mostly for his disgusting site, but also for holding a soldier’s digital camera for ransom. The man seems to enjoy being despicable.

But how serious is he?

Mike Crook, the owner of both forsakethetroops.info and michaelcrook.com also used to run the website silentmike.net. Don’t bother looking for it, it only exists as an archive in the Wayback Machine now. But lets look at what Mike had to say about his own service in the Army in 1999:

I Would be proud to serve– if the Army would let me
(Published in the Press of Atlantic City (NJ) on Friday, June 11, 1999)

Be all you can be. Full speed ahead. The few, the proud. We’ve all heard the catch phrases different branches of the military use to recruit trainees. If you’re like most people, you probably keep flipping through the channels.

For me, the Army was the one and only choice for military service. When I saw the commercial over two years ago, I didn’t even think about money, bonuses or assistance with college tuition. I picked up the phone and gave them my information. Within two days, I got a call from a recruiter at the Northfield recruiting station, and from that point on, my life changed.

First of all, it wasn’t easy for me to enlist in the Army. I was underweight, and I had some legal issues that needed to be resolved. But in April of this year, I finally shipped out to Fort Benning, Ga.

That was a bittersweet day for me. I was finally in the Army, after two years of paperwork and trying to get my weight up to standards. At the same time, however, I was leaving my girlfriend behind. I was very homesick for the first week, but quickly learned to deal with it and keep my feelings in check when I found I wasn’t the only man experiencing those feelings.

To my dismay, after a mere two weeks at Fort Benning, despite the fact that I passed every test required to ship to a basic training unit, I was told I was medically unfit for training. On May 7, a month after I left, I walked back into the Philadelphia airport and happily into the waiting arms of my girlfriend, but on my way to being out of the Army.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

20. 315...

Syracuse NY area. Do we have anyone who can verify this story, from that area?

Something doesn't feel right about this, yet something doesn't feel wrong, either.

[MADem]

25. I'm a looking around like crazy, found this

http://urbangrounds.com/2005/05/11/michael-crook-forsake-the-troops/

UPDATE — Apparantly the Foresakethetroops Web site is a twisted money grabbing idea of Mr. Crook, who is simply trying to make a fast buck selling domain packages. Regardless of ‘why’ he created and posted this garbage, he’s still a vile piece of shit.

****
Few things enrage me more than when a miserable creature—one who has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself—runs down the men and women of our military.

If you ever want to provoke me into a fist fight with you, bad mouth a soldier to my face.

Over at the Mudville Gazette, I found a link to this story about a pathetic piece of scum, Michael Crook, who has created foresakethetrooops.info (not going to link to it). The goal of his site?

Crook of Syracuse, New York, claims members of the military make too much money.
Crook says the idea behind his site was “to call attention to what I feel is excessive pay and benefits given to our military.”

Edit--these guys (sickos, themselves, if you can bear to read their rants) found someone of that name in Syracuse: http://www.dfwstangs.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=242692

[TornadoTN]

42. Agreed

I am looking around and trying to check some sources, but I'm having no luck. I think you hit the nail on the head: something doesn't feel right, but it doesn't feel wrong either. We all know that there are people out there on the right-wing that would do this type of thing in a heartbeat. But it's hard to give this guy any creedence given the way he has set this up from his website. Plus, the story stinks. I would think that the media up in Syracuse would be reporting something like this (THINK SENSATIONALISM).

[dusty64]

52. I live here and have

heard nothing about this. With the state of our media that doesn't really mean much though.......

[Career Prole]

28. Googled "Michael Crook"

Weird shit going on...

http://dreadpundit.blogspot.com/2005/04/forsake-troops-interview-michael-crook.html

[katinmn]

39. me. too. White supremacist?

[UdoKier]

113. He apparently held some soldier's camera HOSTAGE for $1000.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6794245/



Man Wants Cash For Finding Soldier's Camera

WCAU-TVPHILADELPHIA - A New Jersey soldier, who is being sent back to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty next week, lost his digital camera at last weekend's Eagles game.

The memory card in the camera had many pictures of the holidays with Spc. Elwood Wrigley's friends and family that he said were very precious to him.

Wednesday night, someone e-mailed NBC 10 to say they found the camera and offered it back, but at a price.

A man identifying himself as Michael Crook said he'd return the holiday photos for $1,000.

Part of the e-mail read: "I would be willing to ensure Mr. Wrigley gets his camera back for a fee. I would say $1,000 would cover it considering his memory stick is so precious to him. It sure looks like this family had a good Christmas." Crook e-mailed some of the pictures to NBC 10 to see if they were Wrigley's pictures.

NBC 10's Vince DiMentri showed the pictures to Wrigley, who said they are not his photos.

Wrigley was shocked that someone would do this.

"That's disgusting. I didn't think anybody on the planet was like that," said Wrigley.

Wrigley's aunt agrees with her nephew. "I can't believe someone would do that. It's horrible. It's just horrible."

During a phone interview with NBC 10, Crook offered no apologies.

"I don't really do things out of kindness. It's a business world and I know it seems harsh but, you know, it is all about the money" Crook said.

Crook said he is from south Jersey and was with friends at the Eagles-Bengals game when he found the camera.

NBC 10 is still not sure whether this is a hoax or if Crook really has Wrigley's camera.


Sounds like a real asshole. OIC now he's a faker. Figures.

He should go hang with the freepers. They hate the troops too.

[patricia92243]

29. Anti-war? He seems to be anti-soldier. BIG difference. n/t

[tjdee]

30. Citizens against Michael Crook:

http://www.weapondepot.com/

They don't have anything on this yet....damn though, this guy seems like a hog.

[Mizmoon]

32. I thought he was being inflammatory to get attention

I saw that site and decided that it wasn't a hoax exactly, but that the author got off on hate mail and negative attention. I wasn't convinced he really believed that stuff cause it was all so far over the top.

Everyone knows that if you walk around in public saying inflammatory stuff, you run a risk. Not from "government goons" per say, but from the victims of your barbed opinions. One never knows what goes on in the minds of others.

I don't think we (or the freepers for that matter) run any more risk in airing our opinions today than we did last week.

[MADem]

33. Found a pic of the guy

Found a photo of him here:
http://www.militaryphotos.net.nyud.net:8090/forums/viewtopic.php?p=923986&highlight=

[Career Prole]

35. Crook's blog here...

http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

[MADem]

71. PROOF THAT HE IS A BULLSHITTER, right there!!!

Check this shit out--talk about "TOO CLEVER BY HALF" -- what a dummy!!

The topmost post says " am a member of Michael Crook's family...we do not have the passwords needed to update this website, but he did make me an account on this blog."

OK, so NO ONE CAN UPDATE THE WEBSITE....how then, did they add this shit off to the side?
Send Condolences:

Condolences

Media Inquiries..no family interviews

315.295-2602

BUSTED!

[Career Prole]

91. Damn, you're good!

:toast:

I'm relieved to be spared grieving...the guy seems like...oh, I don't know...a dick.

[MADem]

103. That detail just LEAPED out at me

If the person making the lame post didn't try to OVERDO it, they might have pulled it off. But the faux excess details often do the bullshitter in, I've found.

[Career Prole]

110. Check it out now...

A seance must have revealed the "dead man's" password!

http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

[MADem]

116. Look again, apparently, he is UNDEAD

All of that bullshit is GONE, GONE, GONE. The posts, the condolences, the whole schmear. BUSTED!

[eridani]

125. Reverse phone number lookup

The phone number "[phone]" is a Syracuse, NY based phone number and the registered carrier is Broadview Networks, Inc. - Ny. However, due to number portability, some numbers have been transferred to a new service provider other than the registered carrier.

[Bridget Burke]

36. Has anyone found confirmation elsewhere?

Hard to believe that any killing would be ignored by the media. Yeah, we may scorn the MSM--but murder sells!

[MADem]

37. So far, all I can figure out is that he is a real person

He has been mentioned in the Syracuse paper, see here at Syracuse.com:
Edited the URL so you can get to it: http://tinyurl.com/9pgvn

These are PAID articles, but you get a gist from them. Have NOT been able to dig up an obit.

[Bridget Burke]

43. Yes, but there's no hint he was killed....

And even the worst media sources would rush to report on an ACTUAL MURDER!

[TornadoTN]

40. This isn't passing the smell test

Like all of us here, I can believe that this would actually happen, given that the Right-Wing thugs have a propensity for this sort of behavior.

But something isn't feeling right about this story. There are no verifiable news sources that are reporting this. Plus, looking through his blog and reading his ramblings, it seems as if he was setting this situation up, there tends to be a constant progression and his use of "all talk no action" over and over again feels out of place, almost scripted.

I'm against the war, but this guy is taking it to the extreme. Its an obvious attempt to get a rise out of a certain group of people. He even demanded $1000 to return a soldiers phone that was lost at a football game, basically just for the media attention.

While this event could certainly happen given the current discourse of our country, this seems like a publicity stunt or a "end-game". If its not true, then shame on him. But if it is, God (or who/whatever) help us all.

[MADem]

41. I am starting to wonder myself, found this tidbit

It is a old post, but apparently this guy likes to play games to get attention: http://andrightlyso.com/archives/2005/02/


On edit--this is a RW site, apparently they don't like him either.
---------------
A big scam. Just to get some of us GOING (like me)…Drew has a summary, part of which I am putting here. Read it all.

The moron in question is Michael Crook. He’s a loser from New Jersey who’s only interested in making money and getting attention. To that end, he has pulled a series of elaborate scams.

The first scam was when he claimed to have found a soldier’s digital camera at a football game and wanted the soldier to pay a $1000 finders fee for its return. Some people came together and raised the money and it turned out that he didn’t even have the camera.

The second came when he posted a site called citizensagainstthetroops.org. You can imagine the content. When a number of people complained abou the site and caused a general ruckus, he posted an “apology” and offered to sell the domain off.

Now, he decided to start Silent Mike’s Internet Service, which hosted forsakethetroops.info. Once again, he started a ruckus by getting a bunch of people in an uproar and then posted a page saying that Silent Mike’s had pulled the site down for offensive content and once again he is offering to sell the domain off to the highest bidder.

There is no Scott or Lori Vogel. The whole scheme was thought up and carried off by Michael Crook. In addition, the man is a racist who is currently offering “discount” hosting packages to white supremists.

I somewhat feel that I have been taken by this jerk and gave him exactly what he wanted, exposure. Be assured that it will not happen again.


Said Raven @ 6:02 am
Comments (0) | Permalink
EDIT----------
He is ON THE RADAR over at MILITARY.COM--they found out a LOAD about this guy: http://forums.military.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/69719858/m/88700261713/r/42800391713

[TornadoTN]

45. Good background there

It looks like Mike Crook has a long history of publicity stunts. The way the announcement is worded and the "family member" that is posting on his blog, this really is starting to look like a hoax.

This guy is hated by just about everyone, left and right.

[MADem]

47. I edited above post to include some stuff from military.com

They sussed the guy out pretty good, and they are not impressed. If there is any truth that he was killed yesterday, we might not see an obit until tomorrow, but if we don't see one, he's FOS. (full of shit!)...

[TornadoTN]

49. Good find

I had not made my way over to military.com, so thats a great find.

This guy went out of his way to piss off the military, so I don't think its unplausable that this *could* have happened. I just find his tactics , his track record and his over-the-top sensationalism to be scripted. Reading his blog, it looks like he was setting us all up for his "murder". On the flip side, he may have ran his mouth too much thinking that nothing would happen (and it shouldn't) and someone shut it for him.

I don't know, I'm leaning hoax at the moment.

**On Edit**

From the looks of the military.com site, he REALLY ran into the fire over there. There are several people that are talking about going to Syracuse and finding him (with veiled references to "beating him senseless".

[MADem]

75. I noted above that his "family member" said they could not update the site

...but somehow, miraculously, SOMEONE was able to update it, because they put an email addy and a phone number for CONDOLENCES on it, as part of the actual webpage. What a flopping, pathetic little LOSER!

[therapist]

46. "Crook"

I can't believe anyone would make a living pulling such idiotic stunts. It's too dark even for Andy Kaufman.

[MADem]

51. Not his real name, apparently--see the military.com link

...read the whole thread. Fascinating stuff.

I'm starting to think he killed himself off! I WOULD, however, like to KNOW one way or the other!!!

[arwalden]

44. He Appears To Be In His Mid 20's (Grainy Webcam Photo)

[maddezmom]

48. also has a few more names: Mike Vogel-Delany and Mike Delany

Michael Crook: Michael Crook is my legal name. Mike Vogel-Delaney and Mike Delaney were names that I was known as in high school, and derive from family surnames.

http://dreadpundit.blogspot.com/2005/04/forsake-troops-interview-michael-crook.html

Wonder how many bogus wedsites those names have started?

[MADem]

57. STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A FAKE!!!!!

http://forums.military.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/409192893/m/526108975/p/4

Salient snippets:
-----------------------
Well, I still can't totally verify this but here is what I have 'learned' so far. From this post at Web Hosting Talk:


quote:
Guys, i'll have to come clean with you all and make an important annoncement. I'm sure many of you are fans of freedom of speech and I support most forms of freedom of speech similar to Michael Crook as long as it isn't inciting violence towards our troops. I saw Michael log onto msn today and talked to him to find out that he is in good health. He posted this because his provider ( Godaddy) is suspending his account. He decided to make it look like hes dead, so people will temporarily leave him alone. He has told me NBC and Fox both called his home to comfirm if he is dead or not. I'm going to be hosting his new website and my provider is prepared to take the hit or the waves of abuse tickets, but they will not be yanking his website. If I didn't support his speech or any others for that matter i'd be no more than a hyppocrite.

__________________
Mr. Jones
----------------------------
This is too funny!!!

I own and operate Central New York's largest emergency services website here in Syracuse, NY! I have connections in all police, fire, and ambulance agencies throughout all of Central NY.

I did some investigating....

1. No such assault has occured.

2. No such assult was called into the 911 Center.

3. Nobody was brought into any of the 5 Syracuse hospitals with serious head injuries from an assault in the past week.

4. Nobody in their 20's died in this area recently.

5. No police report has been done for any such assault and death.

It's a hoax, he ain't dead! I have a feeling something happened which he is now really seriously thinking about who and how many people he pissed off.
--------------------------------------
Oh and get this.. now his given email address for comments about his death is no longer [e-mail] but rather [e-mail]. He's actually taking the time to create addresses for his fake death.

This guy needs therapy in a big way. No wife, no kid, no death by 'military members'. I'm a pretty imaginative guy but I just can't fathom what one could do to get any lower...
---------------------------

[TornadoTN]

62. Found the same thing *HOAX*

This guy is really in need of serious help. Not only has he enraged the right-wing, he has just about everyone else scratching their heads.

I have no sympathy for this guy. I support his right to free-speech, but with it comes responsibility.

[therapist]

66. Thank you.

What an asshole. Jesus Christ...

I think we've been Johnny Fairplay'ed.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

74. OK, good, it's a hoax

Free speech is still (sort of) free.

But, isn't it chilling that it was believable? At least for a while?

Or am I just a big sucker?

[MADem]

87. No, I think you are a wise realist

...with a heck of a beer drinking cat!

[TornadoTN]

97. No, your right

It is chilling that we live in a time where the political environment can actually lead us to believe that this story could be true. This guy is a grade-A+ douche, but what is so inconcievable about this? We all know it could happen ("Your either with us, or against us" anyone?).

It's a testament to what the right-wing has done to our country and to our democracy.

[CitySky]

131. excellent research

:toast:

[Roland99]

53. "Forsake The Troops" Webmaster Beaten to Death

http://www.forsakethetroops.info/

On Monday evening, the webmaster of Forsake The Troops was brutally assaulted by two men, thought to be members of the military, in response to their opinions about this website. Mr. Crook had been the target of numerous death threats and trespassers at his residence. All of these threats were saved and have been turned over to the authorities.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE:
At 6:19pm Eastern time, Michael Crook died of his injuries, after being rushed by ambulance to the leading hospital in the area for head trauma. The two men who allegedly assaulted him are currently in the custody of police. Mr. Crook died with his wife and infant daughter present.

It is therefore the decision of his family, and associates that Forsake The Troops goes offline, to prevent further incidents of violence and threats against his family. Therefore, this domain will permanantly go offline at around 5pm Eastern time, on Tuesday, May 17th, 2005.

http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=44C4E253-9192-4EB8-BA6B-B0781BFAB25C

A rally to show support for the troops is underway in Watertown this morning.

The Border radio station at the Mance Radio Mall on Wealtha Avenue wanted to do something positive for the soldiers and their families, after a Syracuse man figuratively “spit in their faces” by way of a defamatory website.

Michael Crook is the author of the anti-soldier website forsakethetroops.info. Morning radio hosts Johnny and Erika talked to Crook on the air about his website on Monday, and he agreed to come to the station for an interview. Station owner Dave Mance canceled his appearance, fearing safety issues.

This is not the first time Crook has outraged a community. In January Crook found a soldier's digital camera during a Philadelphia Eagles football game. Crook offered to return the camera to the Army specialist, but only if he was paid a thousand dollars.

The rally is going on all morning in front of the radio station.

[benburch]

54. I get death threats all the time.

This is why I am a Fully Armed Liberal.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

55. Oh, dear god

This is what that ratbastard in the White House has brought us to.

This is beyond shocking. Speech has its price now, according to idiot thugs.

Will the White House extend sympathies to his family, I wonder .....?

[EOTE]

56. How terrible.....

Funny how you don't see people with Support the Troops stickers on the car getting beaten up or killed because they support the death of 100,000+ innocent Iraqis. Do you know what the nature of this site was?

[MADem]

60. Read the whole thread, including links, this guy is a FAKE n/t

[shadowknows69]

58. I'm from Watertown NY

any verifiable source for this yet?

[MADem]

61. See my post upthread, it is looking like a HOAX n/t

[Roland99]

81. Yeah...saw that after the mods moved my thread over to here

Looks like a false alarm

[shadowknows69]

80. I think this is looking like a hoax

there are no local media reports about any arrest or assault. I've put a call in to his "media representative" number but no response yet.

[MADem]

59. Roland, that is FROM the guy's website--it is looking like he faked it

It is looking like he faked his own demise because everyone is pissed off at him. See my post above....

[DoNotRefill]

90. I'd say wait and see....

you'd be surprised how long it can take the local media to get their shit together and get the actual news out...

[Maddy McCall]

63. Wayback machine archive of the site's front page, Feb 05

http://web.archive.org/web/20050222142820/www.forsakethetroops.info/

Quote from the page:

Site News Update


MONDAY 21 FEB 2005: 2354 EST-- Thank you for stopping by our site. This website is under new administration, and more changes are on the way, to improve the site. Despite rumours, the rednecks will NOT shut this site down for long, if at all! Good triumphs over evil at all times, and this site is right up there with Godliness.

[MadHound]

64. Can you say agent provocateur? I knew you could!

This is a classic psy ops ploy. Set somebody up as taking an outrageous position on the(almost always)left. Let them really stir the shit up, thus their work can be pointed to as an example of how out of touch the left and anti-war movement is. This was done on a regular basis during the Vietnam war, reference both Hunter Thompson(Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72) and Abbie Hoffman(Steal This Book) for how agent provocateurs started up the Chicago Riots at the Democratic Convention. This is simply the same tactic taken to cyber-space.

My thought is that this guy was probably taken in by some intelligence agency, given his orders, and off he went. He set up a nominally leftist site in order to completely discredit the current anti-war movement("See folks how whacko they all are"), and when the shit got too hot from the freeper right, his handlers decided to put out this cock and bull story to wring one last drop of usefullness from this operation, intimidating the left into silence,("This is what happens to anti-war leftists, they die at the hands of the radical RW, so you'd better shut up, for there is nothing the authorities can do).

My thought is that this guy is now enjoying a nice little year long vacation touring Europe, and we can expect to see or hear from him in a couple of years, under a different name, but with the same MO.

So don't let this shit intimidate you folks, when this sort of crap starts popping up, it simply means that we're getting to the bastards. Keep up the good work, redouble your efforts, and don't be intimidated in becoming silent. That is what they want.

[MADem]

67. Disagree--I think he is a fucking LOONY TUNE

His website was designed to piss EVERYONE off--left, right and center. He painted himself as an all around ASSHOLE, a racist, a white supremacist, an anti-TROOPS (no real discussion about the WAR, he made fun of them for joining) type, and apparently lied about all aspects of his life, to include marital status, children, the whole schmear. I don't think we have a bunch of soldier hating, white power types on this website, though we pretty much are in agreement that this war was a lie and a big mistake. On the right, they like the war, because they think it will put gas in their oversized cars...they actually care less about the body count than we do. But they think this guy is a dick as well.

He is starting to look like one of those sick people who so desperately crave attention that they will take ANY kind of attention they can get, even NEGATIVE attention. Profoundly negative attention!

He needs therapy, poor thing. Imagine being that fucked up!!! It would be tough to live with oneself...

[MadHound]

83. Granted, he seems to be a free for all nut,

But which group does he smear the most? Not the white supremasists, but the anti-war movement. Every RW shill and freeper in this country equates anti-war as anti-troop, though nothing could be further from the truth. Therefore we have this guy out there, dissin' the troops, and acting out as a racist. Damn, sounds like a right winger's wet dream.

Yes, we on the left hate him also, but why do we hate him? Yes, he hates the troops, he's a racist, etc. etc. But also because deep down we know that it is this kind of shit that will come back and bite us on the ass.

[MADem]

88. Funny, I don't look at it that way

At some point, according to my reading of the links scattered throughout this thread, he said he was gay, he said his first wife was killed (somewhere else I read he had posted his divorce decree on line, with a failed countersuit saying his wife beat him up)...the guy is just a little man who likes to tell BIG, BIG lies and get people upset. It's his pathetic way of getting a thrill.

He's probably very, very lonely and desperate for attention--it seems to be a pathological need with him. He needs some psychiatric help. His behavior is NOT normal.

This can only bite "us" if we "own" him. I certainly don't, and after all of his horseshit is revealed, I don't think he has many fans here, or anywhere, for that matter.

A jerk is a jerk, regardless of political persuasion. This guy's politics go no further than being a member of the Asshole Party.

[TornadoTN]

98. In a sense, your right

I think the way he has been percieved by the right-wing and the centrists is that he is anti-war. By default, due to human nature, he is lumped into the entire collective of people we label "anti-war". Most of us here consider ourselves anti-war, but we dont hate the soldiers or their sacrifices to the extent that this douche has shown. This guy will be the poster child of the "liberal anti-war movement" and the average joe will associate this guy to the entire movement. Unfair? certainly. Unusual? not by a long shot.

We certainly don't claim him and we probably hate this guy as much as the Freepers, but they are masters are framing the debate by deception, while we try to stay above that level and get the truth out there. There is a reason why the Republicans have had their success and its certainly not by telling the truth. It's called manipulation and framing in some circles and downright blatant lieing in others.

[route_66]

68. I can say that..

excellent point, however, unlike in the sixties we now have the resources at our fingertips to find information exposing this episode...game on.

[MadHound]

84. We have the resources to counter this, but there are still two factors

That are against us. The first is will most people in America take the time and effort to go hunting for the truth? No, they want their "truth" spoon fed to them on Faux or by some other media whore. Secondly, will the whore press actually truthfully, report this without bias? Again, no. We've seen that time and again, as with the Newsweek flap and the CBS flap, one can report the truth on a matter, and by the time the media and the Rovian propaganda machine get done with it, the truth will be a lie, and those who report the truth will be destroyed.

[foo_bar]

70. why the "white power" crap?

I grok the pseudo-leftist strawmen, but why would the spooks learn him in the "NAACP for white people" theme? It seems more Andy Kaufman than cointelpro.

[therapist]

76. I don't think he is playing Punk'd

Why didn't he try to hide his identity and address (was it just a maildrop?)?
It looks like campaign to marginalize and discredit antiwar movement.
Mark my words - this troll will be reported by Faux news, O'Reily, CIA NEWS Network, etc..
I feel bad for stepping in this pile of shit.

[MADem]

79. No, if this is psyops, then we are in bigger trouble than we are now

This is what it is--a SERIOUSLY DISTURBED, attention seeking young man.

Even our worst psyops endeavours are better than this shit. And if you read all of the links, all of them, associated with this thread, this clown had been outed by all sorts of groups, military, rightwing, conservative, a month or more ago. His names, his aliases, all of that was out there. He was just feeling too much heat, so he took a powder. And he was WAY too easy to trace.

Just a punk. A sad, needy, disturbed little shit.

[MadHound]

86. I've hung around enough freepers and other RW loons find out

That one of the latest strawmen that they're putting up to discredit the left is that the left is somehow racist by continuing to support AA and other civil rights programs. Yeah, I know, I know, the disconnect is staggering, but there it is.

By having this guy play the faux racist, it will simply reenforce this meme, and the Rovian spin machine will be able to use in, throw some more shit and see if it sticks.

[Bouncy Ball]

142. What's staggering to me is that ANYONE would believe the left

would agree with his positions on the military.

I started reading the stuff he wrote that was posted at the top of this thread, and my jaw dropped and I got immediately PISSED OFF. I'm as liberal as they come and I FIGHT for veteran's rights, I fight for the troops. They deserve BETTER than the treatment they get, not worse. I mean hell, many members of the US military qualify for FOOD STAMPS and I think that's a fucking crying shame.

This guy, if he exists is a fucking NUTCASE. A lot of people on the left ARE veterans, we would never advocate taking AWAY their benefits.

Hell, that's what repukes in office do, apparently. :grr:

[Maddy McCall]

65. News Item from one week ago. LINK

http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=44C4E253-9192-4EB8-BA6B-B0781BFAB25C

8:30 AM News Update - Support The Troops Rally At Mance Radio Mall

Video




SUPPORT THE TROOPS RALLY AT MANCE RADIO MALL




A rally to show support for the troops is underway in Watertown this morning.

The Border radio station at the Mance Radio Mall on Wealtha Avenue wanted to do something positive for the soldiers and their families, after a Syracuse man figuratively “spit in their faces” by way of a defamatory website.

Michael Crook is the author of the anti-soldier website forsakethetroops.info. Morning radio hosts Johnny and Erika talked to Crook on the air about his website on Monday, and he agreed to come to the station for an interview. Station owner Dave Mance canceled his appearance, fearing safety issues.

This is not the first time Crook has outraged a community. In January Crook found a soldier's digital camera during a Philadelphia Eagles football game. Crook offered to return the camera to the Army specialist, but only if he was paid a thousand dollars.

The rally is going on all morning in front of the radio station.

[MADem]

69. If you read all the links in this thread, you will learn that he did not

...even HAVE the camera. He is a koo-koo attention seeker. A pathetic little twit, who was washed out of the Army for being UNDERWEIGHT. He's gotta be a tiny little thing, they'll take 'em pretty small...

[mcscajun]

72. The Site's for Real...the Story of His Death? Greatly Exaggerated.

And he's NO Antiwar activist. He's a white supremacist, attention-seeking troll. He's got more hate-spewing websites than a Hydra has heads (they come and go, apparently), and he no doubt made up the story of his death after Googling himself (a hobby that probably takes up a great deal of his time) and found this:


NEWSWATCH 50 || WWTI NEWS
... Local emergency crews tried to revive him, but he died from his injuries after being taken ... Michael Crook is the author of the anti-soldier website ...
http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8D21D3EE-768A-4A9D-AD11-B8FC4EA30BFA

Of course, if you click on the link, you'll find the results are from two different stories, one a totally unrelated death, and the other on a local protest against him and his "Forsake the Troops" website.

I spent 15-20 minutes crawling around the Syracuse news outlets, and there was absolutely nothing about his death or any attack on him. I also did a little free association web crawling and found any number of people who Want him dead, or would be willing to kill him; also found his aliases, home address in Syracuse, NY, and his phone number. He may have decided the time to lay low was at hand, and faking his own death a convenient ruse for now.

[Maddy McCall]

73. LINK TO HIS BLOG, on another website:

http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

Michael Crook died today
Submitted by lauriegirl on Mon, 2005-05-16 20:09.
I am a member of Michael Crook's family...we do not have the passwords needed to update this website, but he did make me an account on this blog.

As it mentions on the Troops site, today at 6:19pm EST, Michael Crook died at an area hospital as a result of head injuries sustained from an assault by people upset with his website.

Michael died with his wife, and baby present. He was 27. The assaulters are in custody.

We ask for privacy at this time.

Goodbye, Mike
Submitted by lauriegirl on Mon, 2005-05-16 22:32.
It's been about four hours since Mike died. I am coming into Syracuse from New Jersey later tomorrow morning to help with the funeral preparations.

Mike fully expected to die at someone's hands, and was prepared. His family is very well taken care of financially, and he saved every death threat he got, which is now in the hands of law enforcement. He saved it in a folder which was readily accessible to his wife at a second's notice. Justice will be served, as the men who allegedly assaulted him are in jail at this moment.

I would like to thank those who have sent kind words. I can understand the hatred pointed towards Mike, but I would like to point this out: he was feeling very bad about this site, and wanted to take it down. But, he felt that if he did he would be seen by his critics as a punk who couldn't stand up for his views.

[MADem]

77. Maddy, go look at that page again, he is GAMING people

The family member says they can't update the web page, but IT IS UPDATED. Look to the right, there is an email link for CONDOLENCES. What, he predicted his death and put it there BEFORE he was killed? The stupid fuck outsmarted himself!!!!

[Maddy McCall]

78. I understand that.

I'm just posting links to his various webpages.

[Roland99]

82. HA!

Well, "he did make me an account on this blog"

[lonestarnot]

85. More evidence of apartied in the U.S. !!!!! Reverse Revolution will have

its consequences! It is coming!

[Freddie Stubbs]

96. What does this have to do with apartied (sic)?

:shrug:

[lonestarnot]

126. Do you know the 10 steps to genocide?

[Freddie Stubbs]

149. Is one of those steps pretinding to be murdered?

:shrug:

[Historic NY]

89. Interesting........he was going to start up a cop web page too.....

We saw this idiots postings & rants about a month ago and some members of the LE & PI community were actively hunting down leads on this jerk. He had posted claims of his divorce proceedings & such from N.J. A lot of misinformation or unverifiable claims on his part.

My bet is he killed himself off, before authorities came knocking at his door. How dramatic......

He got a kick out of firing up people with his comments, and then would delete you from his forum.

I found the following at another site that he pissed off and they did some work on him too.

Domain ID9620995-LRMS
Domain Name:FORSAKETHETROOPS.INFO
Created On:12-Feb-2005 18:21:00 UTC
Last Updated On:01-May-2005 13:52:13 UTC
Expiration Date:12-Feb-2006 18:21:00 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:R126-LRMS
Status:ACTIVE
Status:OK
Registrant ID:C9825460-LRMS
Registrant Name:Michael Crook
Registrant Organization:Michael Crook
Registrant Street1:201 E. Jefferson St.
Registrant Street2:Suite #301
Registrant City:Syracuse
Registrant State/Province:NY
Registrant Postal Code:13202

FORSAKETHETROOPS.INFO
216.69.175.183
Record Type: IP Address

OrgName: Go Daddy Software, Inc.
OrgID: GDS-31
Address: 14455 N Hayden Road
Address: Suite 226
City: Scottsdale
StateProv: AZ
PostalCode: 85260
Country: US

NetRange: 216.69.128.0 - 216.69.191.255
CIDR: 216.69.128.0/18
NetName: GO-DADDY-SOFTWARE-INC
NetHandle: NET-216-69-128-0-1
Parent: NET-216-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: CNS1.SECURESERVER.NET
NameServer: CNS2.SECURESERVER.NET
Comment:
RegDate: 2004-05-24
Updated: 2004-12-21

AbuseHandle: ABUSE51-ARIN
AbuseName: Abuse Department
AbusePhone: [phone]
AbuseEmail: [e-mail]

NOCHandle: NOC124-ARIN
NOCName: Network Operations Center
NOCPhone: [phone]
NOCEmail: [e-mail]

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE51-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse Department
OrgAbusePhone: [phone]
OrgAbuseEmail: [e-mail]

OrgNOCHandle: NOC124-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Network Operations Center
OrgNOCPhone: [phone]
OrgNOCEmail: [e-mail]

OrgTechHandle: NOC124-ARIN
OrgTechName: Network Operations Center
OrgTechPhone: [phone]
OrgTechEmail: [e-mail]


Michael Vogel
Silent Mike Internet Services
130 Westmoreland Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13203

1 315 481 3671 ( probably bogus )

SMIS Hosting
Michael Crook
1 315 634 3634 ( probably bogus )
201 E. Jefferson St.
Suite #301
Syracuse, NY 13202
[e-mail]

He is connected to all of these:

1 2-UNLIMITED.INFO.
2 FORSAKETHETROOPS.INFO.
3 MICHAELCROOK.COM.
4 MICHAELCROOK.INFO.
5 SILENT-MIKE.INFO.
6 SILLYGOOSE109.COM.
7 SMISHOSTING.COM.
8 SMISHOSTING.INFO.
9 SYRACUSEBABYKILLER.INFO.
10 THETRUTHABOUTMORMONS.INFO.
11 URPWNED.INFO.

[warrens]

94. Equal opportunity hatemonger, isn't he?

Mormons, cops, soldiers, abortion providers...

what a nutcase. I read a little bit of his blog and it was clear he was a lunatic.

[Tomtech]

95. I just Called

I called the newsdesk at Channel 50 in Syracuse and the person who answered the phone said the story was false.

http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/

[Pockets]

99. I Recommend Reposting/Mirroring the Site

The article says the URL was taken offline temporarily. Someone should extract a cached version and put up a mirrored site somewhere.

The fact that someone tried to destroy it in such a manner makes it even more important for people to see, IMO.

Edit: nevermind if the story was false.

[TornadoTN]

101. **UPDATE: WEBPAGE CHANGED**

Looks like good ole Mike has changed his webpage and removed the story of his death. As a matter of fact, I cant find anything mentioning his death. Wow, what a resurrection!

Does that mean he has risen again and will be worshipped by the Bush-Fish sheeple?

[hexola]

104. What a prick...!

Let the Freeps have thier way with him...

[MADem]

106. And in 40 minutes, he rose from the dead!!!

And sits in the right stall of the toilet!

What a lameass dick. I do hope he gets help, though. He's pathalogical, a real UNWELL customer with issues that, if untreated, could become very major.

He must really feel inadequate to have such a need to pull that kind of nonsense and, in this day and age of net savvy whizkids, expect to get away with it!

[Sparkly]

109. I still see the same thing.

Same story. Reading the cache and some of the blog entries linked on this thread, it sure looks to me like this was a hoax to villify people who are anti-war as being "anti-troops," and then make them fear for their lives.

[FreedomAngel82]

105. Oh God

:scared: How horrible.... So what will they do with the murder's?

[Zynx]

108. Dude, it is fake.

And this thread should be closed.

[eleny]

111. Or discussed as to why it was posted in the first place

[MADem]

112. I'm with you--why give the little shit any more attention? n/t

[NuttyFluffers]

114. contemptible, sad little man. he deserves to be ignored.

attention of any sort only encourages his sad little world. one day he'll find rock bottom and want to change, and what a rough climb that'll be. until then, the less said about him the better.

[glitch]

115. Hoax - Con I am sure the donate button would appear for the wife and baby

perhaps all over the net on various forums. Too obvious for psyops, unless they are slipping badly.
Of course with their leaders, psyops slipping badly is a viable option. But I think moron attempting to set up a net con, in this case.

[Mutley]

117. I'll bet those guys are "pro-life"

[HR_Pufnstuf]

118. He may be still alive.

From:
http://forums.military.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/409192893/m/526108975/p/5

"Guys, i'll have to come clean with you all and make an important annoncement. I'm sure many of you are fans of freedom of speech and I support most forms of freedom of speech similar to Michael Crook as long as it isn't inciting violence towards our troops. I saw Michael log onto msn today and talked to him to find out that he is in good health. He posted this because his provider ( Godaddy) is suspending his account. He decided to make it look like hes dead, so people will temporarily leave him alone. He has told me NBC and Fox both called his home to comfirm if he is dead or not. I'm going to be hosting his new website and my provider is prepared to take the hit or the waves of abuse tickets, but they will not be yanking his website. If I didn't support his speech or any others for that matter i'd be no more than a hyppocrite."

__________________
Mr. Jones

[proud2BlibKansan]

128. From his blog:

Mike is revived!

Submitted by mike on Tue, 2005-05-17 20:32.


Well, I suppose the cat's out of the bag, so....I'm not dead.

To those that sent heartfelt messages, and felt that this was a true story, I truly apologize. This situation quickly got out of hand, when national media outlets called looking for clarification.

I honestly thought people would shrug it off, and go on their merry way. I even got a kick out of the numerous hate messages from people, including an e-mail message from this numbnuts:

http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/?q=node/12

[clem_c_rock]

119. WE'RE ENTERING THE REALMS OF THE BROWSHIRTS

We are entering some VERY VERY DARK TIMES.

Fucking hell...

[UdoKier]

120. Reat through the thread! The guy isn't dead!

Just a "white power" asshole who gets off on messing with people!

[clem_c_rock]

122. thanks for letting me in on it.

I hadn't checked back to the post after a while

[Deja Q]

121. Wake me when the anti-war people decide to defend themselves.

If the pro-war people want a civil war, the anti-war people will at least HAVE to defend themselves, as is the right.

And when I say 'wake me', I mean for :popcorn: reasons only.

Also, if the pro-war back the closings of the military bases, they are then anti-war because they don't seem to care if America slowly and in small numbers drops its defenses.

[therapist]

124. I'm antiwar and i back closings of the military bases

We spend way too much on the military(more than whole world combined). We only need military to defend our borders and support of the NATO mission. Thats about it.

[mzmolly]

129. "UPDATE: Forsake The Troops is led by Scott Vogel and Laurie Vogel??"

Who apparently don't exist?

Supposedly this is all a strange hoax? If this person were murdered it would be all over Google.

http://urbangrounds.com/2005/05/11/michael-crook-forsake-the-troops/

"Forsake The Troops" also doesn't sound like a leftist would come up with this?

Here is the cached website:

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:NS-xzT3bXjMJ:www.forsakethetroops.info/index.shtml+.+http://www.forsakethetroops.info&hl=en

I think this whole charade is BS.

[mzmolly]

130. More:

Forsake The Troops is no longer a customer of SMIS Hosting. Their website is no longer hosted by our company. We intitally gave them the courtesy of more than 24 hours' notice to terminate their account, but due to their threats and vile behavior, which violated our TOS, they were removed as of 5pm on Thursday, February 24th, despite a grass-roots campaign to attempt to flood our e-mail boxes and telephone lines with cries of "Save our Ship!"

We don't normally air business matters with clients in the public, as we believe in respecting clients' privacy, however, Forsake The Troops, led by Scott Vogel and Laurie Vogel, chose to bring their business out in the public by way of threats and obscenities towards us. We find it tasteless that they posted personal information about SMIS staffers.

We apologize to the many people who were offended, and thank those who wrote in to complain, giving us the documentation to show that the Internet community did not appreciate their presence. We still had complaint e-mails rolling in, as we pulled the plug on their server. In total, we had 1,241 e-mails of complaint regarding the domain, asking for its demise.

Furthermore, Forsake The Troops has chosen to refuse to honor an outstanding bill for some services. The money isn't of much concern to us, though it costs money to run the servers, we have many customers who are good, decent people and pay their bills on time.

However, due to their outstanding balance, we have seized their domain name, which they purchased through us as a third-party domain reseller. It is our policy to not transfer ownership of the domain until payment is received, and since payment has not been sent, we are exercising our right to do something of good with this domain name.

Therefore, we would like to offer the domain name to anyone who feels that any good can be served by it, though the name is vile and disgusting. We feel that it would be a good cause to donate the domain name to a Veterans' group, or sell for a reasonable fee, to help offset our losses, some similar organization that can make some good come out of the name.

If you are with an organization that could benefit from this domain, please e-mail us through the link below. Please let us know the intended purpose for the domain.

An added bonus, besides the domain being used for good, is that nothing would anger the Vogels more than to see this domain pointed to a veteran's group or pro-military site. We would like to see this domain used for good.

We welcome your comments and inquiries about this client and the domain name at [e-mail].

You may also contact us through our website at www.smishosting.com. Let this also serve as a notice to organizations who are like-minded to Forsake The Troops, and the Vogels-- we are now being more careful about the clients we take on, and we will not host sites for clients who have treasonous intent-- that is our right as a private business.

[LittleClarkie]

132. He was a smuck

but was NO reason to kill him. I pray for his family.

[shadowknows69]

134. breaking news

He's still NOT dead. This thread should be locked. I'm in upstate NY and there's been nothing on the news within 100 miles of here about an assault or killing that matches this.

[LittleClarkie]

135. Like an SNL skit

Franco is STILL dead.

I see his blog. He's a professional troll. Almost literally one in life. Watch for him to turn green and grow pointy ears.

Sick fucker.

[Triana]

136. One word: TERRORISM (n/t)

[LittleClarkie]

137. Does everyone get a banned message when they click here

http://www.michaelcrook.com/bbs/

It's his forum. But I'm already banned and I don't even know the little shit. Anyone else?

[Swamp Rat]

138. Bull shit! ... wingnut propagandist

[geek tragedy]

140. Too bad the white supremacist asshole isn't dead. eom

[Don1]

141. This is a big-time hoax

I have to wonder if the one who started the rumor was actually hoping that mainstream media would get wind of the whole thing and report it. This would then make "liberal" media look bad again. Get it?

It's good that we did not collectively fall for this garbage, though.

[Bouncy Ball]

143. He needs psychological help.

Possibly meds.

And his views on the military, if those are his views, are fucked up all to hell.

[LightningFlash]

145. Foolish, foolish media.

This was an immature, idiotic freeper playing a joke on the entire press!

This is how low the press has sunk now, they are reporting scare-mongering stories in order to get liberals and whoever else riled up.

The story is a hoax. The website is a hoax. The freeper conned everybody, please, do read his emails and check the facts.

[shadowknows69]

146. What's funny is

a site here in northern new york who arrogantly brags about how he scoops the regular media posted his "death" as breaking news and the only source he had was Crook's website. Don't bother to confirm those facts or anything. I was going to post the story on my site but lo and behold I was actually trained in newswriting and reporting and knew better.

[LightningFlash]

148. Sounds like Donald Rumsfeld return from pakistan..

He found the horrible WMD and uranium tubes on a table in Australia! After mail-ordering them in over amazon.com that is.

[Heidi]

147. Crook admits in his blog that it was a hoax.

http://www.michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

[shadowknows69]

150. This guy just wants to die

his blog says he's going to start a "forsake the police" website next. Good luck with that one Mike. I wouldn't pull over for any sheriffs on a dark road if I were you.