Who is Brett Kimberlin and why should I care?

I will admit coming late to this story. I’ve been distracted by the Senate primary here in Virginia, as well as other writing assignments, and well, work. But today aroung the blogosphere is being promoted as Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin. Michelle Malkin has been pushing this on both her website as well as Twitter.

There’s a fascinating story playing out on the right side of the blogosphere. It would be great as a novel for the beach. But, in real life, if you’ve made your opinions known on the internet, particularly as a conservative, it’s downright terrifying.

Who is Brett Kimberlin?

Brett Kimberlin is a Drug dealer, alleged child molester, and convicted perjurer, forger and Indiana Speedway Bomber (who is also believed to have played a role in the assassination of a grandmother), [He] spent 17 years in prison before his ultimate re-absorption into American society. [The Blaze]

Front Page Magazine writes: “Speedway Bomber” Brett Kimberlin isn’t famous enough yet to have a cult following on the Left but give the determined, energetic activist time. A few short years after his release from federal prison the radical leftist has been embraced by all the right people, winning grants from the George Soros-funded Tides Foundation and wealthy celebrities.

Why should I care?

Kimberlin has allegedly set his sights now on conservative bloggers.

Aaron Walker at Allergic2Bull tells the story of how Kimberlin tried to frame him for a crime he didn’t commit. Walker writes: He attempted to make authorities in Maryland believe that on January 9, 2012, as we were both exiting a courtroom, I essentially beat him up. You will see him claim that I “decked” him, that the sheriff’s deputies had to separate me from him, that I kept coming at him and the deputies had to restrain me. And then you will see video of the incident and realize that all of this is a lie. Read on for the full story from Walker.

Fearful for his safety and that of his family, writing at The Other McCain, Robert Stacy McCain says: Appropriate precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of my family and others who might be endangered if Kimberlin resorts to violence to accomplish his malicious purposes. At the urging of concerned friends, we have vacated our former residence and I am now blogging from a secret location which Kimberlin will be unable to discover or reach. Nevertheless, we sincerely ask for intercessory prayer, that God will send angels to guard us in this grave crisis.

Perhaps the most chilling telling of the story comes from Patterico:

You’re about to listen to one of the most bone-chilling pieces of audio you will ever hear. At least, it was to me when I first heard it.

It’s a phone call that could have gotten me killed.

In this post you will hear that audio clip. You will also read about a months-long campaign of harassment carried out by at least three individuals: Ron Brynaert, Neal Rauhauser, and Brett Kimberlin — much of it directed at critics of Brett Kimberlin. This harassment includes repeated references to critics’ family members, workplace complaints, publication of personal information such as home addresses and pictures of residences, bogus allegations of criminal activity, whisper campaigns, frivolous legal actions, and frivolous State Bar complaints.

The Lid writes: As for Kimberlin, he continues is reign of terror, not with violence but with the threat of violence…not with criminal acts but with “lawfare” abusing the court system by filing false charges and lawsuits. But Kimberlin is still not a terrorist, he is not using lawfare to scare people and achieve a political end. Brett Kimberlin is still a low-life criminal narcissist, littering the courts and the internet in an attempt to frighten conservatives away from his violent crimes.

Conservative bloggers across the country are writing about Kimberlin today. You can follow them at Twitter hashtag #brettkimberlin.

Michelle Malkin is also keeping a running list of blogs who are covering this today. Michelle writes: This is a convoluted, ongoing nightmare that combines abuse of the court system, workplace intimidation, serial invasions of privacy, perjury, and harassment of family members. McCain was forced to move with his family out of his house this week, and has just gotten a small taste of what Aaron and Patterico have been enduring over the past year. Aaron and his wife were fired from their jobs after their employer feared the office would be targeted next. Convicted bomber Kimberlin has filed bogus “peace orders” against Aaron, when it is the Walkers who are the victims, not the perpetrators.

The National Bloggers Club has set up a relief fund for bloggers who have been the target of Kimberln’s attacks, they write: Blogger Aaron Walker and his wife lost their full-time jobs as a result of Brett Kimberlin’s attacks. Robert Stacy McCain lost his home. Others are suffering professionally and personally in unimaginable ways.

This is not a conservative vs. liberal issue. Lefty bloggers should be equally as concerned, although the sad reality is, sometimes they don’t care as long as conservative voices are silenced.

Truth is, I don’t get enough traffic here or cause enough of a buzz to really have to worry about the likes of Kimberlin. But I do worry about our free speech and the ability to speak our minds and voice our opinions without fear.

And that’s why Kimberlin and his supporters need to be exposed.