DOCUMENT: Crime

FBI: "Deep State" Dope Threatened YouTube Attack

Suspect, 35, claimed he was "shadow-banned"

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"Deep State" Dimwit

SEPTEMBER 21--An Oregon man who believed that he was “shadow-banned” from YouTube due to a Deep State conspiracy was arrested yesterday for allegedly threatening to shoot employees of the online video giant, according to court records.

FBI agents collared William Gregory Douglas, 35, in connection with a recent series of threatening Twitter posts directed at YouTube and its chief executive, Susan Wojcicki.

In his tweets, Douglas complained that his YouTube channel had been disabled and threatened to kill “100 YouTube employees” and cause “massive casualties.” Claiming that he was a few hours away from the firm’s California headquarters, Douglas warned, “if you are just going to ignore me try ignoring my gun you fucks.”

In an e-mail sent earlier this month, Douglas--who uses the handle “LiamXmailRevolutionX”--included links to three of his YouTube videos. As described by FBI Agent Jeffrey Gray in a court filing, the videos included “long rants about the ‘Deep State’” and Douglas’s claim that “he has been ‘shadow-banned’ from YouTube, which he described as a government operation.”

In some tweets, Douglas appeared to reference a shooting this year at YouTube's California headquarters. In April, a woman who had accused YouTube of blocking her content wounded three people before killing herself. Douglas demanded the return of his channel “before someone else comes and shoots more of your employees you fucks.”

Investigators arrested Douglas near his home in Cave Junction, a small city in Oregon’s southwestern corner. He has been charged with cyberstalking and transmission of threats in interstate commerce to injure another.

Douglas, who is being held without bail at the Jackson County lockup, is scheduled to be arraigned on the felony counts Monday at the U.S. District Court in Medford. (6 pages)