Michigan Wolverines football fan who threatened to harm Ohio State players sentenced (Associated Press)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A California man's threats to harm college football players because they beat his favored team epitomized "fandom spiraled out of control,'' something that can't be ignored in the age of mass shootings, a federal judge said Tuesday as he handed down sentence of one year and a day over the 2018 threats.
Daniel Rippy, of Livermore, California, a Michigan native and University of Michigan fan, used Facebook Messenger to threaten a shooting at Ohio State University during its annual game against Michigan, and vowed to hurt players on the football team and then-head coach Urban Meyer, authorities said.
And...
Rippy made similar threats against Gonzaga University on its Facebook page three days before the football game, after the Gonzaga men's basketball team defeated Duke University on Nov. 21, 2018, the government revealed for the first time in an Oct. 7 court filing. Rippy is a Duke fan, the government said.
Man, fuck this guy.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:25 PM ^
It's Harbaughs fault
/ s
October 27th, 2020 at 2:31 PM ^
His seat just got 5 degrees hotter!
October 27th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^
Deplorable idiot.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^
Well, someone didn't do their fact-checking... You can't be a Michigan fan AND a Duke fan, science doesn't allow it.
Anyways, I am sure this guy will be okay, he always has his Michigan and Duke degrees to fall back on.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
This should have been a red flag regarding his mental stability from the get go.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
I didn't see your comment until after I posted something similar below. My bad...
October 27th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
he always has his Michigan and Duke degrees to fall back on.
Nowhere does the article say he's a grad of either Michigan or Duke. Given his career choice, I'm willing to bet the answer is he never spent one minute in a classroom at either institution:
"Rippy, a Michigan fan who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, moved at age 27 to California, where he worked in fast food but couldn't maintain a residence, the government said."
October 27th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
Hi Don,
My comment was meant to be very tongue-in-cheek. I also am willing to bet he has zero affiliation with either University. I was going for 'elitist chic'.
October 27th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^
Sorry, my snark detector wasn't working—I'll neg myself.
October 27th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
That's the joke......... (tried several times to post a funny gif)
October 27th, 2020 at 4:19 PM ^
==The Joke=>
Don
October 27th, 2020 at 7:51 PM ^
Give Don a break. He’s already dead.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^
Good. No room for this crap. I hate tsio as much as anyone else, but this is way too far. Hope he is in a cell with Chris Spielman's doppelganger.
October 27th, 2020 at 3:00 PM ^
I'd rather it be Greg Oden's doppelganger. anyone recall his full frontal pic?
October 27th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
Sound like he has psychological issues. I hope he gets help.
October 27th, 2020 at 3:49 PM ^
Or he's a shitbag. Lots of people with psychological issues don't threaten to kill people.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^
Probably should be in a mental facility.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
Did anyone else wonder if a certain former poster would make an appearance in this article? Yeah. Me neither.
And I totally condemn the fan in the article’s actions and glad he is facing consequences.
October 27th, 2020 at 2:39 PM ^
Over a year in prison... should be enough time to finally complete the SuperGuide.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:41 PM ^
Man, fuck this guy.
I know, right? A Michigan fan that also likes Duke? What an asshole!
October 27th, 2020 at 1:45 PM ^
I blame video games.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
Good. He can go sit down for a little while.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
Mr. Rippy...
October 27th, 2020 at 2:16 PM ^
I blame him for the final score that year
October 27th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
we inexplicably denounce such actions and any individual or group who would make such abhorrent threats
we will not speak any further on this topic as to not give the guilty party any more attention
October 27th, 2020 at 2:23 PM ^
HOW is one a Michigan and Duke fan? That seems to invite a divide by zero moment in hoops somewhere down the line....
October 27th, 2020 at 2:39 PM ^
Meyer and many in that program are deserving recipients of violence, but obviously this was a step too far.
October 27th, 2020 at 2:47 PM ^
Good. Toxic fan needs to fuck off.
October 27th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Yikes, good, lock him away
October 27th, 2020 at 3:14 PM ^
The sad thing about defendents with psycological issues is that sometimes they are simply unable to articulate or raise blatantly obvious questions.
By all accounts this was a guy without a home living in some tent city in California with significant psychological issues. It's really incredible that the defense raised this as an argument but the judge didn't even have him evaluated (he's been incarcerated since January). Judge Marbley, speculated, remotely, in issuing the sentence, that this guy has psycological issues. Maybe that could have, you know, been explored given the half asleep public defender raised it as the defense.
Also, they probably should have discussed whether this crazy person had the intent/means to carry this out. CLEARLY THREATENING VIOLENCE IS REALLY BAD, but there's a point at which it's just a crazy person without a home 2,500 miles away, with no weapon and no means of even getting to the applicable states/cities who probably just needs help. I absolutely think police intervention was appropriate, but mostly to make sure the guy wasn't a threat, and then maybe to book him for therapy and public nuisance.
October 27th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^
Good points raised. It's unlikely that prison time is going to help him much, if at all.
The intersection between mental health issues and our prison industrial complex is awful.
October 27th, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
Every Fanbase has its share of psychos. Michigan is no different.
October 27th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Those 'psychos' are definitely more likely to be from the Walmart (or Meijer) Wolverine portion of the fanbase. When the barrier to entry is a $9.99 XL t-shirt, there isn't anything that separates our fanbase from any other.
October 27th, 2020 at 6:28 PM ^
Ted Kaczynski would like a word.
No offense, but I hate the phrase Walmart Wolverine enough as it is. Let's not extend it to include Meijer as well.
October 27th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
I so so so wish this had been the Wolverine Devotee guy.
October 27th, 2020 at 4:44 PM ^
This story reminds me of the only time I served on a jury. California enacted a "domestic terrorist threat" law as a response to 9/11. A man threatened to kill his girlfriend, drove an hour to her house, and circled the block waiting for her to come home. On her way home, she stopped at a store, called the cops and asked for an escort home just in case. So they were waiting for the guy. He saw them, threw something out the car window (they thought it was a gun but couldn't find it) and then was arrested. We unanimously found him not-guilty of making a terrorist threat. Afterwards, the prosecutor asked to talk with the jury. After the case, the jury is free to go or to talk with the attorneys. They told us this was the first time this new statute was being litigated and the prosecutor's office wanted to see how a jury would interpret the intent of the law. We would have found him guilty of a lesser charge, but "terrorism" seemed like an overreach.
October 27th, 2020 at 6:24 PM ^
That seems borderline unethical on the prosecutor's part. That boyfriend could've been dangerous (he did threaten to kill his girlfriend), but yet the prosecutor risks a conviction just to test the waters on a new statute that clearly didn't apply to the case.