this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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I (21M) live in an Ohio household of hardcore Trumpers who, unfortunately, found out that I voted for Kamala Harris.

My father and brother are fascists. They believe in killing anyone who disagrees with Trumpism. My mother is not violent, but drank basically all the QAnon Kool-Aid and is batshit insane.

I am disabled. My cognitive ability suffers severely if I sit up or stand up for more than a few minutes. I also have another condition that requires me to avoid bending my neck, so I have to keep it straight. I also can't safely lift anything that's heavier than a few pounds, so anything more than that is very risky. I can push and pull fine.

I am also financially-dependent on my mother at the moment.

We moved to a new house recently, and the walls are very thin. That allowed me to overhear a private conversation between my father and brother.

My brother said that he hates Harris supporters so much that he wants a day of retribution where he goes on a violent rampage to kill everyone he knows who supports her, especially gay and transgender people. When my dad asked if that included me, he did not hesitate to say "Sure."

My brother is in peak physical condition. He owns guns and has military training. I had long suspected that he is the biggest potential threat to my life, but gaslighted myself into thinking I was overreacting. Today, he confirmed it.

My brother isn't the type to throw out threats of violence willy-nilly. He has also physically abused me in the past when we were younger and has major anger issues. I believe that I have to take this threat seriously, and that means that I need to evacuate ASAP. I think the most likely day for him to act is on election night or shortly after, which would give me just over a week. But then again, I can't be sure. Maybe he is planning a surprise.

My mother is too unreasonable to take any of this seriously.

I have a few thousand dollars and Democratic relatives from the South who might potentially take me in, though I don't know for sure if they will, since we're not close emotionally. I also don't know if my brother will go out of his way to target them once he notices my absence. He is going to an out-of-state Trump rally this week, so I know that he doesn't have much trouble crossing state lines.

I don't know where my birth certificate and social security card are, other than that my mother has them somewhere. My father is home the entire time and stays in one spot where he can see everything. Even if I knew where they were, there is no way for me to retrieve them without him noticing.

Fuck fascism. I was born to a family of vile abusive sociopaths. It was hell the whole time. I won't miss any of them. Fuck them. They are a disappointment to the rest of my family line. I spent my entire life learning how to become a decent human being in spite of it all and now the fuckers want me dead. FUCK. THEM.

The thing that separates me from the rest of my family is empathy. I refused to hate the people they wanted me to hate. Instead, I listened to their stories and befriended them. I care about everyone, not just straight white Christians. I voted for Harris because I wanted the best for everyone, which means preventing the installation of an authoritarian regime. And for that, I must pay the ultimate price.

I may never get to experience love or deep friendship, but no matter how this all ends, I vow to spend the rest of my days pouring out as much love and joy as I can out to every last ally I meet.

Any advice would be helpful. I don't want to wait, but I also can't do this without some kind of plan. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing, so any input is appreciated.

Thank you.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 19 hours ago

The problem is that you are totally unknown to us if you happen to not update or something what would we do? Who do we call? What we will say? You'll need to set up a network of people that checks on you and can ring an alarm.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 day ago
  1. Find the best person in your contacts whom you can trust and explain everything to him/her. Discuss about where you'll stay, how many others friends are there, how many people live in house (more is better). And it would be great if someone who stays with you has firearms.
  2. Call him/her to pick you from your house and tell him/her to bring cops too.
  3. Once they reach. Pack all important stuff like certificates, clothes, gadgets, etc.

I just hope that you were just high while writing this but if not then you gotta fight for your life and freedom.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If you have an extended family member who is sympathetic, that is the best. Otherwise, look for somebody who is sympathetic and older with a spare room or something, if there's some task you can help them with, even better. Older people are likely to be more stable and better understand their own limitations.

If you have an ID you should be able to get a copy of birth cert and social security by applying for them, if your family messes with them they can get fraud charges. You'll need to file a change of address for disability etc. Try to work things out as possible.

The other thing you should do is see if some anarchist is willing to put an airtag or similar on your brother's truck to monitor him. This will mean if your brother does end up doing his murder spree he can easily be tied to the murder at the least.

[–] [email protected] 75 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The absolute state of these lunatics, november is gonna be messy for us with either candidate ugh. Call the cops, leave, start over, etc im so sorry.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It's terrifying. If you're in a position to, and don't already have one, I'm encouraging everyone on the left to get a decent gun. Cheapest option is an assault 12 gauge. These people are full on, insane fascists. Their "day of retribution" will be a lot harder to impossible if we're armed.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I'd been trying to promote gun ownership and training among left leaning folks since early 2016. Took various friends and Facebook randoms to the range and taught them to shoot. Have had motivation issues with that project for a while though.

Cheapest option is an assault 12 gauge.

I don't think I've come across any "assault shotguns", but maybe you're referring to the "tactical" variants? They'll typically come in black rather than wooden or camo pattern, have shorter barrels, and hold more ammo when compared with hunting shotguns.

It's important to note that shotguns aren't super beginner friendly, though they're probably the most financially accessible option for home defense. One piece of advice I would give is to look up what "cheek weld" is when using a shotgun (in additional to general safety and usage info). We're also pretty late in the game here for those that are worried about election-related violence, since developing marksmanship skills takes time. Better late than never though, just try to get at least one range trip in so that you can familiarize yourself with the basics.

Not looking to turn this into a guns thread, since that wouldn't be very useful for the OP. If anyone has any questions on the subject, you could make a post in one of these communities, and I (and probably others) can give advice:

[–] [email protected] 6 points 20 hours ago

Thanks for promoting responsible gun ownership. While I don't believe in killing in any fashion, I do enjoy shooting. I've never been hunting and don't even eat meat, but there's something really fun about shooting all types of guns and improving your skills. It also made me a much better wildlife photographer. :-p

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

As panicked as you are, take a second. Murdering family for political views isn't exactly on the table quite yet. You're still afforded freedom and justice and even if people dont think you should have it they would have to cross a line that they've never crossed before to exact their cruel punishment. Use these social norms to posture an exit route but do not fear standing up for yourself. None of us are there physically so you are your last line of defense. You can also start a live stream assuming you have a phone which should be another layer of protection.

I'm also not saying be confrontational. I'm saying if the need arises stand up for yourself, it will throw them. Just be sure to have an exit strategy for each situation and assume you can only play that card once before they talk themselves into disobeying societal conditioning.

Bullies are just scared little children on the inside. Murder, no matter how brain washed you are is not a small leap. I suggest you use this fear to build the courage to leave. Though your greatest fears may never be realized it takes a humongous toll to live with that sort of stress.

Contact APS like suggested and they should help you along but make it clear reconciliation is not something you would like to pursue. Even if you can imagine reconciliation being helpful now is not the time and you'll thank yourself later for making this choice.

Also, cops arent inherently bad people. Some cops have disabled family. Some cops are left leaning. Some cops just firmly believe in the letter of the law. It's a gamble, for sure, but not a crap shoot as others would have you believe.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 22 hours ago

Please update us!

[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 day ago (10 children)

If you're in acute danger, call the cops. A credible threat has been made. Even if they can't remove you or your brother, everything being on file might serve at the very least as a deterrent to execute his plan.

[–] [email protected] 84 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a few concerns here:

  1. I have no recorded evidence of the threats, so I'm not sure if the cops will take this seriously. I heard that shit loud and clear, but I didn't get an audio recording.
  2. I have no idea how corrupt the cops in the local area are; this is a red county, although it's on the outskirts of a big city. I don't know if the cops could severely fuck me over in ways I don't know about.
  3. I am likely to end up escalating tensions. My brother would probably see it as an attack on him (Harris supporter trying to get his guns confiscated) and make it a priority to get rid of me quicker. He isn't very smart (hence why he joined the cult) so he might think that Trump will pardon all violence he commits.

I'd love to be wrong, but my current impression of cops is that they are unreliable and involving them could really backfire. But if anyone has a thoughtful rebuttal, I'd appreciate it. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert here.

[–] [email protected] 82 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Please read Apytele's comment, you are absolutely correct that calling the police will be interpreted as a threat and make your situation even worse.

You have to get out, first.

The police have literally 0 legal obligation to protect any citizen from a crime or potential crime, what they do is investigate after the fact, or sometimes during a reported ongoing incident. (Barring traffic stops, basically)

And that's assuming they're not fellow MAGA cultists.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Right but their comment is suggesting APS which will not help them. They are 21, Ohio's APS program is only for people over 60.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 16 hours ago

Ah, I did not know that, thats a good point.

I know that some states actually have a broader reach for things like APS, usually including the disabled.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Rural Ohio native here. OP if you don't mind sharing what county you live in, I might be able to give you better info. If you don't want to share that (and that's perfectly understandable), what part of the state? Northeast, Southwest, Cleveland area, Columbus area, etc?

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Someone else said it, contact Adult Protective Services. APS is meant for people like you.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

To be honest I would take some of the advice here, but in the immediate I would get a switch blade or bear mace or both and hide them in different places around your room.

When election day comes if anyone tries anything stupid you will at least have means to defend yourself and escape.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

Switchblades are illegal in most, if not all States.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I've always found the best people at foodnotbombs, which has local chapters in most cities. Start there.

link

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 20 hours ago

Department of Children and Families

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