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A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, against a person to kill him or her. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, in which case a death threat is a form of coercion. For example, a death threat could be used to dissuade a public figure from pursuing a criminal investigation or an advocacy campaign.

In many jurisdictions, death threats are a criminal offense. Death threats are often covered by coercion statutes. For instance, the coercion statute in Alaska says:

A person commits the crime of coercion if the person compels another to engage in conduct from which there is a legal right to abstain or abstain from conduct in which there is a legal right to engage, by means of instilling in the person who is compelled a fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the person who makes the demand or another may inflict physical injury on anyone....^[1]

A death threat can be communicated via a wide range of mediums, among these letters, newspaper publications, telephone calls, internet blogs,^[2] and e-mail. If the threat is made against a political figure, it can also be considered treason. If a threat is against a non-living location that frequently contains living individuals (e.g. a building) it could be a terrorist threat. Sometimes death threats are part of a wider campaign of abuse targeting a person or a group of people (see terrorism, mass murder).

Here is an example of an actual death threat, from the book Wordcrime by John Olsson. This is a genuine example from a criminal case, provided by the Forensic Linguistics Institute, which analyses all kinds of text, including death threats, ransom demands, hate mail, cellphone texts, etc., for authorship:

Boris: I am one of the 4 employees still in the office. I have withheld my identity because I have realised that nothing is a secret any more, the author of the anonymous doc is now a public information. I write as a matter of genuine concern. We in the office are convinced that there is a real threat at your life, some mysterious people are looking for you (different people at different times).They are not genuine people. The cops are also looking for you, they say they want to return you to court, they look like there is more than meets the eye or more that we know of. regards

Contents 1 Death threats against a head of state 2 Notes 3 External links 4 See also

[edit] Death threats against a head of state

In the United States and other countries, including democracies, monarchies, and authoritarian governments, threatening to kill a head of state (such as a king, president or prime minister) is considered a crime, for which punishments vary.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Judiciary Criminal Charges
• [1] The Forensic Linguistics Institute

[edit] See also

• Assassination
• Bomb threat
• Coercion
• Extortion
• Assault
• Witness intimidation
• United States Federal Witness Protection Program
• United States Marshals Service
• Terrorism
• Hostage
• Interrogation
• Kidnapping
• Torture
• Body Guard
• Secret Service
• Bullet proof vest
• Armour
• Undercover
• Contract killing
• Informant
• Stalking