Daniel Knight Hayden: teabagger threatens mass murder on Twitter

An Oklahoma man was arrested earlier in the month by FBI agents for threatening to use the April 15 tax day Tea Party protest to commit mass murder.

Daniel Knight Hayden, 52, was identified by agents as the Twitter user "CitizenQuasar."

Hayden vowed to start a war against the government on the steps of the Oklahoma State Capital building where the Tea Party took place - an event promoted by Fox News.

Oklahoma City teabaggers

Hayden posted messages on his Twitter account containing numerous threats:

START THE KILLING NOW! I am willing to be the FIRST DEATH! After I am killed on the Capitol Steps, like a REAL man, the rest of you will REMEMBER ME!!! ... Send the cops around. I will cut their heads off the heads and throw the[m] on the State Capitol steps.

His black and red MySpace account reflects his right-wing obsessions in the form of memes that accuse Barack Obama of hypnosis-via-TV and that liken gun control to fascism.

On April 15 at 12.49AM, Hayden posted a final announcement on Twitter:

“Locked AND loaded for the Oklahoma State Capitol. Let’s see what happens.”

FBI arrested him at his home later that day. He was arraigned on April 16 and released to a halfway house pending trial.

Conservatives get upset and defensive when anyone suggests that Tea Parties attract people with hateful agendas. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly ranted about a CNN reporter, Susan Roesgen, who in his view was out-of-line when she said a tea party in Chicago was 'anti-government and anti-CNN'. Roesgen's comments were low-key when you check-out the rhetoric and signage on display at some of the more radical tea bagger events. There is also no mistaking a racist undercurrent in some locales where these gatherings have been held.

Hayden canvased his hate across the net, but there is some question as to whether or not he posed a real danger. Since he was released to a halfway house it would suggest that the judge didn't view him as a significant threat.

But Hayden's rage is shared by others and to suggest that it is maligning conservatives to draw attention to the potential threat posed by gatherings of angry right-wingers at Tea Parties or anywhere else is disingenuous.

In many ways the Tea Parties are less about grassroots than astro turf. A lot of these events had extensive corporate backing. Fox News actively promoted Tea Parties and Fox personalities spoke at some of the events. Their claim to be "fair and balanced" is a joke.