My van was shot by a freeper (update).

[Nitrogenica]

Well its been several weeks since my van was shot, and the neighbors friend who shot my van has not returned.

Here's my original post on DU, and the story of what happened.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2800505&mesg_id=2800505

I did file a police report. The police said without actually witnessing him shooting my van there's not much else they can do.

All attempts to get the bullet out of the frame of my vehicle have failed. It's in there somewhere, and I took apart everything I could to try to get it out. There's a very narrow access hole under the plastic inside the van, too small to get my arm down. I tried lowering sticky stuff on the end of a stick and poked around, but I just can't get it.

I decided to properly label my bullet hole.



If this guy ever has the guts to visit my neighbor again, I'll get his license plate #, but beyond that I don't know what to do. If he decides to discuss anything with me, you know the first thing out of my mouth will be "So.....did you F***ING SHOOT MY VAN!?

My bumper stickers will never be removed because some freeper decides to terrorize me like that, not ever. Now anyone who sees the hole with it's descriptor will understand how that hole got there, I think.

I find the whole thing to be quite representative of how propaganda and fear can drive someone to do something insane, just because their fellow Americans beg to differ. A steady diet of deceitful talking points in a delicious failure gravy can impair one's judgment.

[Broken_Hero]

1. Damn

nice sticker to put above the hole. I do remember fully your thread on this incident...damn, its amazing the depths that people take their love/hate of politics...

[Siyahamba]

2. WWJD?

I don't think "shoot a van" is one of them.

[BlueEyedSon]

61. "What Would Jenna Drink"?

BTW, anyone see the twins lately?

[DesEtoiles]

3. Can you use a magnet to drag the bullet to an access hole?

[ewoden]

5. Cupro nickel jacket, lead core not attracted by a magnet.

[skids]

15. And not very bouyant either...

So floating it out couldn't be done with anything common or safe.

[slackmaster]

6. Not likely

Most bullets contain no ferrous metal.

[ewoden]

4. Man that's some GSW. . . .

looks like a .45! i think if he shows up at your neighbors again I'd put on the Class three vest BEFORE saying hello.

[RufusEarl]

7. Well besides being stupid and dangerous,

it takes a gun toting repug to even consider doing something like this. May i ask what your bumper stickers say? I have several on my van, and have thought about something like this happening thankfully it hasn't yet!

[Nitrogenica]

9. Mine are just campaign stickers mostly.

There's a pic of my van on the original post, linked to in this post.

[slackmaster]

8. You'd get a ticket for those in California

Some of them impede the view through your rear window.

[Greyhound]

40. Everything is illegal in California. A police state by any measure. n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

74. And yet . . .

if one gets caught with less than an ounce of marijuana, one gets . . . a ticket. Other states it's like, the death penalty or something, isn't it?

[OzarkDem]

10. Police could do something

There is certainly enough circumstantial evidence to justify visiting your neighbors and asking them a few questions. Even if they deny everything, they'll know the incident has been reported to police and will hopefully think twice before inviting their freeper friend over again.

The police shouldn't let this kind of thing happen without some kind of investigation, its a dangerous incident waiting to happen.

[evlbstrd]

11. I love that label.

But you need to do something to stop that rust while preserving the visual. And water getting into that hole can't be a good thing.
I'm glad it was your van instead of you.

[Anakin Skywalker]

12. Your response is quite witty. I applaud you

for that AND for your courage in refusing to remove the stickers.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

13. And that's the problem with the fear mongering this administration

is doing in that the kind of divisions they create almost always leads to violence. However, I am not full convinced that is not the aim of their plans.

[NanceGreggs]

14. Oh.My.God.

I remember your earlier post about this incident, and I am not trying to make light of some crazed nut's penchant for shooting holes in other people's cars.

However, thanks to your own ingenuity, YOU NOW HAVE THE BEST 'BUMPER STICKER' I've ever seen!!!!! Speaks volumes about the RW!

I'm sorry about the damage to your vehicle, honestly -- but talk about making lemonaid out of a lemon!

THAT is the cleverest thing I've seen in eons!!!!!

:yourock:

[glitch]

62. Second this. You really made the perfect response. nt

[file83]

67. Triple that!! I LOVE that sticker!! That is absolutely brilliant!!!

:thumbsup:

[Gregorian]

16. What a frightful story.

My head is like a sieve. The facts go in one side and immediately out the other. I'm a numbers person. I could have never held an argument with that guy. Well, I could hold my own, but not convince him he's full of it.

I absolutlely love your sticker. You have a great sense of humor.


PS- You have a bullet in your vehicle. Pull the back panel off and you have your evidence. It didn't go any further than the inside of your car. In fact, if it were me, I'd invite the cops to be there when I did pull it off.

[Nitrogenica]

17. I can't get the bullet.

I've taken all the panels off on the inside. It's down in the frame somewhere.

[ddeclue]

32. If you can see the bullet...

Then you can get some special bolt pickup tools that are spring loaded and look sort of like a very small drain snake to grab the bullet and pull it out. Ask your Auto parts guy about it.

Doug D.

[Parche]

18. damn

Remember to them .......War/Shooting is Peace

[razors edge]

19. did you try removing the

brake light cluster and going in from the outside?

going to read first post now.

[Nitrogenica]

21. Yeh, theres a small hole behind the brake light,

too small to be useful.

[bigbrother05]

20. Love the sticker

Sorry about your neighbors friends.
Have you tried a vacuum?

[Nitrogenica]

23. Good Idea, I could rig up a skinny hose and get down there.

I really want that bullet!!!

I'm curious if it is a military caliber, like a 9mm or something.

[razors edge]

25. looks like a 45 acp

left big hole and didn't travel too far, if you want to keep that hole looking as it does and not rust, get some clear urethane spray, mask unaffected areas, should last a while. almost all bullets are military caliber such as the 45, but I doubt he left the military with a pistol.

[bigbrother05]

29. Keep us posted

[Freedom_from_Chains]

22. Get a magnetic extension and try fishing for it. n/t

[benEzra]

53. Bullets aren't magnetic...

they're made of lead and copper, generally. Steel bullets for handguns and many rifles are illegal per Federal law, but steel is also not dense enough for good ballistics, and is too hard for decent expansion.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

68. You know your right. You can tell I don't use a lot of guns. n/t

[Innocent Smith]

24. Free advice

Don't directly confront a nut with a gun. If he does visit your neighbor again pass on whatever info you find to the cops. And thats a very witty label!

[BeautifulLoser]

26. Did you hear a shot?

Maybe he used a silencer??

Guns are loud

[Nitrogenica]

27. I didn't hear a shot, however there was a large amount of

severe weather that night, lots of thunder and about 4 inches of rain.

The perfect night to shoot someone's van.

[proud patriot]

28. LOL ...BEAUTIFUL

right before the 2004 election my "support our troops
vote bush out sign" was stolen . I replaced it with
"a republican stole this sign" which really upset a
lot of people ,who stopped to yell at me about it
telling me I was lying ...LOL After the election my
sign was returned defaced with bush/cheney stickers
and sharpie RW messages . I saved it .

Well Done Patriot:patriot:

[Tesha]

30. You might contact your state's attorney general.

Last I knew, shooting up someone else's private property was a serious crime,
as is discharging a firearm near a building, in a residential area, etc.

If your local police are unwilling to do anything about it, then folks higher
up in law enforcement should know about that.

Tesha

[myrna minx]

56. IIRC, I believe that the stickers in question that so inflamed

the freeper, were Mike Hatch for Governor! who is Minnesota's Attorney General. :hi:

[ddeclue]

31. Take him at his word on the Second Amendment and..

shoot back if he shoots at you again..

:-P

Doug D.

[ms liberty]

33. Way to go! Really smart and snarky response!

I remember your original post. You've managed to turn lead into gold with your answer!

I am going to refrain from offering any advice on how to get to the bullet - not only do I know nothing about it, but you've gotten plenty of good ideas already!

[Sparkly]

34. Did you talk to your neighbor about it?

Wonder if the friend told him what he was intending to do, or told him later he'd done it...?

I love your sticker -- that just says it ALL!

:applause:

[AspenRose]

38. That's what I want to know

Did you have a sit-down with your neighbor and show them the bullethole their 'friend' was responsible for?

[jhuth at work]

41. My neighbor has been rather hostile, and yells things at me sometimes,

usually as hes almost in his house or garage he'll turn and yell things like "CELEBRATE DIVERSITY!!)...lols. What a moran, celebrate diversity. He must know I have diversity parties all the time!

[pa28]

35. You really must have kicked his a$$.

Anyone who responds with that much anger and hatred has run out of arguments.

Nice label BTW. Everyone will know exactly what happened.

[snowbear]

36. Wow... sad..

So what type of bumbersticker prompted that kind of anger??

[Vidar]

37. Great response.

[kdpeters]

39. I'd approach the neighbors to establish familiarity beyond the incident

It behooves you to have a good relationship with your neighbors and if you reach out to establish a relationship beyond the "incident" and the bumper stickers, you'll both probably let the politics stay in its proper place. Likewise, if you're neighborly with your neighbors, he won't let his friend embarrass him. The way you handled the friend, I doubt you'll have much trouble being the mature one. That bullet hole represents shame for lacking your strength and character. It was a cowardly act. I'd be proud of it too.

[rateyes]

42. Why in the hell hasn't the police contacted

forensics to remove the bullet and run tests? WTF is up with that?

[jhuth at work]

43. Right, I don't understand that myself. I merely got a police report.

They looked around for a shell casing or more bullet holes and wrote up a report and that was about it.

[rateyes]

49. I'd write a LTTE about how the police...

didn't care to do forensics and retrieve the bullet.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

64. "we can't really do anything."

"now lets go get some krullers."

the top two things youre most likely to hear out of a cops mouth.

[rateyes]

73. Yeah, my wife's credit cards were stolen...

and because we weren't responsible for the charges, the police did not want to follow up, even though they had the theifs on VIDEO-TAPE at a Wal=Mart 100 miles away. My wife thought she might be able to identify them, but they didn't ask for the tape, and never showed it to her.

Dumb.

[wicket]

44. Have you ever talked to your neighbor about this?

I'm so sorry this happened to you!

[jhuth at work]

45. Since this happened my neighbor has been avoiding me, and is usually

hostile when I do see him. Yelling as he walks into his house (a great way to avoid rebuttal). I think he's a neo nazi or something.

[Ignis]

46. That's an awesome sticker! Nice one. (nt)

[smoogatz]

47. In looking through the previous thread, one thing jumped out at me.

You said, "As it turns out he's served 5 years in Iraq, and told me all the good news about Iraq." That, of course, is impossible. We invaded Iraq in late March of 2003; almost exactly three and-a-half years ago. No American troops have served in Iraq for five years (in fact, it's next to impossible that any have been there the full three-and-a-half years). Your wingnut neighbor's friend isn't just a gun-toting lunatic, he's a pathological liar. Either that or you heard wrong.

[jhuth at work]

50. I think he's a liar. ...never heard of HALLIBURTON???

Didn't know we were building PEMANENT MILITARY BASES??

Doesn't know who SEAN HANNITY IS???

During our "discussion" I pointed out his talking points were something I've heard 1,00s of times....his reply?


"Oh yeh, well here's something you've never heard."

OK what was it?

"We were fighting alongside Syrian Troops" he says.

[BreweryYardRat]

58. Might have meant 5 tours in Iraq, but that still seems too long.

Although I don't know how long a military tour of duty is. Isn't it like 6-8 months?

[grizmaster]

48. Try using gum or putty on the extension, or use a claw tool

I used to use one of these all the time when I did mechanic work

http://www.toolprice.com/c=xM5LWIWNvThTYpdlIYVp9wWRr/product/7212A

[Muddy Waters Guitar]

52. Yeah, better than magnets

Magnets never seem to work as advertised unless you buy those industrial strength types, even electromagnets you can activate-- though it's tough to fish out when it's surrounded by metal itself. One of my friends used the putty device and he could have fished out a pebble in the engine block with it.

[benEzra]

55. Not a claw tool...

since if you want to prosecute the guy, scratching the bullet could destroy some of the evidence that could be used to match the bullet to a particular gun.

If you think you can fish it out, either do it in front of the police, or have a notary watch the whole thing. Otherwise he could say you just planted it, or obtained it from somewhere besides your van.

[Catherine Vincent]

51. Good for you!

If anyone asks you to take the sticker down, you can tell them the whole story. :thumbsup:

[Heywood J]

54. Is that large enough

to read from a car behind you? It seems kind of small, actually.

That, plus you're definitely in need of urethane or something to keep rain from entering the hole. That'll rust the frame even more, or it could cause problems with the taillights.

[Az_lefty]

57. proof positive that Freepers "R" Terrorists !!!!!!

stay safe my friend.

[AtomicKitten]

59. Decidedly dangerous people.

But I love what you did with it!

[BreweryYardRat]

60. Pity you're in Minnesota.

Here in Florida, you could consider this "potential threat to your life" and feed the freak a faceful of .000 buck if he comes sniffing around again.

Whether or not you could get away with it is another story-I'd need to check the details of that particular law.

[crispini]

63. Bwahahaha!

Best. Bumpersticker. Ever.

Good job! :thumbsup:

[mikeybabe125]

66. Man, I have tons of stickers...

including the worst one for a gun-touting freeper to see "Impeach Bush" in the backdro pof the American flag. Thankfully, all I got were a few head shakes and mean looks. I'm in TN to!

[Ian David]

65. Keep on fighting the good fight!

May I suggest one more bumper sticker?

"My gun killed one less person than Laura Bush's car."

Mrs. Bush ran stop sign in fatal crash

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Details in a 1963 accident report say that Laura Bush, then 17, ran a stop sign in the Texas crash that killed a friend in another car. The report, adding information to previous reports of the crash, was released to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

<snip>

According to the two-page accident report, Laura Welch was driving her Chevrolet sedan on a clear night shortly after 8 p.m. on Nov. 6, 1963, when she drove into an intersection and struck a Corvair sedan driven by 17-year-old Michael Douglas.

<snip>

The police report indicates no charges were filed. That section of the report was left blank.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/e1698.htm

[DemGa]

69. Seems like the police would question the neighbor

and the friend. I'm just saying.

[Nitrogenica]

70. Well they didn't. One officer told me about how understaffed the

Minneapolis Police Department has become. Apparently there are not enough rookies being recruited to replace the veteran officers who are retiring, and this has been going on for several years. I told them what happened and they said the'd fill out a report for my insurance but unless I witnessed or someone witnessed my van being shot there was not much they could do.

[Gato Moteado]

71. i'd say freepers that pull guns are fair game......

....if that freeper filth returns and pulls out his gun anywhere in your vicinity, be prepared for him. you have every right to pull yours out and ventilate his chest cavity.

[Irreverend IX]

72. One less vote for Bush. nt

[libhill]

77. Yup-

time to show these asshats that Rethug criminals aren't the only people with guns. Or Call the FBI and report the s.o.b. as a terrorist. Time for the Government to shit or get off the pot.

[Warpy]

75. If he comes back, under cover of darkness

let the air out of TWO of his tires.

It's not vandalism because unlike the violent halfwit you won't be damaging property.

It'll be an inconvenience since he can't go anywhere on one spare and he'll probably go nuts looking for the leaks in those tires.

[sakabatou]

76. Probably need some rotor rooter type stuff

to get the bullet out. A cord with a light and a "grabber" might do it.