Several years ago, I used to write for a clickbait political blog. I hated it. Most of the writing I did was not really supportive of things I believed in. I was writing liberal opinion pieces designed to uplift certain politicians while denigrating others. It was the usual political stuff. I’ve just never been one for mainstream political nonsense, and frankly, I find all politicians to be pretty awful. The pay structure was crap, but I was desperately trying to support my family at the time.
During these years, I received a message from a man who claimed to be a homeless filmmaker. Me being young and naive and also, well, me, I felt bad for him. He wanted me to write about him. I couldn’t, because well, there was nothing to write about, and it also wasn’t the kind of thing my editors were interested in. But I did offer to help him get home as best I could.
Unfortunately, this man ended up being unsavory. He ended up consuming most of my time. He became incredibly aggressive, and would get upset if I didn’t respond to his messages immediately. Finally, I had to delete a comment of his from my work page for containing an image of an underage child with her breasts barely censored. For this, he lost his temper.
For years, this man emailed my editors, and tried to track down every place I worked. He hunted down family, friends, and every online presence he could find. He put up blog posts calling me racial slurs, made memes of my face, and harassed me. It continued for years. He repeatedly sent me cease and desists, and then backed down when lawyers confronted him on my behalf.
It only slowed down the year I left my ex husband and completely deleted my online presence. I say slowed down and not stopped, because he continued to track me down under new names and new presences. I’ve had to continue my work under pseudonyms, and it has left a sizable dent in my career. Even this blog is updated only sporadically because he had found it and sent me a deluge of messages asking me about my children, messaging me about the city I live in, threatening the mutual aid collective I work with.
I’m not the only person this man has gone after.
I met Peter John Ross, another one of his victims, during this onslaught. Peter has experienced far worse harassment than even I have. Berdyck has created campaigns making defamatory and off the wall accusations about Peter. He’s harassed Peter’s employers, got his show canceled, and continually texted him, emailed him, and unceasingly contacted him.
And now we’re fighting back. Peter is in the process of getting a Civil Stalking Protection Order. Berdyck is currently dodging service on that one, while continually texting and harassing Peter threatening to ruin him over it. We’re hopeful that this time, with several credible people behind it, we’ll manage to make some headway. There are already several warrants out, and we’re hoping that finally, we may see justice.
Ross has released a film about Berdyck’s harassment of the entire city of St Joseph, Missouri, with another one planned about his many other victims over the past ten years.
The film has seen, and is continuing to see a very successful film festival run. Watch the trailer below, then please consider liking the facebook page. With any luck, with more support we’ll be able to manage to really push for justice.
If you are a lawyer and able to practice in the state of Ohio, please get in contact with me via my Facebook page, or with the Social Media Monster facebook page. We could use your help!
Watch the trailer below!
- Bad Weather And Mutual Aid - December 22, 2022
- Matthew Berdyck - December 2, 2022
- On Grief And Tokenism And Friendship And A Hundred Billion Other Things - November 28, 2022