When I was still in middle school, living in the thumb of Michigan, my mom was approached by a company who had interest in our property. They didn’t want to farm the 40 acres we had, nor did they want to hunt on it. With their clipboards and smiles, they let us know that they were interested in placing wind turbines in our area.
In the winter, during the nighttime, if I stood on my tiptoes at my front door and squinted off into the distance, I’d be able to see the red blinking lights. Wind turbines were situated everywhere around our township, but never inside. Our family farm was on the top of a hill and looked out over the vast landscape, which was filled with endless fields that benefited from the tall, white pinwheels in the sky.
The idea of them on our property sounded nice, especially when they informed us we’d get money from a cable running through our dirt yearly for the operation of the turbines. To a single mother of two growing girls, my mom immediately looked into it more. She agreed to let them do whatever they needed to do after signing a few papers, seeing how much it would improve the area.
Everything seemed to be progressing.
Until it came time for the use of turbines in our township to be approved by officials.
Turbines seem like a good thing.
They are a good thing.
Until you’re faced with people who didn’t get money from the turbine company. The majority of those avidly coming to meetings and speaking out with malice against the idea of turbines didn’t get the offer like we did. But they wouldn’t admit that. Instead, they claimed that they’re ugly, and loud.
Instead of bringing renewable energy to a community, they wished to spend their time bringing down any mention of erecting the turbines in our township.
One man and his partner in particular prevented this. To not get them on my case again, I’ll call them Larry and Ken.
Larry and Ken have made it their life’s mission to travel around the state of Michigan and stop any sort of wind activity by stretching their propaganda from Detroit to the UP, going to board meetings to townships they’ll never belong to, and never backing down as they put miles on their vehicles.
Larry likes to take the reins on the harassment of pro-wind people.
What started as a campaign in a Facebook group called Concerned Citizens In Redacted Township, blossomed into one half of their team, Larry, spending hours on the app targeting pro-wind energy. His name dotted along the map in the mitten, online and in-person.
When he came after me, he didn’t even care that I was 15 years old. He used expletives against me as he fought with recycled information and insults; he used the same words he’s used when flaming thousands of others on Facebook. His smiling face in his profile picture loomed over the paragraphs he typed countless times.
Concerned Citizens In Redacted Township was a Facebook group to target anyone who supported wind energy. And it’s how Larry found his victims to attack. The whole page is full of admins who disliked turbines. It wasn’t fair that every time you spoke positively about the turbines, Larry would be there to take you down.
So, I made a page myself.
Concerned Citizens Against Larry. The profile photo and cover photo of his face with a giant X was created, and I waited for others to join. I was patient as I crafted the perfect space to vent frustrations and be petty. The bio reads, “Have you ever been bullied by this man on the internet? Is his anger toward wind turbines the key to his harsh words? Then this is the place for you!”
I made my mom (who he attacked multiple times) an admin, requiring people’s requests in order to join, just so Larry couldn’t see our posts. It was finally a line he couldn’t cross.
Larry and his buddy Ken have dedicated their lives and free time into actively destroying a hope of wind energy across the state. All those hours could’ve been spent better. So, if they got to waste years on something as big as renewable energy, it was my turn to do something too, productive or not.
Petty or not…
It only took a week for our first members to request to join, that smiling face of Larry’s overhead as they pressed the button to wiggle into our group. His nasty words and propaganda sent people our way with a simple search; it was funny to think that they’d all join after an argument with Larry.
Ken tried to join once, and while our members meme’d about him, I laughed at my ability to boot him out. I watched him disappear from the requests. Everyone in our small group makes fun of the pair, knowing they’d never see it.
That was six years ago.
Today, our group stands at 37 people. Each one has a sour experience with Larry. Each one finds comfort in a shared experience when they were targeted by his hateful words. We all looked up the rotten man’s name and found our wonderful space.
Every so often someone will join. They fill out the prompt as to why they dislike Larry; the results have yielded some giggles, and concern. Some flame the anti-wind warrior, and some disclose that he’s actually stalked and threatened them. They all add on to the list of reasons why the group exists in the first place.
We have a wide variety of Larry haters.
As juvenile as it may be to make a Facebook page out of spite against a single person, none of us really care. It’s funny, and it’s enjoyable. All of us get to find time to laugh after dealing with such a man. His threats and harassment become something to pick at, rather than get upset over.
If Larry can continue a campaign of hate and slander, we can have a little fun too. Everyone involved is hoping for the day he gives up and retires his voice. The keyboard becomes a weapon when he’s behind it.
Even if we’re not all that active, it’s still a funny thing to mention to someone. It’s like a fun fact, or an ice breaker.
“I made a Facebook page out of spite where we all join together to complain about this nasty dude named Larry.” It’sa great way to get a conversation going.
For now though, I’ll stick with my group. I’m waiting for more members.