‘I Will Sever Your Neck’: Gambler Sent Threatening Messages to Athletes

A sports bettor has been charged with sending hundreds of threatening messages to college and pro athletes over social media.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, a gambler named Benjamin Tucker Patz, 23, used Facebook and Instagram to threaten the players. Several of the athletes he threatened were members of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Among the messages, were threats of breaking into the players homes and beheading their families, and racial slurs. To protect the identity of the players, the athletes who received threats from Patz are identified by abbreviations such as, A.C. or T.P.

According to Hardball Talk:

A member of the White Sox, identified as A.C., and two other unnamed Rays players were on the receiving end of Patz’s vitriol. Sullivan notes that players on the Braves, Nationals, Royals, Indians, Orioles, Padres, Athletics, and Blue Jays received similar messages, as did members of the NFL’s New England Patriots. Patz sometimes sent threatening messages to the athletes’ family members.

In one message to T.P., Patz wrote, ‘Unfortunately 0-5 against the Chicago White Sox isn’t going to cut it. Because of your sins, I will have to behead you and your family.’

The FBI has investigated the incident.