Steven Cohen - just received this.

[rargh]

Distorting a quote that references 9/11 in order to get the US public on his side and oppose us while deliberately ignoring the whole context and reasoning of the quote. What a nice chap. He's making a threat about invoking a mentality that even US TV shows see fit to mock.

 

YouTube - Family Guy - Undecided Voters

Edited May 10, 2009 by rargh

[Kopite]

Distorting a quote that references 9/11 in order to get the US public on his side and oppose us while deliberately ignoring the whole context and reasoning of the quote. What a nice chap. He's making a threat about invoking a mentality that even US TV shows see fit to mock.

 

YouTube - Family Guy - Undecided Voters

 

I think there is no point in engaging with him. I agree with your point about trying to get the US public on his side by playing the "free speech" card and now the 9/11 angle. I really hope the American public can see through this.

 

My view is to stop engaging with him and concentrate our efforts on his sponsors. That is what will hurt him (and it clearly is). By reasoning with him you are feeding his ego.

 

You simply can't reason with morons.

[Joe Le Taxi]

I'd love Brian Reade to have a live debate with him, he would end up looking like the prick he is.

 

Someone should email him about this and see what happens from there.

[Newport]

I'd love Brian Reade to have a live debate with him, he would end up looking like the prick he is.

 

Cohen is a coward and would never debate anyone else than the regular punters.

[andymc]

would it be worth sending the sponsors copies of the emails he sent to show them what an inbred he is? When I replied to his message I asked him for clear proof to show me that the fans were responsible, guess what? No response yet!!! It's like arguing with a 5 year old, 'this is what I think and that's it it doesn't matter what you say or show me this is what I think I don't care!!!!'. Inbred Cunt. I did ask him who he was supporting these days now Chelsea were out the European cup, I don't think he's decided yet!

[Kopite]

would it be worth sending the sponsors copies of the emails he sent to show them what an inbred he is? When I replied to his message I asked him for clear proof to show me that the fans were responsible, guess what? No response yet!!! It's like arguing with a 5 year old, 'this is what I think and that's it it doesn't matter what you say or show me this is what I think I don't care!!!!'. Inbred Cunt. I did ask him who he was supporting these days now Chelsea were out the European cup, I don't think he's decided yet!

 

That's a great idea. Forward on his responses to the sponsors. This is where we are going to hurt him (and clearly are).

 

On TTWAR one poster who was visiting New York claimed that Cohen's influence is not what he'd have you believe as he isn't mainstream. What his comments have done is make him more well-known amongst US football fans.

 

Didn't Dr Scraton attempt to engage him?

 

Once again he ignored the views of the man who is the expert on what happened that day. This speaks volumes.

[Tom R]

I just wish that people who made "death threats" actually had the balls to follow through with them.

 

Shithouses.

[OmarVizquel]

I just wish that people who made "death threats" actually had the balls to follow through with them.

 

Shithouses.

 

Now that's probably not the best thing to say.

 

You can't demand people stop besmirching Liverpool fans and then do the same thing yourself.

[Tom R]

I just find the whole "death threat" things ridiculous.

 

It makes me laugh when people in the public eye shit their pants when they receive "death threats". It's totally pathetic. Nobody who had any intention of killing you would notify you first by post or by email, or perhaps a helpful phonecall.

 

I'd be more afraid if I was total cunt but didn't get any death threats!

 

A genuine death threat is when somebody actually tries to kill you. Not when some pussy pings a nasty email from 4000 miles away.

[andymc]

if he is receiving them why isn't he going to the police? I'm still flabbergasted by the comparison to 9/11, is he really putting us in the same bracket as terrorists?

[Faustus]

I just find the whole "death threat" things ridiculous.

 

It makes me laugh when people in the public eye shit their pants when they receive "death threats". It's totally pathetic. Nobody who had any intention of killing you would notify you first by post or by email, or perhaps a helpful phonecall.

 

I'd be more afraid if I was total cunt but didn't get any death threats!

 

A genuine death threat is when somebody actually tries to kill you. Not when some pussy pings a nasty email from 4000 miles away.

 

Oh by the way, Tom, I'll be round to stick a hatchet in your head tomorrow morning. Just a heads up, mate.

[Joe Le Taxi]

What are the emails he sent to us which should be forwarded?

[Lucky Pierre]

if he is receiving them why isn't he going to the police? I'm still flabbergasted by the comparison to 9/11, is he really putting us in the same bracket as terrorists?

The comparison is that someone said that saying we were responsible for hillsborough is like saying that the people inside the WTC were responsible for the attacks.

[andymc]

The comparison is that someone said that saying we were responsible for hillsborough is like saying that the people inside the WTC were responsible for the attacks.

 

he is basically tying the 2 in together to try and raise his profile the sad little man

[Furmedge]

I emailed Brian Reade on Saturday morning with regards to Cohen, including comments from Cohen and links to his shows and sponsors. Suppose it's just a waiting game now to see if Mr Reade can gather enough evidence to make a comment in his column about all this.

 

Hope so as Reade would take him the cleaners.

[Kopite]

Which email address does he actually respond to?

 

I doubt he's had a single death threat. Maybe a "I hope I never see you at Anfield" warning here and there, but no way has he had a believable death threat.

 

And he has not got the FBI onto this. He makes that pretty obvious by his actions.

 

As for that Geber guy, the one who claimed to be a Red. Do you know any Red, excluding perhaps self-confessed "became a Red last week after living in a cave for twenty years" and maybe 3 year olds, who don't know the number of victims there were at Hillsborough?

 

This is from a 2006 incident (I've just taken the bits out of this that are relevant to my point) posted by someone called 4pool:

 

Mel (4pool) is a good lad, he's one of the many reds stateside that are making the sponsors aware of Cohen's lies.

[Furmedge]

Following on from the above I have recieved a reply from Brian Reade. I won't put too much on what he actually said as I'm not sure he'd appreciate me directly quoting him on a public forum, however I asked him after he replied if I could give a general explanation of his comments on liverpoolway and he advised he was more than okay with that.

 

Firstly, and more importantly than Cohen, Brian has stated that the campaign by The Mirror is a sustained one and he and his editor are fully committed in continuing to expose the truth. So this campaign is here to stay until we finally see some justice.

 

With regards to Cohen, Brian is fully aware of him and has been asked previously to comment. He advised me that Cohen is indeed not worth writing about as it is more exposure for him, plus it would lead to others crawling out of the woodwork in support of Cohen's views. However, should Cohen make it to mainstream media, he may change his stance.

 

I had a couple of email conversations with Brian on the back of this and you can see his passion for justice is certainly top of his agenda. By bringing Hillsborough back to the forefront of many peoples minds he has faced the wrath of some ill-informed readers with alternative views, so the battle will be long. He also mentions that once the police reports are finally released we should brace ourselves about what may emerge from them, noting who has held them for this long.

 

Finally, Brian says that the more that can get out of the stories of cover-ups the more it nails the lies of people like Cohen.

 

Brian Reade, a credit to his profession, a credit to our city.

[Herp McDerp]

He also mentions that once the police reports are finally released we should brace ourselves about what may emerge from them, noting who has held them for this long.

 

 

That bit is worrying. Nice work though boo boo.

[andymc]

Following on from the above I have recieved a reply from Brian Reade. I won't put too much on what he actually said as I'm not sure he'd appreciate me directly quoting him on a public forum, however I asked him after he replied if I could give a general explanation of his comments on liverpoolway and he advised he was more than okay with that.

 

Firstly, and more importantly than Cohen, Brian has stated that the campaign by The Mirror is a sustained one and he and his editor are fully committed in continuing to expose the truth. So this campaign is here to stay until we finally see some justice.

 

With regards to Cohen, Brian is fully aware of him and has been asked previously to comment. He advised me that Cohen is indeed not worth writing about as it is more exposure for him, plus it would lead to others crawling out of the woodwork in support of Cohen's views. However, should Cohen make it to mainstream media, he may change his stance.

 

I had a couple of email conversations with Brian on the back of this and you can see his passion for justice is certainly top of his agenda. By bringing Hillsborough back to the forefront of many peoples minds he has faced the wrath of some ill-informed readers with alternative views, so the battle will be long. He also mentions that once the police reports are finally released we should brace ourselves about what may emerge from them, noting who has held them for this long.

 

Finally, Brian says that the more that can get out of the stories of cover-ups the more it nails the lies of people like Cohen.

 

Brian Reade, a credit to his profession, a credit to our city.

 

excellent work, love reade's articles

[andymc]

That bit is worrying. Nice work though boo boo.

 

that's the problem with these documents they can't release what they lose! CCTV footage was never found was it? The reason they won't release the documents is because they are probably to busy deciding which bits make them look less guilty

[redforlife]

Following on from the above

 

With regards to Cohen, Brian is fully aware of him and has been asked previously to comment. He advised me that Cohen is indeed not worth writing about as it is more exposure for him, plus it would lead to others crawling out of the woodwork in support of Cohen's views. However, should Cohen make it to mainstream media, he may change his stance.

 

I had a couple of email conversations with Brian on the back of this and you can see his passion for justice is certainly top of his agenda. By bringing Hillsborough back to the forefront of many peoples minds he has faced the wrath of some ill-informed readers with alternative views, so the battle will be long. He also mentions that once the police reports are finally released we should brace ourselves about what may emerge from them, noting who has held them for this long.

 

Finally, Brian says that the more that can get out of the stories of cover-ups the more it nails the lies of people like Cohen.

 

Brian Reade, a credit to his profession, a credit to our city.

 

I live out here in the U.S. and a Paper (albiet not a major but a national paper) has run this story:

 

WOLF: L.A.-based soccer radio host's opinion raises Liverpool fans' ire

By Scott Wolf, columnist

Updated: 05/11/2009 10:46:25 PM PDT

 

It is quite easy to be an avid sports fan in Southern California or anywhere else in this country without spending one second thinking about soccer.

 

So it's perhaps the ultimate irony that an intense battle is being pitched right now over comments made by a Los Angeles-based radio host with a fervor usually reserved for all those other soccer-mad countries.

 

Last month, Steven Cohen, the host of the "World Soccer Daily" show on Sirius/XM satellite radio, infuriated Liverpool supporters with his comments regarding the 20 th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, the worst tragedy in English soccer history.

 

First, some history. On April 15, 1989, 96 Liverpool fans died when one end of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, became overcrowded at the start of an FA Cup semifinal game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

 

A crush ensued as too many people were allowed to enter two sections of the stadium, and victims were pushed up against perimeter fencing that kept them from jumping to safety on the field.

 

An official inquiry was conducted in England and produced the Taylor Report, which blamed poor policing for the tragedy and recommended the removal of standing-only areas and perimeter fencing.

 

Cohen dove into the situation head-first when he said Liverpool's fans should "share responsibility" in the blame.

 

"When people go to games without tickets and liquored up and 96 tragically die, at some point the fans have to

Advertisement

 

share responsibility. You can't just blame the police," Cohen said.

 

"I'm not saying they went with evil in their hearts to do it. Liverpool brought the same number of fans as the year before (to Hillsborough) even though they were at the smaller end of the stadium this time.

 

"I have expressed an opinion that there was a shared responsibility."

 

Unfortunately for Cohen, an American-based soccer Web site picked up the story and said he "solely" blamed Liverpool's fans for the tragedy. Since then, he's received hundreds of death threats, threats to kidnap his fiancee's children and threats to burn down his house.

 

"It's spread like a virus," he said.

 

Cohen estimates more than 3,500 e-mails were sent to his show regarding the controversy.

 

"I've seen the Taliban less defensive," Cohen said. "If this was being done in Afghanistan or Pakistan, we'd call these people terrorists. A lot of them are little cowards hiding behind their computers.

 

"(But) I feel my life and my livelihood is at stake."

 

Some e-mails compare Cohen's comments to blaming the victims in the World Trade Center for Sept. 11.

 

"You almost wonder what they are protesting so much?" Cohen said. "Why do they care so much about what some nebbish in California in a soccer wasteland thinks? This is terror tactics from one club's fans that are hypersensitive."

 

In the small but die-hard world of U.S. soccer fans, this is news because "World Soccer Daily" is the only national radio show devoted to the sport in North America. It consistently ranks among the top 10 sports podcasts downloaded daily on iTunes and revolves around Cohen's lively opinions, insight and top-notch guests.

 

But its future hangs in the balance because of a sponsor-boycott led by Liverpool fans. Achief organizer is Mel Abshier, the acting representative the North American branches for Liverpool Football Club.

 

"What we were asking for is for Steven to provide the information that led him to his 'opinion' or to apologize and give his listeners the facts," Abshier said.

 

"Imagine USC (football) supporters going to a game, being told to go down a tunnel into a packed, standing-room only area. And due to the crush, 96 USC supporters died. One might ask one self, why those who went in should 'share responsibility' in the deaths of their fellow supporters because basically that is Stevens claim."

 

So far, the boycott has produced results.

 

FourFourTwo, a respected soccer magazine based in England, pulled its advertising, along with Fado, a chain of 14 Irish pubs in the United States.

 

Cohen was scheduled to appear at the Fado pub in Austin, Texas, last Tuesday for the Champions League semifinal between Arsenal and Manchester United but the event was canceled following boycott threats. A similar appearance at the Philadelphia restaurant for the Champions League final was also canceled.

 

"Our sponsors are being bombarded," Cohen said.

 

Another sponsor, Setanta Sports Network, is also wavering.

 

"The ugly side of English football is rearing its head in America," Cohen said.

 

Cohen, who also hosts a phone-in show on Fox Soccer Channel, was born and raised in London, then moved to the United States in 1982 and served in the U.S. Army from 1982-86.

 

"I adore this country," he said. "I don't care for Rush Limbaugh, but I'd defend his right to say it."

 

He knows that in his native England, he would already be fired.

 

"I'd be lynched (in England)," he said. "The English media are being scared off this story."

 

Last week, the United Kingdom banned right-wing radio host Michael Savage from entering the country for allegedly fostering extremism or hatred.

 

Cohen further angers Liverpool fans when he says that Hillsborough is related to the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster in Belgium, when 39 soccer fans of the Italian club, Juventus, died after Liverpool fans breached a fence and attacked them. The Juventus fans retreated, which caused a retaining wall to collapse. The crush of fans led to deaths and around 600 injuries.

 

"The only common link to these two incidents is Liverpool football club," Cohen said. "I'm saying it's not a coincidence. But they will not have anything to do with it. I merely passed on an opinion that they are not as blame less as they think they are."

 

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, if the radio show is ultimately a casualty, American soccer fans will suffer.

 

 

sorry can't post link but you can find it at dailynews.com

[masch]

revolves around Cohen's lively opinions, insight and top-notch guests.

 

It's a fucking advert.

[redforlife]

It's a fucking advert.

 

Yea well thats the fucking problem though mate!!

 

Stating the fucking obvious

[Guest ShoePiss]

Here's a letter from Tim Vickery to Steve Cohen which is now on Cohen's website :-

 

Steven,

You complain of receiving death threats as a consequence of comments you made about the Hillsbrough disaster. Such threats are clearly to be condemned. But I really think - and advise you in the strongest possible terms - to reconsider your position on this issue.

 

The strength of feeling on this issue is incredibly high even after all these years, and it’s no wonder. You have to bear in mind the poison that the people of Liverpool have had to put up with on this issue - especially the campaign of the Sun newspaper at the time. The low point was reached with the accusation that these sub-human Liverpudlians had been urinating over other fans - when in fact this was an involuntary action of people who were being crushed to death. You have been placed in this camp - the camp of poisonous liars who seek to profit from populist bashing of the people of Liverpool.

 

I don’t believe you belong in this camp - indeed the spirit of this open letter is to try and win you over, since there is no issue in football more important than fan safety. As a football community we need to come together on this one, and I don’t believe that you are on the side of the villains.

But I do think you need to think about your opinion that Hillsbrough was a case of ‘shared responsibility.’ You will say that you have a right to an opinion - but that opinion has to be in line with the facts as they have been established.

 

As I understand it, your ’shared responsibility’ idea is based on the existence of ticketless fans. I expect there were some. Every week in the Maracana I see fans jumping over fences to try and get in without tickets. Does that make them killers?

Furthermore, it seems that ticketless fans were not a factor in the tragedy - because the problem was not so much one of over-capacity, but of bad distribution of fans. There was space available at the sides - but the way the fans entered forced too many through the middle.

 

But even if there were ticketless fans, this does not alter the principal fact. Responsibility goes with power. The more power you have, the more responsibility. The organisers of the event had the responsibility to ensure the safety of those who attended. That means - and this is absolutely basic - cordoning off the area, restricting access to control the flow of fans. The fact that this did not take place properly is to me a damning indictment of organisational incompetence.

To my mind the furthest that anyone can go on the ‘shared responsibility’ idea is as follows - English football, as a whole, had developed a culture whereby he most vital part of fan safety had been forgotten. With all the focus on violence what got overlooked was the fact that the mere presence of so many people in a restricted space is in itself a threat to their safety. But there were people at Hillsbrough being paid to deal with this problem. Their failure to carry out their duties with minimal competence seems to me to be the overwhelming cause of the tragedy

 

So I urge you to rethink your position on this vital issue. Don’t allow yourself to be associated with the lies of The Sun. Remember, we’re not only fighting battles of the past here - crowds automatically mean danger. While we are blaming fans we are giving the authorities an excuse for bad crowd control - and that can be fatal.

Tim Vickery

 

 

As far as I am aware, this has not been put up on the website - you have my authorisation to publish this open letter on any website of other publication that you see fit.

 

I would like to add that the appearances i make on the programme are unpaid. But also, though I've never met him personaly, he doesn't seem to me to be a bad bloke. He has said some very silly things - in this case it's no real excuse, but it can be easy to let your mouth run away with you on radio. I would like to think that he can be won over - this really was the point of the letter. Not just for the 96, but for all other potential victims of criminally inept crowd control, I think there's more to be gained from dialogue within the community of football fans than any other course of action. Can we win him over with the force of debate?

 

Cheers,

Tim

[RedinSweden]

I live out here in the U.S. and a Paper (albiet not a major but a national paper) has run this story:

 

WOLF: L.A.-based soccer radio host's opinion raises Liverpool fans' ire

By Scott Wolf, columnist

Updated: 05/11/2009 10:46:25 PM PDT

 

It is quite easy to be an avid sports fan in Southern California or anywhere else in this country without spending one second thinking about soccer.

 

So it's perhaps the ultimate irony that an intense battle is being pitched right now over comments made by a Los Angeles-based radio host with a fervor usually reserved for all those other soccer-mad countries.

 

Last month, Steven Cohen, the host of the "World Soccer Daily" show on Sirius/XM satellite radio, infuriated Liverpool supporters with his comments regarding the 20 th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, the worst tragedy in English soccer history.

 

First, some history. On April 15, 1989, 96 Liverpool fans died when one end of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, became overcrowded at the start of an FA Cup semifinal game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

 

A crush ensued as too many people were allowed to enter two sections of the stadium, and victims were pushed up against perimeter fencing that kept them from jumping to safety on the field.

 

An official inquiry was conducted in England and produced the Taylor Report, which blamed poor policing for the tragedy and recommended the removal of standing-only areas and perimeter fencing.

 

Cohen dove into the situation head-first when he said Liverpool's fans should "share responsibility" in the blame.

 

"When people go to games without tickets and liquored up and 96 tragically die, at some point the fans have to

Advertisement

 

share responsibility. You can't just blame the police," Cohen said.

 

"I'm not saying they went with evil in their hearts to do it. Liverpool brought the same number of fans as the year before (to Hillsborough) even though they were at the smaller end of the stadium this time.

 

"I have expressed an opinion that there was a shared responsibility."

 

Unfortunately for Cohen, an American-based soccer Web site picked up the story and said he "solely" blamed Liverpool's fans for the tragedy. Since then, he's received hundreds of death threats, threats to kidnap his fiancee's children and threats to burn down his house.

 

"It's spread like a virus," he said.

 

Cohen estimates more than 3,500 e-mails were sent to his show regarding the controversy.

 

"I've seen the Taliban less defensive," Cohen said. "If this was being done in Afghanistan or Pakistan, we'd call these people terrorists. A lot of them are little cowards hiding behind their computers.

 

"(But) I feel my life and my livelihood is at stake."

 

Some e-mails compare Cohen's comments to blaming the victims in the World Trade Center for Sept. 11.

 

"You almost wonder what they are protesting so much?" Cohen said. "Why do they care so much about what some nebbish in California in a soccer wasteland thinks? This is terror tactics from one club's fans that are hypersensitive."

 

In the small but die-hard world of U.S. soccer fans, this is news because "World Soccer Daily" is the only national radio show devoted to the sport in North America. It consistently ranks among the top 10 sports podcasts downloaded daily on iTunes and revolves around Cohen's lively opinions, insight and top-notch guests.

 

But its future hangs in the balance because of a sponsor-boycott led by Liverpool fans. Achief organizer is Mel Abshier, the acting representative the North American branches for Liverpool Football Club.

 

"What we were asking for is for Steven to provide the information that led him to his 'opinion' or to apologize and give his listeners the facts," Abshier said.

 

"Imagine USC (football) supporters going to a game, being told to go down a tunnel into a packed, standing-room only area. And due to the crush, 96 USC supporters died. One might ask one self, why those who went in should 'share responsibility' in the deaths of their fellow supporters because basically that is Stevens claim."

 

So far, the boycott has produced results.

 

FourFourTwo, a respected soccer magazine based in England, pulled its advertising, along with Fado, a chain of 14 Irish pubs in the United States.

 

Cohen was scheduled to appear at the Fado pub in Austin, Texas, last Tuesday for the Champions League semifinal between Arsenal and Manchester United but the event was canceled following boycott threats. A similar appearance at the Philadelphia restaurant for the Champions League final was also canceled.

 

"Our sponsors are being bombarded," Cohen said.

 

Another sponsor, Setanta Sports Network, is also wavering.

 

"The ugly side of English football is rearing its head in America," Cohen said.

 

Cohen, who also hosts a phone-in show on Fox Soccer Channel, was born and raised in London, then moved to the United States in 1982 and served in the U.S. Army from 1982-86.

 

"I adore this country," he said. "I don't care for Rush Limbaugh, but I'd defend his right to say it."

 

He knows that in his native England, he would already be fired.

 

"I'd be lynched (in England)," he said. "The English media are being scared off this story."

 

Last week, the United Kingdom banned right-wing radio host Michael Savage from entering the country for allegedly fostering extremism or hatred.

 

Cohen further angers Liverpool fans when he says that Hillsborough is related to the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster in Belgium, when 39 soccer fans of the Italian club, Juventus, died after Liverpool fans breached a fence and attacked them. The Juventus fans retreated, which caused a retaining wall to collapse. The crush of fans led to deaths and around 600 injuries.

 

"The only common link to these two incidents is Liverpool football club," Cohen said. "I'm saying it's not a coincidence. But they will not have anything to do with it. I merely passed on an opinion that they are not as blame less as they think they are."

 

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, if the radio show is ultimately a casualty, American soccer fans will suffer.

 

 

sorry can't post link but you can find it at dailynews.com

 

Surprise surprise, he doesn't know what he is talking about.

 

Oh, this is not an "opinion", the facts have already been discovered.

 

I think this is a pretty decent article, the Liverpool spokesman is very clear. (apart from the last line) You can't expect much more from an American based media outlet, it does at least put both sides.