Stars Fans Sent Michael Russo Death Threats After Stealing His Phone Number, Address

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Photo: Tim Heitman - Dallas Stars

Michael Russo — formerly of the Star Tribune, now of The Athletic — is considered one of the best and most respected sports writers in the entire business, no matter the sport. But during the first round of the Minnesota Wild’s 2023 playoff series against the Dallas Stars, Russo often found himself on Twitter battling Stars fans and media members.

Hits early in the series by Dumba and Foligno, combined with dirty Ryan Suter cross-checks on Kirill Kaprizov in game 1, had refs and fans of both sides on high alert the rest of the series. Problem is, Stars’ fans went way beyond social media shit-posting.

Stars fans send Michael Russo death threats

Michael Russo sat with Vikings play-by-play voice, Paul Allen, on PA’s daily KFAN radio show (Nine to Noon) on Thursday. There, he revealed that, during the Stars/Wild series, Dallas fans somehow found Russo’s phone number and street address; then used both to send him ominous death threats, even threatening to slit his family’s throats. He says the threats continue coming to this day.

“It’s the first time I’ve said this publicly but, during the the Dallas series, Stars fans got my phone number, my address and were sending me death threats galore. I had security outside my house, I was getting police escorts in and out of arenas. It was a freaking unbelievable stressful time. [I was] getting text messages about, you know, my family’s throats being slit and mine [being slit]. I mean, it’s still going on.”

Michael Russo – 92Noon (KFAN Radio 100.3 FM)

Russo had already divulged this information privately to “Nine to Noon” host and his friend, Paul Allen, who helped him get in touch with authorities that could help. Michael says that, now, multiple law enforcement agencies are working on his case.

The Athletic‘s new parent company, the New York Times, also started an investigation of its own, which is something they do on the regular for their reporters. Russo was told, however, that this is the first time they’ve ever had to investigate threats to a sports writer.

Stars fans being Stars fans…

Unfortunately, this type of behavior probably won’t be a surprise to hockey fans around the NHL. Ever since Norm Green deleted the first half of “Northstars” and moved the once-beloved franchise to Dallas, “respectful” has rarely been seen in the same sentence as its new fanbase.

Here is today’s full final hour of “Nine to Noon”, which featured multiple writers from “The Athletic” including Michael Russo, Jon Krawczynski and Alec Lewis. The segment included talk about how successful The Athletic has been in the Minnesota market (which I wrote about earlier this week). Russo talks about the threats he’s received from Stars fans starting at the 19:50 mark.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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