Can I press charges on someone for harassment / threat?

[Georgia]

I post quotes on twitter, some mean, & there is a 15 year old girl (I am 18) thinking all of my tweets are directed towards her.
First of all, this girl constantly bullies people online & starts drama with everyone, so it's not like I'm the only one.
I have made my twitter private/protected from people who don't follow me, & after about a month, I unprotected it, thinking it would all be over & it's gotten worse. She made an ignorant remark & I replied with "cry me a river." & she proceeded to say "I'll cry a river if I can drowned you in it." Is that considered a threat? She also told me to "go die."
I suffer from severe anxiety & depression & I take everything to heart. I have, multiple times, considered suicide. So the things that she is saying is hitting me full force.
I have screenshotted the entire conversation. I am just wondering if I can go to the Police Department & file some sort of charge/charges along with a restraining order. I live in PA.

[Katie]

I dont know anything about the laws in PA but I just wanted to say if you have a lot of evidence against her (Many screenshots) then yeah you should be able to at least get her in trouble for harassment. Good luck and I hope she gets whats coming to her!!!!

[Michael E]

Is she violating any of Twitter's terms of service, you might report it to them. The police aren't likely to get involved in your case.

[Yeti]

You can report things to Twitter. Especially if the girl isn't someone you encounter in person, the insulting comments aren't likely to be viewed as imminent physical threats.

The police are almost certainly going to tell you to privatize your account, or find some way via Twitter to block this girl. It looks like you "protected" it before and unprotected it, so if you're so sensitive, just protect it again. Otherwise, it's not the end of the world if you aren't on Twitter. Lots of stupid stuff happens on these social media sites, and you get what you pay for. If you can't handle the stupid comments that come from stupid people when you have your account open to the public, privatize it, report it to the site, or take your "business" elsewhere. The police have far better things to do with their limited resources.

[ForeverBlack Jack]

Have you told your parents if not that's the first thing you should do.

[959]

If you lived in the state of Virginia, yes! In fact, you should be able to get her life in prison for that. That's not one threat, but to threats, according to at least one Sheriff's Department scum in the state of Virginia, not mentioning the county.

Unfortunately, before 9/11, this would've been nothing. You see, the problem is, she's just being a jerk, though that's not the word I would use. She's being a smart mouth bully, but not a threatening one. :-(

You see, we are currently having a clash between reality and fiction. Our legal system is living in a fictitious home world where the rest of us are stuck in reality. So, someone saying "I could choke you" will be considered a threat by the police and legal system, but probably not to someone who knows them and knows they are just using a phrase. Heck, they may even take it is a joke. In the 1980s, we used to kid around like this all the time and it was taken as a joke. Now, where this deviated, was when someone took a shotgun or a rifle and fired it at someone having fun. Do you see the difference?

When I was learning how to use lethal force, we were taught certain requirements to being able to justify shooting someone, or even using force. One of these had to be intent. They had to have the intent to harm you. This meant, they had to have more than just words. They had actually, mentally want to hurt you. The next thing was, they had to have the ability. If they were in California, and you were in Virginia, then threatening you was not as threatening as if they were standing in the same room with you holding a knife. Do you follow? Even if they intended to harm you, they would have to travel all the way across the United States to actually do anything. They also had to, usually, have a weapon. At the time, choking you or drownding you could be defended against. Getting shot or stabbed, less so. Follow?

So, you have to take into consideration whether or not she knows who you are, where you are, whether she actually means to harm you or she's just saying it, whether she has the ability to, and so on. Over the Internet, she could be in China. She may or may not know who you are.

Unfortunately, since 9/11, and recent bowling events in school shootings, logic has been thrown out the window. Now, everybody assumes that if someone looks at you wrong, they're going to kill you. The police are using any logic, the legal systems not using any logic, everyone's working off of emotions. There is no justice when use emotions.

Now, dude, a lot involves your mentality. I know what it's like. I have posted medics stress disorder, or PTSD. I won't get into all the details, but I know where you're coming from. Why were all different, we've got a lot in common. So, yes, that stings. If you're like me, the first place her mind goes is probably fear. Are they going to do this? So, use cognitive therapy. Just what I said above. Does she know who I am? Where I am? Everything, right down to does she mean this. A lot of people, and I mean a lot of people, say things that they do not mean. When they're mad, even more so. Now, true, a lot of people do act. Unlike you and I, who are classified as mentally ill, these people really are mentally ill. They're dangerous, and they slipped through the system. But, even if they are dangerous, are we in any danger? Probably not. If they don't know who we are, where we are, and all the other stuff, where probably more in danger from a complete stranger that goes to our school than we are from someone who's actually said this. Follow?

Now, if you believe she serious, by all means, try. But my thinking is, she's just a jerk who tries to push people around. If you were to meet her, in person, like most bullies, if you stood up to her she would back down. Trust me, I've dealt with bullies before. I had a lot of trouble out of them until I stood up, actually punched one of them, and it all ended. That was back when you could defend yourself, by the way. The thing is, I'm worried if you contact the police, they will laugh at you and this will do more harm to you than her words. My experience, with police, they can be more harmful than the people they're trying to protect you from. Again, experience. I was stupid enough to try to work with them.

Honestly, I'm speaking to you as if you came to me to press charges against this girl. I'm not laughing or anything like that, just saying that I see this getting thrown out of court long before anything else. It may scare her, and she might change, but I doubt it. People like this tend to be too stupid to get scared. Heck, she may even have a disability herself, that makes her act this way. She has no real intentions, but doesn't know any better. Understand one coming from?

However, before you go to the police, talk to an attorney. I believe, if you can get a free consultation, an attorney would be able to explain things to you as to how things work in your area. You may be able to press charges and then you may not. Then again, if you can't press charges, criminal, you may actually be able to sue her in civil court. This requires a lot less proof, and may do just as much to scare her as criminal charges. Besides, you don't bother the police. Like I said, they're not always easy to deal with. You might luck out and get a good cop, but… Also, don't forget to talk to your parents, twitter, your school, or whatever about this. You may not even have to go through the legal system to get something done. Sometimes your parents can talk to her parents, and saw the situation. Rare, but it does happen. If she's breaking the rules on the group that you are in, you may get her that way.

If you want to talk, feel free to write. I don't believe anything will come of the us, especially if she has and anything in the past. Just block her, and forget about her. It's been my experience, the less you do to antagonize someone, the better. Some people take it as a challenge and actually try to do something when they wouldn't have otherwise. I don't want to see you hurt. In this means from her, the police, the legal system, or anyone else. We should all be able to go through lives without having to suffer, but I'm beginning to feel like I'm the only one that feels this way.