Rolling Stones - Pro-Bernie Trolls on Why They Harassed Nevada's Democratic Chair

Pissed off Sanders supporters, watching the events unfold online from around the country, began circulating the personal contact information for state party chair Roberta Lange. As a result, Lange became the target of a barrage of harassment, including death threats and threats of violence sent via voicemail and text message. On Monday, the party shared many of those messages — notably, and perhaps regrettably, without redacting some of the senders' phone numbers.

Rolling Stone spoke to several of the men who sent Lange angry, menacing text messages to find out what was going through their heads as they pelted a stranger with epithets and threats, both veiled or explicit, to her and her family's safety, and to find out if — as some diehard Sanders supporters have suggested — they were actually Clinton campaign operatives out to smear Bernie.

They were not. All of the men we spoke to were genuine Sanders supporters, most with well-documented histories online of feeling the Bern. (Although only their first names are used below and their phone numbers have been redacted, we verified all of their identities.)

None of them were present at the convention; none of them even live in Nevada. They watched from their homes in Texas, Georgia and Utah, and felt the brazen theft they witnessed validated their actions. All of the men we spoke to reject the idea that their words could be interpreted as threats or harassment. And all of them were concerned about the media contorting their words. So, in their words — edited only for length and clarity — here is what they had to say for themselves.