NYPD To Subpoena Twitter Over Identity Of User Threatening An Aurora-Style Shooting At Longacre Theatre (TWEETS)

TWEETS: Twitter Threats Of Aurora-Like Shooting In NYC
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 20: NYPD officers keep watch in front of an AMC move theater where the film 'The Dark Knight Rises' is playing in Times Square on July 20, 2012 in New York City. NYPD is maintaining security around city movie theaters following the deadly rampage by a gunman inside a Colorado screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises' early this morning. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 20: NYPD officers keep watch in front of an AMC move theater where the film 'The Dark Knight Rises' is playing in Times Square on July 20, 2012 in New York City. NYPD is maintaining security around city movie theaters following the deadly rampage by a gunman inside a Colorado screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises' early this morning. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The NYPD is planning to subpoena Twitter on Tuesday over the site's refusal to reveal the identity of a user who threatened an attack similar to the horrific Aurora, Colorado shooting at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight" in July.

The New York Post reports the tweets currently under investigation began last week from the user @obamasmistress, who threatened, "This s--t ain’t no joke yo — I’m serious, people are gonna die like aurora."

The user also tweeted, "Gosh I’m still making this hit list damn I wanna kill a lot of people," referencing a plan to bring bloodshed at the Longacre Theatre in midtown, the same theater where Mike Tyson is currently performing a one-man show that opened last Thursday.

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After detecting the disturbing tweets, NYPD detectives sent an emergency request to Twitter's corporate offices hoping the site would disclose information behind the user's identity.

Twitter refused, however, sending an email stating the tweets failed to "fall under those strict parameters as per our policies" of what is defined as serious, imminent threats.

As Daily Intel notes, Twitter likely didn't think the tweets were too credible of threats, considering @obamasmistress has also threatened to kill multiple celebrities, including Ellen Page, Wendy Williams and Perez Hilton.

Following Twitter's refusal, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said police officials and extra security measures would be in place at the theater until Twitter reversed their decision.

Twitter and the NYPD have had past tensions, primarily surrounding the company's concealment of about three months of Occupy Wall Street messages and tweets. In July, a judge ordered Twitter to hand over the tweets, a ruling the company is in the process of appealing citing the right to their users' privacy.

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