Michigan football fan who threatened Ohio State players, students gets prison sentence
By John Buhler
A Michigan football fan was sentenced for threatening violence on Ohio State football fans.
Prison time is coming for a Michigan football fan for threatening violence on Ohio State football players and students.
Michigan Wolverines fan Daniel Rippy was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for using “Facebook Messenger to threaten a shooting at Ohio State University during its annual game against Michigan, and vowed to hurt players on the football team and then-head coach Urban Meyer.” This came after Ohio State’s 62-39 win vs. Michigan on Nov. 24, 2018.
The prosecution asked for 15 months, but the judge went with a year and a day.
Rippy has been held in a Columbus, Ohio jail since January after being indicted. Federal judge Algenon Marbley spoke on the severity of Rippy’s threat, citing Columbine and Sandy Hook as incidents this could have unfortunately manifested into. “It’s college competition. That’s all it is. We have to take this seriously, because it happens.”
Rippy chalked it up to a “bad day” when he made his comments on Facebook Messenger. “I really didn’t mean for any of this. I feel really bad about it. I would never, ever do any act like this,” Rippy said. However, he did make similar threats to the Gonzaga men’s basketball team three days prior, as his favorite college hoops team in the Duke Blue Devils lost to the Bulldogs.
Marbley said some of the time Rippy has spent in Columbus jail will count towards his prison sentence. Federal public defender Soumyajit Dutta said he hopes Rippy has the “resources for both mental health treatment and for an ability for him to get back on his feet.” This came shortly before Rippy’s sentencing on Tuesday morning.
Ultimately, sports are purely a form of entertainment and nothing worth threatening violence over.
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