A sports blogger known for his trolling antics called for the murder of cyclists on a SiriusXM radio show last week, provoking a response from some of the cycling community’s social-media personalities.

The situation began when Andy Suter, of the edgy but small bike blog Drunk Cyclist, found a 2-year-old post on Barstool Sports, an edgy but enormously popular sports and lifestyle blog, “during a deep, downward spiral into the bowels of the internet.”

In 2015, Barstool’s John Feitelberg wrote, “If you’re in my way while I’m trying to get to or from work, then I’m running you over. I don’t care if you’re keeping in shape or saving the environment, you’re dead.”

The death threat didn’t sit well with Suter, who responded—and be advised, things get pretty juvenile on both sides from here on out—with a meme on Instagram insulting Feitelberg. Many Drunk Cyclist readers followed suit, prompting a war of words all over social media between fans of both blogs.

Over the next several days, the back-and-forth continued. At one point, Feitelberg tweeted, “I genuinely hope you get hit by a car,” at Drunk Cyclist. The post has since been deleted, but enough Twitter users complained that the company suspended his account for two days.

Days later, Feitelberg doubled down on his remarks on the SiriusXM Barstool Radio show.

“I want to buy a Lamborghini and trash it with the blood of cyclists,” Feitelberg said to guffaws from his co-hosts. “I want to be picking gears out of my axle because I ran over someone riding a goddamn Huffy… My car is a weapon of mass destruction, and I’ll use it as such.”

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According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, more than 800 bicyclists were killed in 2015, a 13 percent rise over the previous year. As more riders take to the streets, the number of road rage incidents between drivers and cyclists continues to rise. Feitelberg’s words, even if only part of an act to get a rise out of cyclists, could add yet another level of danger to encounters on the roadways.

“If you were in a room with a bunch of cyclists and asked everyone who’d been either hit by a car or know someone who had, almost everyone’s hands would go up,” Chris Reichel, a writer at Drunk Cyclist, told Bicycling.

Need to get away from drivers? Check out these car-less trails:

This isn’t the first time Feitelberg and his peers at Barstool Sports have engaged in a social media flame war. In fact, they seem to revel in it, having been called out for “wielding social media as a weapon” by fellow sports website The Cauldron. Despite the controversies, Barstool was purchased for millions by The Chernin Group, a multimedia holding company, in 2016. The site is valued at more than $10 million today, according to Forbes.

Although Feitelberg was temporarily punished on Twitter, he suffered no apparent consequences from his employers. On the contrary, the radio segment was highlighted on Soundcloud. Perhaps most outrageously, Barstool Sports has attempted to profit off the incident, selling a T-shirt on its site showing a cyclist getting doored by a car with the words, “Don’t Look for Cyclists.”

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Multiple requests for comment were sent to SiriusXM, which runs the Barstool Radio program; Melissa Zuckerman, spokesperson for The Chernin Group; Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy; and Feitleberg himself. Most were ignored.

Barstool Sports blogger John Feitelberg discussing his temporary Twitter ban after cyclists flagged his posts. Barstool Sports on Facebook

So what happens if one of Feitelberg’s fans follows through on the jokey threats and kills or injures a cyclist? It’s possible that Feitelberg and his employers could be prosecuted, sued, or both, according to bike crash attorney Peter Wilborn.

“That’s a complicated area of law,” Wilborn said, “but it’s something that I would pursue in the right, unfortunately horrible, circumstances.”

While the controversy has died down, the Drunk Cyclist guys are now deciding on their next step.

“It’s not our style to go after sponsors, but if Feitelberg’s bosses aren’t going to take him off the air, what else can we do?” Suter told Bicycling. “They’re allowing this content to be put on their site.”

In the meantime, another flare-up happened on Twitter today when Feitelberg posted a link to the T-Shirts:

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These are human beings, y’know. You’re promoting violence—often death—of fellow human beings. — David Chartier (@chartier) September 28, 2017

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Robert Annis After spending nearly a decade as a reporter for The Indianapolis Star, Robert Annis finally broke free of the shackles of gainful employment and now freelances full time, specializing in cycling and outdoor-travel journalism. Over the years, Robert's byline has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including Outside, National Geographic Traveler, Afar, Bicycling, Men's Journal, Popular Mechanics, Lonely Planet, the Chicago Tribune, and Adventure.com

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