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Home » Law In Travel » Man Arrested After Very Negative Hilton Hotel Review
HiltonLaw In Travel

Man Arrested After Very Negative Hilton Hotel Review

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 26, 2019November 14, 2023 18 Comments

a building with palm trees and a parking lot

A Texas man was arrested in Florida after incorporating death threats into a negative hotel review.

Joseph Lee McKinney, 40, had a very bad stay at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Hotel. So bad, apparently, that he made death threats when posting an online review about his stay. The review quickly disappeared, but Cocoa Beach Police later stated:

The review contained threatening language that made reference to an ‘active shooter style’ event at the hotel. Police remained on the property throughout the night until investigators could locate McKinney.

McKinney was tracked down to a cruise ship. When the oceanliner returned to Port Canaveral, police were waiting and promptly arrested McKinney. He was charged with making written threats to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism. Police transported him to jail where he is being held on $25,000 in bail.

CONCLUSION

It should go without saying that no matter how bad your stay at hotel is, it is always unwise to threaten a mass shooting on TripAdvisor. In an era of mass shootings, police were prudent in taking the threat seriously, even if it was meant as a joke. Still, I wonder what happened at the Hilton Cocoa Beach to prompt such a bad review…

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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18 Comments

  1. James Reply
    August 26, 2019 at 10:57 am

    Why are you (govt.) paranoid for mass shooting? You do approve your citizen having a free access to firearms and also approved them being stupid / lowly educated…. Silly….

    • Russ Reply
      August 26, 2019 at 9:07 pm

      James, are you low educated because you are brainwashed or you are brainwashed because you are low educated?

      • James Reply
        August 27, 2019 at 7:54 am

        Maybe I was brainwashed by oil and weapon companies to promote freedom and democracy, inter alia using personal weaponry for self defense because law enforcement where I live is consisted of idiots and the culture of the people is unsalvageable. But then I have to use imperial measurement whereby all the world uses metrics and actually uses their feet to play football!

      • pedro stee Reply
        August 28, 2019 at 3:41 am

        james is correct unfortunately.

  2. Stuart Reply
    August 26, 2019 at 11:10 am

    Well, while not as “dangerous,” Hilton is not doing so well with their threatening behavior as well. The recent post at No Mas Coach is very disturbing in which he shows Hilton Corporate trolling and bullying him for a review he did of a property, acting as if just a reader. They, umm, oops, forgot that IP addresses show up with their comments.

  3. Dick Bupkiss Reply
    August 26, 2019 at 12:01 pm

    Come on…

    He wasn’t arrested for making a “very negative review.” That is a lie, pure and simple.
    He was arrested for threatening to shoot a mass of people. You don’t see the difference?
    Shame on you.

    This is the furtherance of “fake news” and a continued degradation of truth. Shame on you.

    You really need the clicks so badly that you’re willing to destroy democracy and integrity? What kind of world do you want to leave for your kids? Shame on you.

    • Matthew Reply
      August 26, 2019 at 12:42 pm

      His negative review included a threat. It was the contents of the review that got him arrested. So yes, he was arrested for making a very negative review. I’m sorry you did not like the headline, but the story was very clear. Please save your ire for true fake news. I wrote a whole post apologizing for the Cathay Pacific “fake” news…I hate it too. But this is not fake news.

  4. John Reply
    August 26, 2019 at 4:13 pm

    I agree with Dick! Very much clickbait. Why didn’t you include the threat in your headliner? You could have said something like, “Man arrested after incorporating death threats into a negative hotel review.” This is fake news and a degradation of the truth!

    • Stuart Reply
      August 26, 2019 at 6:03 pm

      It’s a travel/airline blog. Not the Washington Post. I mean, jeez, you sound like the type to complain about PornHub and that your free content was disappointing.

      While Matthew might appreciate improvements and suggestions as to content I do think a more polite approach is worthy and better received. I have been the first to point out things that I feel are questionable (photos of people he finds offensive etc) but I would like to think I handle it with a bit less drama than “Degradation of the truth!”

      Why is everyone so angry these days?

    • Christian Reply
      August 27, 2019 at 12:14 am

      I agree. At absolute best, this headline is extremely misleading. The fact that there was a negative review was completely irrelevant. The fact that the person threatened to kill people is completely relevant. Come on Mathew, you’re better than this.

  5. Steve 'Gunner' Smudger Reply
    August 27, 2019 at 10:03 am

    Is everyone missing a VERY important point ? HOW did the review get past the TripAdvisor vetting ?

    Heck, I’ve mentioned ‘other’ hotels as a comparison in a review, and/or provided ‘thoughts’ and had my review rejected, as it ‘didn’t remain focused on my personal experience’ :O

    But, mention a mass shooting …. No problem ?

  6. Dwondermeant Reply
    August 27, 2019 at 10:49 am

    Like Stuart here
    That’s the question I have why is everyone so angry these days ?
    20 years ago before blogs social media was a reasonably enough calm cordial learning and exchanging ideas place
    However in the past few years the amount of folks ready to jump down each other’s throats is alarming

    The Hilton property poster/reviewer is a troubled individual that the hotel had to take seriously in these troubled times and current administration /climate because of more recent current events
    Hilton to their credit shy of Bed Bugs and rape will offer some form of reasonable recovery compensation by simply calling guest assistance after a stay from their most rotten hotel to their best if it’s something reasonable in failure to the guest
    I rarely get preachy in social media however
    Life is beautiful and short so don’t sweat the small stuff
    find some gratitude and forgiveness in life and increase kindness & joy
    I’m not a regular reader of this blog and came across it thanks to View From A Wing linking it
    I enjoy reading it on occasion and I don’t hold someone’s Personal points of overview in any blog as the last word for 100% authentic accuracy
    That rule applies with my favorite bloggers or for that matter reading
    the New York Times for 30 plus years
    there is always going to be some margin of error regardless
    Cheers

  7. Michael R Karpiel Reply
    August 27, 2019 at 1:48 pm

    BS on the headline as it’s major click bait. You should have stated that he threatened violence and not just a bad review.

  8. Charles Kunz Reply
    August 27, 2019 at 1:49 pm

    Clickbait causes a low sperm count, Matt.

    • Gene Reply
      August 27, 2019 at 1:54 pm

      @Charles

      So does all the junk food you eat on United, you jealous ugly dumb fat prick.

      • Matthew Reply
        August 27, 2019 at 1:59 pm

        Whoah. That was uncalled for.

  9. dot Reply
    September 1, 2019 at 1:09 pm

    Russ I agree with you,,James does not get it!!

  10. Pingback: Airline CEO: Customers Don't Care "About the Interior of My Airplanes" - View from the Wing

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