Clown Derangement Syndrome?

Michelle Malkin is covering a story about an unhinged young leftist who got so worked up discussing politics on the web that he tracked down and assaulted a member of the University of Mary Washington's College Republicans. This got me wondering about how much the amplification of certain opinions on narrowly-focused websites actually results in behaviors that might not have otherwise occurred if the person had just turned off their computer and, say, taken a nice long stroll.

I also wondered what areas, besides politics, might also be affected by this phenomena. Specifically, might websites like this, with threads like this be dangerous?:

"Weapons to kill madder clowns!

Just an example, what would you do when some clowns try to come and get you? Perpahs they want to kill you? What kind of weapon are you going to slay them??
For me, I would have to load my own 12-gauge shotgun, 9mm handgun, machette, some gas and fireworks to carry in my backpack, just in case... if I ever meet a Big Boss Clown, then I have to blast his a$$ away!!"

Could that kind of hate-mongering have led to this tragedy?:

"BOGOTA (Reuters) - Two clowns were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during their performance at a traveling circus in the eastern Colombian town of Cucuta, police said Wednesday.

The gunman burst into the Circo del Sol de Cali Monday night and shot the clowns in front of an audience of 20 to 50 people, local police chief Jose Humberto Henao told Reuters. One of the clowns was killed instantly and the second died the next day in hospital...

'The clowns came out to give their show and then this guy came out shooting them,' one audience member told local television. 'It was terrible.'"

The information shared on the internet is certainly powerful, but like with anything else, it must be used responsibly.