Grace VanderWaal: Difference between revisions

During one of his delusional episodes, Daniel, seemingly without access to his phone, posted on Likee, a short video creating platform he used while banned from TikTok, in despair and asking his followers to retrieve information from the 'VanderWaal Team'.  

Daniel appeared to believe that an unspecified accident had occurred and that the VanderWaal family, whom he was convinced had been in contact with him, was withholding information about Grace. Throughout the video, he hit his head and made threats against his own life. This incident was particularly notable as it marked the first time Daniel had a meltdown online.

Despite his claims, he did not act on his threats, and once the episode subsided, he returned to his usual behavior. Daniel said that if he did not get into contact with the VanderWaal family, he would end up homeless. Though relatively minor at the time, this episode foreshadowed more severe delusional behavior in the future.

Afterwards, Daniel uploaded a video to YouTube mourning the supposed deaths of Grace, and her father Dave. In this video, he expressed the belief that Grace had both committed suicide and suffered a heart attack simultaneously. Before Daniel addressed their deaths, he became emotional, crying and hysterically apologizing for sexting minors and sending pictures of his genitals to individuals he believed to be Grace. He promised to repent for the bad choices he had made and honor her legacy.<ref>https://archive.org/details/daniel-larson-mourning-grace-and-dace-vanderwaal</ref>  

While it may have appeared that Daniel's belief in Grace’s supposed death prompted a moment of repentance, this was short-lived. Upon realizing that Grace was still alive, he quickly reverted to his usual obsessive behavior, once again posting about her regularly and continuing to sext with individuals he believed to be her.   

During the July 24th freak-out, Daniel became convinced that Grace was being attacked by an individual named "Tyrone," whom he described as an African-American man attempting to kill her. He claimed that Tyrone had "just shot Grace VanderWaal in the abdomen and shoulder." Following this, Daniel's community tab was filled with paranoid posts, as he simultaneously believed that Grace had died and that she was still alive in a hospital while Tyrone continued to pursue her.  

At one point, he became convinced that Tyrone was attacking the hospital where Grace was supposedly being treated, escalating to what he described as a "standoff."<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/15e3dul/this_is_actually_very_entertaining/</ref> These delusions were likely exacerbated by trolls who fueled his paranoia. <ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/15exd9u/photos_of_tyrone_graces_attacker_have_been_leaked/</ref>  

While in contact with Daniel, an account claiming to be Grace told him that she had recently been with another man. Fueled by delusions, rage, and his obsessive fixation on Grace, Daniel decided to hike from Colorado to New York in an attempt to "win her back," documenting his journey through TikTok videos recorded during the night.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/14a8u2n/an_old_underrated_moment_imo_after_a_fake_grace/</ref> <ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/14ab7s3/continuation_from_my_previous_post_daniel_keeps/</ref> <ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/14adymh/the_not_so_thrilling_conclusion_to_daniels_big/</ref>

In these TikToks, Daniel claimed that he had, "...officially fucked up," with Grace to the point that she had broken up with him. In a rare moment of clarity, Daniel acknowledged that Grace was her own person and that she could date whoever she wanted. Daniel’s reason for going to New York was to win back Grace’s love from whomever she was apparently having sex with. He tried to guilt trip her in these videos by saying that he had a, "...[h]eart disease from heartbreak," and details about how hard his childhood was.  

As the night progressed, Daniel remained awake, continuing his journey as the sun began to rise. During the walk, he made increasingly erratic statements and even broke into karaoke. Ultimately, the hike ended with Daniel returning to Denver, either due to exhaustion or after realizing that the "Grace" he had been communicating with was, in fact, a troll.

[[July 24th Freak-out|On July 24th]], 2023, Daniel became convinced that Grace, whom he believed had been in a relationship with him until this point, had broken up with him as things were, "..moving too slow". Shortly after, he became fixated on the idea that she had started dating American social media personality and singer [[Jacob Sartorius]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZZNwQ2ldycA</ref> Daniel would soon believe that Jacob had impregnated Grace, and ordered her assassination by "[[Tyrone]]", all at the same time. Daniel's narrative regarding Jacob rapidly changed, at one point claiming that Jacob was harassing him, and later insisted that he was targeting Grace instead.  

While Grace is aware of Daniel's existence, she has rarely publicly acknowledged him, despite hundreds of comments and posts by Daniel and his [[trolls]]. It is highly likely that she chooses not to acknowledge them, particularly Daniel, as he thrives on attention. Some speculate that Grace stopped posting on her original TikTok account due to harassment from Daniel and his followers in the comment section, though this remains unconfirmed.                   

Daniel's obsession caused Grace's brother, Jakob, to message him in December 2021. He directly confronted him, telling him to leave her and their family alone, and were considering putting a restraining order against him with the threat of building a criminal case. Daniel had an intense reaction to this confrontation, as he went to the hospital and at one point, had a meltdown and violently hit his head in response. <ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/uby3wb/comment/i69h1by/?context=3&share_id=iNjjLtleVCZQ_tmCa8FbK&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1</ref>

Daniel's continued obsession eventually caused Tina VanderWaal, Grace's mother, to message him on July 25, 2022.                   

Tina, through Instagram, firmly demanded that Daniel cease all contact with her family, especially her daughter, calling out his [[Daniel Larson's health|mental illness and delusions.]] Tina then claimed to be in contact with the police, and if he did not stop making videos and posts about Grace, she would pursue legal action and have him arrested.                   

In response, Daniel acknowledged her message but then stated that he planned to take his own life that night. However, he did not follow through with this threat. It is likely that he made the statement as an attempt to guilt-trip Tina or gain attention.                 

Despite this, Tina has not followed suit with her threats. According to a message exchange with a member of the Daniel Larson subreddit, Tina had reached out to the Denver police However, they were unable to intervene, as Daniel had not made any direct threats against Grace [[August 29th Meltdown|at the time]]. <ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/11f5ymh/tina_is_not_that_hard_to_get_ahold_of/</ref>