I'm kinda inexperienced as a Mod, frankly. So first, I figured out how to apply an infraction to the poster, and did that. Then I deleted the thread. I sent him a note, explaining why I did what I had done. Then I posted in the moderator forum about what I had done, and asked the other mods if they agreed with my actions. In hindsight, I should have "soft deleted" the post, so that the other mods could have looked at the thread, and given me input. But I didn't realize that, and deleted it completely, so that not even the mods can see it anymore.
Nevertheless, we need to keep things civil on Garage Journal. I'm not interested in participating, or reading verbal fistfights, and neither are most of our members. This is a place to share and enjoy our mutual interests. I've made quite a few friends on here, and that's good.