I've found twitter not to be a good forum for this kind of thing. Leaving the current pair alone, I've had a few times where more public figures can't determine easily that you're not one of the trolls, that and the fact that they almost certainly don't follow you and have an understanding of your context and goodwill.

For the most part, I've stopped following anyone that doesn't follow me in return on twitter.

Taking these conversations to other platforms where possible as well (e.g. Slack/Telegram groups).