$500,000 Donation Frees Jailed League of Legends Player

[Flatfrog]

Putting the kid in jail and ruining his life would be a mistake, but it's good that people and the authorities at least did something so make it PERFECTLY clear to him that you don't joke about that kind of stuff. Ever.

Fuck that shit. If I want to make a joke about a school shooting, colonic cancer or the fucking Holocaust, I don't expect to have the cops at my door. Take another look at what you said and re-think. Are you really advocating that 'the authorities' should have some sanction over the things you should or shouldn't be allowed to say?

Just to be clear - this is *not* 'fire in a crowded theatre'. This is *not* 'threatening speech'. He made no specific threat against any person (certainly not against the complainant!). This is a pretty mild bad-taste remark indistinguishable from thousands of similar remarks made daily, with no malicious intent and a clear marking that it was meant as a joke. *Any* response by the authorities to this is a breach of his right to free speech and we should be fucking *outraged* that cases like this exist.

Draw a line! Taking photos of railway stations is not against the law. Making jokes about school shootings is not against the law. Filming police officers making an arrest is not against the law. Monitoring emails without any evidence of wrongdoing damn well *is* against the law. "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

 

[Headsprouter]

That's good for him, he's very lucky. While what he said was not pretty it was clear he didn't mean it, he even followed it with "jk".

Even so, his life was ruined by a busy-body. Arrested not for what he said, but for being seen saying it by the wrong person.

 

[Jaer44]

Justin Carter, for those who haven't followed the story [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125833-Petition-to-Free-Jailed-League-of-Legends-Player-Reaches-100-000-Sigs], was arrested and jailed in February after writing on Facebook, "I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still-beating hearts."

Really Andy? Really? If You quoting anyone would You kindly do it right. You know without twisting meaning.
The whole sentance was:

I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids, lol' JK

(emphasis is mine).

I think those 5 letter where bloody important.

According to his father/mother and other reports, the "lol j/k" were separate posts *after* the initial. Just to clarify. Plus it's also alleged he posted the 'lol j/k'.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Wait, they didn't put him in solitary to begin with? They put him in the common tank with all the crack heads and armed robbers?

They put him in the main part to begin with, but he got bullied so bad they had to put him on both suicide watch AND solitary confinement.
So, Y'know, all in all, he's gonna be a cheerful fella when he gets out.

This whole case reeks of shit, and I really do hope someone really kicks up a ruckus because of that.

 

[Nikolaz72]

I wish jail was about trying to fix people rather then ruin them

Many places it is...

America is not one of them.

 

[Flatfrog]

Really Andy? Really? If You quoting anyone would You kindly do it right. You know without twisting meaning.
The whole sentance was:

I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids, lol' JK

(emphasis is mine).

I think those 5 letter where bloody important.

Well, let's be clear - I've just looked up further details and what he actually said was ?I think I?ma shoot up a kindergarten. And watch the blood of the innocent rain down. And eat the beating heart of one of them.? - which frankly is a *lot* less jocular in tone than has been reported here (although in the context of the conversation as a whole it's still clearly intended sarcastically)

Nevertheless, I don't care what words he used. Words alone shouldn't be enough to jail someone. Unless there was any evidence to show that there was intent to commit a crime other than trash talk, this was not a criminal act.

 

[Piorn]

Bad News: Saying tasteless jokes now gets you in jail.
Good News: Being rich gets you out again.
whoop-dee-doo...

 

[dumbseizure]

I wish jail was about trying to fix people rather then ruin them

Many places it is...

America is not one of them.

Pretty much this.

Most Prison systems focus on rehabilitation into society.

However, in America, there is so many people inside prisons that rehabilitation isn't the main goal anymore, it is more segregation than anything.

 

[BarkBarker]

The fact that this even happened is bullshit, donate? NO FUCKING MARCH ON THE LAW, THE PROSECUTOR WORKS FOR SATAN! I mean jesus christ the fallacy is with the man who tried to put him in jail in the first place, and should have the thunderous hammer of civil response upon him, and all that it entails, whoever put him in there, FUCk DAT GUY.

 

[Spygon]

The day freedom of speech became just another lie.

 

[Monsterfurby]

I don't get why people are so enamored with "freedom of speech". There's a reason all decent constitutions put the right to physical integrity and human dignity way ahead of that. Freedom of speech is a means to ensure that basic rights are guaranteed, not the end of those rights.

But I don't want to get into constitutional theory here. Let me just say that, if the authorities had done nothing and something HAD happened, they would have had to endure the shitstorm of voices asking "how could this happen" and "why did no one pay attention?"

I'd rather have it this way, but they already went overboard with it. They should clear the charges now and let him go.

 

[Flatfrog]

Let me just say that, if the authorities had done nothing and something HAD happened, they would have had to endure the shitstorm of voices asking "how could this happen" and "why did no one pay attention?"

OK, one last time - if they felt that his remark was sufficient reason to be concerned he might be serious (and while in context that was pretty obviously not the case, there's nothing wrong with a 'better safe than sorry' approach) then the correct next step was to investigate him to see if there was any further evidence. For example - put him under surveillance, search his property for weapons, call him in for an interview, examine any other posts he may have made, and if there was any further concern, order a psychiatric evaluation. Let's not forget - he was not at this stage suspected of having harmed anyone, just of intending to do so.

If they *had* found evidence he was planning to do something, presumably at that stage they could order him to undergo psychiatric care and put him on some kind of watch list, and be reasonably happy that they had prevented a terrible tragedy. But even then, *the original act of writing* would not have been a crime. If anything, it could have been interpreted as a plea for help, a 'stop me or I'll do something terrible' message.

So what consequences could this arrest have? Well, perhaps they could make a tragedy *more* likely, in a small way. Perhaps right now there's a depressed young man with nothing to live for getting the urge to take out his frustration on some innocent kids somewhere. And perhaps that young man might have even considered writing some subtle message to let people know he was on the brink of doing it. And perhaps, just perhaps, he'll think to himself - there's no point. Because if they see that I could just as easily end up in jail for a decade anyway.

I realise my hypothetical scenario is very unlikely. But that's the point, really. It's easy to think of 'what if' scenarios. But ultimately life is about balancing harms. And as I said before, in reality I doubt that the probability of any one person committing a schoolyard shooting is particularly altered by whether they have in the past made some smartass comment on a web forum.

 

[Meatspinner]

I knew it was a mistake reading the thread. It was "Faith in humanity restored" moment for me until I did.

I'm just going to imagine that some of you are just projecting an annoyance at someone/thing and are not expressing an actual world view.

 

[Negatempest]

-He said something really REALLY stupid.
-He is an adult, thus I do not pity him.
-Jail time? No. But a psychiatrist would go a long way.
-Why I do not pity him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_school_shooting To me this was far worse than any terrorist attack that we know of so far. So his "joke" went beyond tasteless.

What!?!?!?!!?!

Five kids dying in a school shooting is worse than 9/11 or the Oklahoma City bombing, or any other terrorist attack around the world that claimed more lives than that.

You need perspective.

At the most the LoL guy deserved brief suspension from the game, and someone to say that he should ease up on the dark jokes on the internet. But a psychiatrist, that is overreacting.

Psychiatrist is not over-reacting. Especially now that professional LoL players are considered professional athletes by the U.S. http://www.gamespot.com/news/us-government-recognizes-league-of-legends-players-as-pro-athletes-6411377

In short this would be like if you heard a football player say something THAT stupid and suffer no consequences. Nor did I say he should be jailed or fired. If anything, a suspension and psychiatrist visit would of been the punishment.

P.S. Also they were Amish kids. Literally the most defenseless children in the United States. Compared to Adults who at least lived a longer life.

 

[DerangedHobo]

"I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still-beating hearts."

Wow... just wow... I mean he didn't even make a good joke/threat, that's it? That's B movie depraved at best.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

P.S. Also they were Amish kids. Literally the most defenseless children in the United States. Compared to Adults who at least lived a longer life.

A death is a death, they are no more important than the adults as well as the children that died in the other attacks I mentioned.

People that have no time to react when they get blown up in bombings and such are just as defenseless.

Again, perspective. There is life and potential in all.

 

[DragonStorm247]

The kid said something stupid - of this point, there is little to no argument.

There's plenty of argument from me, which I've already made a few times but I'm going to make again. We are allowed to make jokes. In fact, as I understand it, jokes are protected under the First Amendment (not a US citizen so not really my area, but I've read a fair amount about these things). It's not exactly vintage Woody Allen but it's not even that bad a joke - it's the kind of thing that graces a million web forums every day. Christ, have you ever spent time on Reddit or B3ta? This is just bog standard banter - he even went to the trouble of adding a JK marker, which most people wouldn't bother with.

The fact that even those *supporting* him are still prevaricating over this, saying things like 'maybe he deserved some punishment but not this' or 'maybe he could just have been fined' or 'he's served enough jail time' are missing the point. This kid deserved *nothing* - even people above calling him 'a little shit' are going too far (at least on the basis of the story itself - he may be a little shit for all I know, but nothing in the story gives any reason to know either way). If anything, the person who reported him should have been fined for wasting police time.

We need to draw this line firmly. There is no crime whatsoever in making a joke, no matter how tasteless. There shouldn't even be a crime in making a verbal threat, in my opinion. There are two crimes: actual harm to another person, and intent to cause harm. And to show intent there needs to be damn sight more evidence than an offhand remark on a web forum.

Thank you.

This is what I've been trying to tell people ever since I first heard about this atrocity. Yelling "fire" or "bomb" isn't a threat, its just panic incitement. A valid statement, judged as something worse, and treated as something that shouldn't be an issue anyway.

 

[GroovySpecs]

I'm glad he's been bailed. I don't approve of what he said but there doesn't seem to be any belief that he intended to make good on his threat, and if that is the case then what is the point of even trying him in court? He's a child that said something silly.

I was having a drink with a friend the other day and she joked that she would like to shoot people who stand around talking in supermarket aisles so you can't get to what you want. Should she be jailed for that? It's madness.

 

[Quellist]

Shame he's only out for a few days though hopefully that will allow him to get his head together before trial. Hoping the other donations made will hire him a decent laywer because its my feeling that a halfway good lawyer could get this thrown out with Prejudice. Failing that hopefully there will be some sane people on the Jury.

I wouldn't be surprised if some aspiring "top lawyers" will offer their service to him for cheap, just so they can get known and wealthy by winning him a huge settlement (and because of all the attention this has been getting, there most likely will be a huge settlement).

After the way the guy has been persecuted i'll be delighted if he gets a large settlment. Jailing someone for a stupid remark is just a symptom of how wrong things are going in the west right now