Judge Refuses To Dismiss League of Legends Terrorist Threat Case

[MCerberus]

Texas: Murder four people and you get probation and a spa trip. We don't want to be too harsh and ruin a life
Make a tasteless comment on facebook because of some random Canadian woman who wants reward money: 8 years in jail you are scum that will never be a productive member of society

What the hell, Texas?


But seriously, can we, as a society, move past the retributionist mindset for all crime and punishment? It simply doesn't work, and it's cheaper to... you know... help them be a better person. Plus there's a lot of unintended awful side-effects (read: prison industry money). It sticks out like a sore thumb considering that our nation was more-or-less founded around Duty Ethics.

 

[Something Amyss]

I think being branded a terrorist is what's got most people riled up here. Threats in general tend to be called "terrorist threats" by the courts. I shared plenty of anger management classes with men convicted of making terrorist threats against their girlfriends.

In part because "terrorist" is often used differently in a courtroom setting. That's really the problem? All we have to do is explain how a word can be used in multiple ways and people will be okay with this?

Also, if this kid is actually getting his ass kicked in jail (not prison, he hasn't been convicted of anything) then he's simply an asshole that still hasn't learned to shut his mouth and sucks at making friends.

Well, he IS a gamer.

*rimshot*

I kiiiiiid, I kiiiiiiid.

 

[Jack Nief]

While I congratulate the reaction time for something being done on this sort of thing, because Sandy Hook is a horrible tragedy which should never ever be allowed to happen again... but Jesus, if they already confirmed that that kid had no means or even fucking intent of actually hurting anyone, why the hell ruin his life by potentially putting on eight more years of prison!? Psychoanalyze the kid, throw some community service hours at him, slap him on the wrist and kick his ass out the door! Don't fucking RUIN HIS LIFE MORE THAN IT ALREADY IS because he made an utterly tasteless, ignorant and idiotic comment on the internet!

Punish the wicked! Not the wicked stupid!

 

[SadisticFire]

Snip

Give this man a medal. Seriously, who the hell hasn't made tasteless jokes that are borderline or over the line. I've done it multiple times, i'm still here. I havn't hurt anyone, hell, letting myself say those words was probably more safe than forcing me to bite my tongue. What this kid did is tasteless, sure. Bit asshole, sure, but does that mean we have to live under repressive laws for 'safety'?

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Well holy shit, it seems like half of this thread thinks that people making bad dead baby jokes should face jail time.

Does anyone seriously believe that this was intended as anything other than an attempt at black humor? I mean honestly, eating their still beating hearts? It reeks of a ridiculous hyperbole and sarcasm in every regard. Does anyone actually believe he was going to do that?

Hell, I'd actually feel more convinced that someone wasn't going to go on a school massacre after making a comment like that. Because if they were, then I assume they'd try to be a little more covert about their plans

If anyone actually believes this was a serious threat, please, please explain to me why. I actually cannot fathom how you would.

For those who don't, but still believe that this guy should have his life destroyed over a "tasteless" (honestly, as tasteless goes that is nothing to write home about) Facebook comment... holy shit, why should someone face jail time for an offensive joke?

I can't believe this discussion is being had

 

[Trueflame]

Was it a stupid remark? Yes, incredibly and undeniably so. But was it a credible threat, or meant to intimidate, realistic, probable, or anything else of the sort? Absolutely not. The fact that this case is continuing is already a travesty as far as free speech is concerned, and if he is actually found guilty I will literally have no words to describe my shock and outrage. Not only do I not think he deserves jail time or any punishment for his comment (life would have hopefully taught him to choose his words anyway, and this ordeal certainly has by now), but it will set a very bad precedent if he is convicted.

 

[MahouSniper]

If this kid gets convicted, I might have to go break him out of jail myself. OH WAIT! Saying that is clearly an illegal THREAT! Someone report me, I obviously deserve 8 years of jail time for this blatant and dangerous act of terrorism. Or perhaps the previous statement was sarcasm, not fact. Oh well, better arrest me just to be safe. Guilty until proven innocent, right? JK LOL!

The only terrorism here is the people trying to scare everyone into shutting up and falling in lock-step with what you deem the norm. Just because you think his joke is tasteless and offensive (which I do too, by the way, because it super is) doesn't mean he shouldn't say it. You don't have a right to not be offended. If you're trying to use fear, or dare I say TERROR, to censor sarcasm, you're the terrorists.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

This is ridiculous. It's honestly infuriating to me that people are even saying "LOL HES DUMB SERVES HIM RIGHT." It's a total abuse of power and it makes no fucking sense at all.

Lets just drop the whole pretense that this kid is clearly being sarcastic. Let's take off the "lol, JK" at the end and just assume the absolute worst, that this was typed completely seriously.

"I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still-beating hearts" even taken with no sense of sarcasm, is not something a terrorist says. It's something a lunatic says. Why this kid would even questionably face JAIL is beyond me. If ANYTHING he should be sent to an insane asylum until he's deemed fit to reintegrate with society. (which would likely be never if he's constantly garnering plans to consume live hearts out of chest cavities as he stands accused of.)

This is clearly a power play by somebody. Nobody has any reason to honestly believe that this kid had any legitimate intention to shoot up a school. He received half a million dollars in donations for bail. Maybe it's about money. Maybe it's about all the press it's able to garner. Who knows.

And if the whole point is to make an example out of this kid, what message does that send? The USA is a country that will fight tooth and nail to throw you in prison for making a stupid joke on Facebook. Is the prospect of that not fucking scary to anyone else?

 

[PH3NOmenon]

Giving him a couple of hundred hours of community service seems way more reasonable. People pleading for jailtime are, in my opinion, off their rockers.

 

[otakon17]

If he is found guilty of this manufactured crime,I will seriously consider moving to Canada soon.

I tell you, if I had a nickel for everyone who threatened to move to Canadia because of something they didn't like, I'd be able to retire to Canadia and live like a queen.

Also, if even half the people did it, I'm pretty sure America would have emptied out four times over by now.

Sort of ironic, though, that the woman who alerted the authorities was from Canadia, eh?

Yeah, but it's not the Canadian justice system carrying out this farce is it?

 

[RJ 17]

Ahhhh, Facebook. What you've done to the Penny-Arcade "Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory" is simply amazing. You've pulled the "anonymity" part out of the equation, and yet people are still driven to be complete Fuckwads! What's truly hilarious is that by subtracting the anonymity, all of a sudden people actually have to be held accountable for the moronic, asinine things they say...they're no longer just a faceless jackass with some random internet handle for a name.

It's a new age, people, and the Digital Darwin Awards have been going strong thanks to things like Facebook and Twitter. I wonder what the count is on how many people have ruined their own lives because of being complete idiots on social media?

As for the matter at hand: I don't think the jackass should go to jail for 8 years. I'm always one that believes the punishment should fit the crime: ban him from the internet for 8 years. And if he violates that form of probation, THEN you can throw his stupid ass in jail.

 

[A Weakgeek]

You know, if this keeps up, they are going to ruin more lives through over reactions and bullshit convictions than any number of mentally ill students with guns will.

You know what scares me alot more than a kid on facebook (jokingly) threatening to shoot up a school? Reading news that someones goverment would sentence me for 8 years if I were to say that. Its idiotic, unjust, borderline facist and you could argue, state terrorism.

As one who comes from a socialist country (Finland), I can without lying say that in many cases I prefer safety over freedom. But this is disgusting.

 

[Mau95]

AHAHAHAAHA Fail
Are these people serious? They could convict half of LoL's playerbase on those grounds.

 

[Amir Kondori]

And this is why you shouldn't be stupid.
Don't be stupid people.

I am sorry, but this is not a case of being stupid, this is a case of huge prosecutorial overreach. It is obvious to the general person, given the context the comments where made in, that there was no serious intent on Mr. Carter's part. Authorities, as much as some would like, are not supposed to be able to jail you for 8 years for a joke. Even jokes about shooting up a school, even jokes about bombing a plane.

 

[Andrew_C]

Hell, even in Britain our courts decided jailing people for this sort of thing was ridiculous and a waste of time and money. It had to go all the way to the Court of Appeals, but they eventually saw sanity.

 

[shirkbot]

I can't believe the people that support this kid getting jail time for mouthing off after a LoL game. I love this paranoid country we live in where opening your mouth means going to jail.
Of course, I am not too surprised, most of the people on The Escapist are known for having no understanding or compassion at all.

I'm not even affected by this, but I still want him to get punished.

Also, there's a difference between compassion and sympathy for imbeciles. This is neither political nor a system of repression. He did something very stupid and now he will face the consequences. I really prefer this system to the local one (Germany) where you can bash someones head in for shit and giggles and get probation.

I know I'm late to the conversation, but just as a point: If he does get punished for this then that sets a legal precedent, and a dangerous one. He said something stupid, yes, but investigation either has or would prove he was not going to go through with it. For a threat to merit punishment, it has to be credible and this one really isn't. You may not approve of his actions, but punishing him stands to harm many more people over a much longer period of time than letting him off with a stern warning. And believe it or not, because of the increasingly interconnected nature of the world, this would probably affect you regardless.

 

[spartan231490]

Yeah awesome, because we''re not allowed to be sarcastic or have a sense of humor anymore. All I can say to anyone who thinks that this is right: is that I hope you are the next ones to have your rights violated and lives ruined over something that was obviously sarcastic.

Unlikely. I doubt many people are going to jokingly plan to shoot up a school on a public space. But, I mean, you were just sarcastic, so I'm assuming that since they've taken away the right to sarcasm, you won't see this because you'll be in jail? I guess that's the logic you've put forth.

He didn't plan shit. Someone said he was crazy, and he replied sarcastically, oh the horror. Seriously, I 100% hope you're next.