Judge Refuses To Dismiss League of Legends Terrorist Threat Case

[Do4600]

Snip

You're one of those people who think that if someone makes a suicide note or threat, that they're just trying to get attention or "joking" aren't you? There's a reason military is trained to take shit like this very seriously, and I imagine the cops are to.

"Not at all." Said the strawman.

The military and the police only deal with people who are in the habit of following through with threats, other armies and the police are only called when people feel they are in danger of the person making a threat, if a person has called the police the police are already under the impression that the threat is serious enough to warrant police intervention.

The difference in effort between making a threat and carrying one out is one on the order of many magnitudes. A person can make a threat in a flash of anger in three seconds. Carrying that threat out could take days, weeks or months, and in that time or even within a few minutes or seconds of making a threat the emotion would have faded and reason would creep back in. When a person makes a threat it's almost always in the heat of an intense emotion and it's purpose is to intimidate, it's driven by the fight or flight mechanic and that mechanic shuts down the part of the brain that's reasonable. That is why there is a distinction between hot and cold blooded murder, one is done in the heat of a moment, the other is planned, reason doesn't have a chance to intervene in the first case and in the second case reason is corrupted.

I would argue that a threat given by a person 6000 miles away from you over an internet forum is very different than a person standing on your lawn with a shotgun. The amount of effort given by both people is what has changed the severity of the threat and indicates intent. Threats aren't intent.

I also like that you completely disregard my point that many bizarre violent threats are made every day on the internet and so few of them are ever carried out, how can they be taken "very seriously" when they amount to exactly nothing if they are examined for actual intent. How exactly would you propose we deal with the fact that threats aren't actions? I suppose we could put anybody in jail for threatening somebody else, but then there's that fight or flight mechanic, that's not going away.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

He deserves the stress and fear he'll probably go through during the trial but not jail, the best thing would be to let the trial go through and when the jury says guilty the judge gives him all 8 years says jk lol and then gives him some community service.

I feel pretty awful for agreeing with this... But it's a win-win to me. A two-fold way of showing that saying something horrible doesn't become acceptable just because you say "lol jk", and yet not deserving of Jail time.

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

oh, let's...
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What? Oh, bite me.

Ah, America, land of the free (if you have money).

Clearly the solution is to nuke the place and start from scratch again. Or is that a terrorist threat and I'll be arr- oh wait, I'm in New Zealand. We won't even give the US Kim Dot Com. Guess you'll have to be satisfied with taking out your anger on harmless teenagers.

We've got a history of telling the bigger countries to piss the hell off. That and we get Christmas before any of you schmucks XD

OT: Yes, at the end of the day, this kid needed to be slapped for saying something stupid... But I dare say he's gone through enough stress now. Also, I recall this video from The Young Turks talking about how this kind of shit would probably never have happened if this kid was the son of a senator, rather than some low/middle class family.

And captcha, what the hell do you mean you won't accept "Worst company in America" to describe the Bank of America?

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

You can convict this kid as long as you convict the thousands of online trash talkers too. This thread is ridiculous.

 

[Pebkio]

Okay... let's put his comments into a different arena:

Imagine an 18-year-old speaking on his speaker phone outside of his house whilest there is a crowd gathered and he says, out load, for all the people to hear (right after a recent school shooting) "I'm going to shoot up a school full of kids... lol... just kidding." Yeah, no, someone would likely punch his lights out before he got to the "j" in "just kidding".

The only difference here is that he typed out it on the internet. I don't see why anyone would think that should merit any leniency. Punks and trolls need to start learning that what they say has consequences. But he won't; eight years or no. Right now his parents and supporters are telling him that the world is being unfair... that everyone is being unjust and picking on him and he isn't going to learn shit. In fact, I bet he's feeling very vindicated, in fact, like what he said isn't a big deal and he should be perfectly okay to say MORE SHIT LIKE THAT!

I was a teenager once, and when I was, I also said something horrendous in the line of a joking threat during a tense situation. You bet I got I punished. The school officials came down on me hard and then my parents did again when I got home.

I agree that we shouldn't be giving him jail time. That's ridiculous. He should just get a good beating. Y'know, something physical and immediate to impress upon his mouth not to spout horrendous shit just because he feels like he's got internet balls.

He deserves the stress and fear he'll probably go through during the trial but not jail, the best thing would be to let the trial go through and when the jury says guilty the judge gives him all 8 years says jk lol and then gives him some community service.

That also works.

 

[Alfredo Jones]

I have a feeling this whole shindig is just a stunt by the Judicial system to try and teach punks like him to watch what they type. If it is they will probably go through the whole trial then decide at the last minute to let him off with a lighter punishment. If he did get jail time though that would probably be going too far.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

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 common sense at all.

Fixed that for ya. And thanks for demonstrating it.

You think a simple lapse of common sense is deserving of 8 years of jail time? This sensitive society has a knee jerk reaction to everything nowadays.

Says the person who doesn't read any further than directly under his nose. I think it's deserving of 3 months, tops.

I think context is an important thing here, something that a lot of people are missing.

Again, as I said above, the context is that he made a "joke" about shooting up a school, maybe 2 months after a major school shooting. It's not a bright thing to do, and warrants a response, absolutely. Is 8 yes WAY to much? Yes. Should he get off scot free? HELL no.

I guess that is where we have different mindsets. I don't think there is ever such a thing as "too soon" for making a joke. It might be tasteless but it isn't deserving of a jail time. Politicians make regular use of tragedies as a way to knee jerk ban things and as a society, we become amazingly paranoid. You might as well just jail everyone.

There's "to soon to make a joke" (I.E. Making a joke about Paul Walker in Fast and Furious), and theres "Cops are still on the look out." (I.e. Murder happens in my neighborhood, and I say "I'm on to the next one!")

That isn't an apt analogy given school shootings are usually isolated incidents. That said, this thread is full of crazy people. Reading it gives me a headache. I think I shall back out now.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

Okay... let's put his comments into a different arena:

Imagine an 18-year-old speaking on his speaker phone outside of his house whilest there is a crowd gathered and he says, out load, for all the people to hear (right after a recent school shooting) "I'm going to shoot up a school full of kids... lol... just kidding." Yeah, no, someone would likely punch his lights out before he got to the "j" in "just kidding".

Now let's place it in content: he was just called crazy by someone and he responds sarcastically with an obviously hyperbolic statement. It may have been stupid, but the stupidest thing about it was that he didn't take refuge in audacity enough.

So, should Mike Tyson have been brought to trial for saying "I will eat his heart, I will eat his children"? That's obviously a threatening statement as well.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Okay... let's put his comments into a different arena:

Imagine an 18-year-old speaking on his speaker phone outside of his house whilest there is a crowd gathered and he says, out load, for all the people to hear (right after a recent school shooting) "I'm going to shoot up a school full of kids... lol... just kidding." Yeah, no, someone would likely punch his lights out before he got to the "j" in "just kidding".

Now let's place it in content: he was just called crazy by someone and he responds sarcastically with an obviously hyperbolic statement. It may have been stupid, but the stupidest thing about it was that he didn't take refuge in audacity enough.

So, should Mike Tyson have been brought to trial for saying "I will eat his heart, I will eat his children"? That's obviously a threatening statement as well.

You will never be able to reason with any of the people in this thread that want this kids head on a plate. Oh shit! I just talked about someones head being cut off. Welp, looks like its off to jail for me.

 

[The Feast]

People call the teen the idiot. But the way I see it, the stalker that intrude the boy's profile and tell the authority that he is a threat, proceeding to arrest the boy and put him in jail for 8 years, I tend too see that focus of idiocy is not just the boy but the whole circle itself. What? They're are so damn crime-free and they don't want to take the risk that the boy who may have zero kill count could pose a threat to the neighbors? What about the other criminal who have done more of their time receive these kind of treatment? Usually not more than a year with a parole.

I guess make him lost his chance for education and traumatize him for life will make him a better person, huh?

 

[Dragonbums]

What exactly is this judge trying to prove here? What?

This needs a public television broadcast. The ONLY reason why this has dragged on for so long is because this bullshit hasn't been brought to the whole American public yet. So far it's only been contained on the internet.

 

[Pebkio]

Now let's place it in content: he was just called crazy by someone and he responds sarcastically with an obviously hyperbolic statement. It may have been stupid, but the stupidest thing about it was that he didn't take refuge in audacity enough.

So, should Mike Tyson have been brought to trial for saying "I will eat his heart, I will eat his children"? That's obviously a threatening statement as well.

What do you think is going to happen here... that I'd suddenly "Well, no, not Mike Tyson! I like him...". Of course he should've been punished. I mean, it's the same thing but with "internet balls" replaced with "famous balls". Just because he THINKS it's okay to be said doesn't actually make it okay to be said.

And the context? That's like trying to say "But officer HE MADE ME threaten that school full of children." Sorry, but no, the kid chose to say the most offensive and horrendous thing he could think of to a plain and simple insult. "Officer! He called me dumb so I backed him up by saying I was going to throw a baby into a top-loading washing machine! I don't the see the big deal!"

Btw... the true comparison would be if Mike Tyson had said "I will eat his children" right after someone just ate a child.

Why are you trying so hard to justify bad behavior? Just because the reaction is extreme? It's okay for the kid to be offensive as he possibly can to anybody he wants because they took his punishment too far?

Maybe bad on the judge (depending on the outcome) but first-and-foremost BAD ON THE KID!

 

[Alleged_Alec]

Now let's place it in content: he was just called crazy by someone and he responds sarcastically with an obviously hyperbolic statement. It may have been stupid, but the stupidest thing about it was that he didn't take refuge in audacity enough.

So, should Mike Tyson have been brought to trial for saying "I will eat his heart, I will eat his children"? That's obviously a threatening statement as well.

What do you think is going to happen here... that I'd suddenly "Well, no, not Mike Tyson! I like him...". Of course he should've been punished. I mean, it's the same thing but with "internet balls" replaced with "famous balls". Just because he THINKS it's okay to be said doesn't actually make it okay to be said.

And the context? That's like trying to say "But officer HE MADE ME threaten that school full of children." Sorry, but no, the kid chose to say the most offensive and horrendous thing he could think of to a plain and simple insult. "Officer! He called me dumb so I backed him up by saying I was going to throw a baby into a top-loading washing machine! I don't the see the big deal!"

Btw... the true comparison would be if Mike Tyson had said "I will eat his children" right after someone just ate a child.

Why are you trying so hard to justify bad behavior? Just because the reaction is extreme? It's okay for the kid to be offensive as he possibly can to anybody he wants because they took his punishment too far?

Maybe bad on the judge (depending on the outcome) but first-and-foremost BAD ON THE KID!

No. I was expecting that people understand that black humor, crossing the line twice and refuge in audacity are a thing. My point was that this, just as the Tyson quote, was a hyperbole, although the LoL one a bit not obvious enough. The point of giving context is that context changes everything. Here as well.

And no, I'm not trying to justify bad behaviour. I'm hoping people will understand that "he's an ass", true as it may be, is no reason to turn a badly made hyperbole into a threat and say that this kid should be locked up for X years "to serve as an example", which, while on the subject, is also an appalling, populist idea which only serves as to undermine the judicial system.

Furthermore: since this is a hyperbole, the possible threat of further school shootings clearly doesn't apply here, and since "nimis cito, homo" is not a term used in the judicial system, this point is moot and I don't really know why people keep bringing it up.

 

[wulfgar_red]

united states is groining full retard in every possible area. what's next? treating peaceful environmental protesters like terrorists? ... oh wait, that already happened in oklahoma city last week.

 

[1337mokro]

Just say you suffer from affluenza. It got another kid off for killing 4 people, should get you of for making a meaningless threat over the internet.

 

[otakon17]

He deserves the stress and fear he'll probably go through during the trial but not jail, the best thing would be to let the trial go through and when the jury says guilty the judge gives him all 8 years says jk lol and then gives him some community service.

He's been held for months now, he was investigated and they found nothing. They had to move him to solitary and kept him on suicide watch. I'd say that was enough for him to never ever say anything out of place again ever.

This has been taken completely out of proportion and has cost people money. And the judge just wants the publicity I think. This is ludicrous. He doesn't deserve jail time for having said a tasteless comment on Facebook. At worst he should have been banned from the service and that's about it.

 

[Zetatrain]

Eh...personally I think the worst he should get is a fine.

 

[hexFrank202]

I'll go one further and give the joke a solid 7/10

I mean, you folks all get the joke, right? How many of you actually think it was even a notably impolite thing to say when in an internet argument> I don't think that in a South Park, Louis CK world, that the majority of 20-somethings on the internet wouldn't ACTUALLY be offended by a any kind of sarcastic vileness, let alone on a website that features the host of The Dismal Jesters.

I worry that how quick people are to say 'oh but I don't agree with the comment oh ho ho!' is a result of being just a little afraid of the legal system.

*reads some more comments here*

Ugh, and/or it's just people being self righteous. This person never "learned any lesson" about etiquette or rhetoric, guys.

The joke's target was at the person calling him crazy.

The joke's purpose was to give an example of what real craziness would be like.

The joke's intended damage was for the person calling him crazy to feel a little bit silly for a few minutes.

 

[Vareoth]

If I were him I would probably become a terrorist out of spite...

Bah, I'm going to do something else now. Reading shit like this makes me want to do unreasonable things to my "fellow" human beings.

 

[Compatriot Block]

I'll go one further and give the joke a solid 7/10

I mean, you folks all get the joke, right? How many of you actually think it was even a notably impolite thing to say when in an internet argument> I don't think that in a South Park, Louis CK world, that the majority of 20-somethings on the internet wouldn't ACTUALLY be offended by a any kind of sarcastic vileness, let alone on a website that features the host of The Dismal Jesters.

I worry that how quick people are to say 'oh but I don't agree with the comment oh ho ho!' is a result of being just a little afraid of the legal system.

*reads some more comments here*

Ugh, and/or it's just people being self righteous. This person never "learned any lesson" about etiquette or rhetoric, guys.

The joke's target was at the person calling him crazy.

The joke's purpose was to give an example of what real craziness would be like.

The joke's intended damage was for the person calling him crazy to feel a little bit silly for a few minutes.

It's not an Escapist forum thread without self-righteousness and generalizing an entire country (but ONLY the United States, as a thread about Europeans/the UK from a couple days ago shows).

Any long period of time in big-boy prison will absolutely ruin his life. Even if he gets off with a tiny sentence length, he still has to live as a convicted felon forever. He made a terrible joke, and I know that the "stone-hearted uncaring pillar of justice" thing is a fun role to play on the internet, but that's a real person you guys are talking about.

 

[AngryPuppy]

Any one of the people saying this boy got what he deserved, I really hope you never lost your temper and screamed at someone or made a sarcastic comment/tasteless joke to your friends or online or else you better turn yourselves in to the Police. You deserve the same punishment this boy got.