League of Legends Player Faces Eight Years For "Terroristic Threats"

[tofulove]

if he a dumb ass, sure. did he deserve the scare of being arrested to get his shit together, that can be arguably ok. but is he 8 years in prison worthy, hell no. They need to give the kid a break, being toss in a cell for a few days was more than enough to make him realize how serious it is, months in jail is going way over bord, 8 years in prison is tyrannical and draconian.

 

[cikame]

Isn't he protected by freedom of speech?
A hot topic here in the UK recently is a group of muslim extremists who want to increase their numbers and take any justice they seek into their own hands, right now it's just words so nothing can be done, even though these are people claiming they will kill people.

I hope this gets sorted out.

 

[McKinsey]

I'd expect a few years then have him be put on a watch list of some sort.

"A few years"? Because of a joke? Dude, are you, like, for serious? You think they should incarcerate a person and basically screw his whole life up because of a stupid little joke he made when he was angry? Have you ever been a teenager yourself, or have you come straight from that unknown weird planet where people don't care at all about other human beings?

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Considering how the nature of the comment doesn't seem to be an insult (he followed it up with "lol" and "jk", rather then more expletives), and he has no prior history of really anything, this seems pretty fucking stupid altogether. Maybe give him a warning or at worst a couple of days to teach him to leave the offensive banter to the online games when he's anonymous and not when he has a name and face attached to his comment. The fact we're giving kids 8 years for mentioning doing some thing and then immediately stating he is joking while online? Well, how do the far-right republicans call it, "The terrorists have won"

 

[DEAD34345]

This is terrifying, and what's even more terrifying is the fact that half the people here seriously seem to be OK with it.

Seriously, I don't even know what to say. Isn't this supposed to be the kind of thing America is diametrically opposed to, land of the free and all that? Isn't freedom of speech supposed to be kind of a big deal over there? How can countries like China and North Korea be so readily condemned when a guy in the US is imprisoned for months, potentially for 8 years, for making a joke!?

 

[RejjeN]

I feel I shouldn't need to express just how dumb this whole situation is... But I feel this is appropriate.
edit: can't seem to figure out the youtube thing, so meh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srv_V3-oqsc

 

[Flames66]

"These kids, they don't realize what they're doing. They don't understand the implications. They don't understand public space."

Then maybe you should teach them. The number of vitriolic, bile-spewing teenagers online is far too high. This guy even seems to know that you shouldn't just write anything that comes to mind on the internet, but he never bothered to communicate that to his son. For that matter, just teaching him to ignore trolls on the internet and take the high road could have been good. I hope this teaches some people that valuable lesson. Besides, he's 18. He should take responsibility for his words and actions.

It's all very well to say that his parents should have taught him better, but in practice raising a child is a very complicated, confusing, stressful and draining task. How could he have known his son would come out with that? How could he have prevented it? I know when I was his age I hadn't got over all my issues with my parents (I still haven't), so telling him may have caused him to come out with something worse.

That said, I've actually been on that end of the "you don't really have freedom of speech" issue, and I think they are taking it too far. 8 years? That seems a bit much for someone with no history of violent behavior or mental disorders (I assume).

The most this should warrant is a stern talking to. Any prison time for a crime that he hasn't committed, just sarcastically suggested, is a massive miscarriage of justice.

what happen to that of "you are innocent until proven guilty"?
civil rights are a joke, it seems.

ummm no one said he was convicted just arrested and charged, but thanks for playing.

Oh yeah, he's only been in jail for three months, I see nothing to be concerned about.

Cases take a long time to go through the legal system. Most Criminal trial defendants end up being in jail for months maybe even over a year before their case eventually gets a verdict. Since he is eighteen, he goes through the same hoops as everyone else and is not a kid like his father keeps insisting. I'm pretty sure his case will eventually be dismissed, and even if it doesn't, the state does not have much evidence. Just let the court system sort it out.

That is also a miscarriage of justice, he should not be in jail before his case has even been heard.

 

[Frankster]

Just the other day whilst playing lol one of my team mates threatened to find where i live and "cut me up" in my sleep "for being so noob". Pleasant chap.

Any chance i could get him arrested for threats of bodily harm?

 

[Catrixa]

So I spent some time thinking about this one, and I think the consequences for it should be similar to if he had said this in a public area, and someone overheard. Not sure what the normal police response to "I just overheard someone say they were going to kill school children! And eat their still-beating hearts!" is, but if it's anything other than a talking-to (in reality, you would have heard "just kidding," followed by actual laughter), what the hell?

Like, Captain Tasteless Joke should have had the police show up at his house, and the police officer should have whacked him in the back of the head with a rolled-up newspaper and said, "Oi, your joke scared someone! Facebook is a public forum, show the same damn restraint you would if you were outside on there, or I'll nab you for disturbing the damn peace." And then left. Information would be disseminated, precedent would be set, and no one would be wasting space and money in jail over what is effectively a tactless restaurant patron.

We're getting to the point where talking about bad things (next is thinking them) is an arrestable offence. Orwell would be displeased.

 

[faefrost]

Can we buy this presecutor an XBox Live subscription and sit back and watch the fun?

 

[theultimateend]

I'm torn, becuse on one hand I don't think he really deserves eight years for this, but on the other hand maybe this will force stupid kids to realize that saying moronic shit online has consequences.

It won't.

The only results are negative from this sort of thing.

This story is ridiculous on like 9 different levels. US is turning into a place of cowards and I find it really disappointing. I've not even been around 3 decades and I've already seen things change dramatically and not for the better in terms of the response to hyperbole.

Probably related to 9/11 but not entirely, this law of cowards started up in the 90's.

America, land of the free, until you say 1 thing to another in a fit of anger that is clearly a joke, then you get your ass locked up for 3 months, maybe even 8 years, seriously, are you guys for real? next you will be having public hangings if you disagree with the government.

And I imagine there would >still< be people on the forums here defending the hangings. "He shouldn't have said he was going to run a denny's over with a tank."

"Does he even own a tank?"

"It doesn't matter! He could have got one on Ebay!"

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

How is this at all acceptable? He shouldn't be doing any jail time at all. Even keeping him around before his trial is fucking ridiculous. THIS is what breeds contempt for the government; this kid will probably come out of jail, whether that be in a few months or eight years, frustrated and angry at the government who put him away for saying something stupid.
What's next? What's the next dumb thing we can say that will get us arrested? Will it be criticizing the government? Whistleblowing is already treated like treason, for the love of god, so why the hell not?

captcha: By the book. No captcha, I think we need a little more common sense and a little less relying on the letter of the law.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

Does this mean that legislators and reporters who exaggerate threats will also go to jail? (Video games turn innocent children into rampage killers! We need CISPA [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Intelligence_Sharing_and_Protection_Act] or planes will fall from the sky![footnote]Hackers can't and won't drop planes from the sky, and CISPA wouldn't prevent them if they could.[/footnote] Abortions make women suicidal! Birth Control causes cancer!)

I'm really not sure what the crime was here. What did Justin Carter do that was actually a crime? What panic did he incite?

When authority figures tell us harbinger the apocalypse if we fail to get a law passed or a guy elected, I suspect that causes an awful lot more panic and terror than a teen spouting off on Facebook or over League of Legends. If we're going to bust a kid for snarking, why can't we bust officials being dead serious when they wax hyperbolic (and often blatantly false)?

This is obvious scapegoating.

This is a sickening sign of the times.

238U

 

[Kargathia]

Sometimes, justice can be too blind.

This reminds me of the dude in the UK who was arrested for joking on Twitter about blowing up an airport because his plane was delayed.

Luckily, he was released again pretty quickly because the judicial system here isn't quite so moronic.

Except it actually went through multiple appellate courts before the decision was overturned.

Not to mention the fact the judicial system charged him in the first place, even though nobody at all - including airport security and the justice department itself - really saw the need for it.

 

[Irridium]

I'd expect a few years then have him be put on a watch list of some sort.

"A few years"? Because of a joke? Dude, are you, like, for serious? You think they should incarcerate a person and basically screw his whole life up because of a stupid little joke he made when he was angry? Have you ever been a teenager yourself, or have you come straight from that unknown weird planet where people don't care at all about other human beings?

I said "expect" not "he should have been". Personally I would have just given him a warning and sent him on his way. Maybe put him on a list of people you shouldn't sell guns to.

No need to be so hostile, man.

 

[rapidoud]

Tell me again why this country is 'free' when your government spies on you and your neighbours report you for comments when apparently you have "free speech"? Invoking Godwin's Law but isn't this a milder version of what Germany was like in WW2?

Can't even count the amount of times I'm told to go kill myself for being Australian in games but really now, this is just 1984 in real life USA. Get your shit together.

 

[Marudas]

For people in the "its just a joke, get over it" camp: Yes, I too believe the statement was far from genuine. However, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, threats are not protected by freedom of speech. Whether or not you agree with that, that's how the law is currently read. As far as whether or not someone should be persecuted this hard for such a statement, I agree completely that its a complete overindulgence in fear and stupidity. That being said, i want to say one thing. We, as gamers, shouldn't just roll with these statements. It shouldn't be normal. It shouldn't be something that we come to and say "yeah, people are racist, sexist, and otherwise hateful, all the time, big deal". I'm not saying its a crime, but it certainly is pathetic.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm torn, becuse on one hand I don't think he really deserves eight years for this, but on the other hand maybe this will force stupid kids to realize that saying moronic shit online has consequences.

Well, that sums up my feelings. Eight years a lot, but fewer caustic dicks on the internet surely can't be a bad thing....

Can it?

 

[Vareoth]

Pff, what a dumb reason to arrest him. It looks like the terrorists did win in the end...