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

[Gothproxy]

OK, I don't care if we need to school people about the dangers of being stupid on the internet (which is a LOT), but there comes a point where we as a nation need to lighten the HELL UP!! There will always be nutz-os out there who will do horrible things, but 9 times out of 10 those people aren't going to post their plans of Facebook.

And who the hell is this woman in Canada who saw the post, decided to investigate (and I'm guessing it took a bit of work) and get this dork thrown in jail for a sarcastic comment? Did she think she would be a hero? Did she think she would end up on Good Morning Canada and praised for her diligent work in apprehending a serious killer?

And what's up with these "law enforcement officials" trying to nail to the wall every idiot who does something stupid that someone else took offense to or misconstrued what was meant? Have they forgotten that we are HUMAN BEINGS? We are not robots who are going against our safety protocols when we utter a dumb line, thus forcing the establishment to melt us into slag. While these moronic prosecutors and sheriffs and judges ruin the lives of people who were just being HUMAN (and slightly stupid) there are those people out there who aren't putting their evil thoughts on Facebook (or Twitter or Reddit) who are slipping through the cracks and making the evening news in the worst ways possible.

I've written several comments that anyone, anywhere might take the wrong way. If some law official were to come to my house to ask me about it, I'd hand them a beer, tell them to lighten the f**** up and get out of my house. I'd tell the judge that too (maybe without the beer, though).

Here's a big newsflash for ya, kiddos. Remember this "War on Terror" we were/are supposed to be fighting. Well, guess what? WE LOST!!!

Fear rules everything in our daily lives in America now. Every comment is scrutinized. Every word spoken is taken for evaluation under the negative. You can't take a walk in your neighborhood without someone calling the cops wondering what you are doing. You can't post on the internet without some turd-brain from another country trying to get you arrested just for their jollies. Kids can't walk to school anymore. They can't play around the neighborhood for fear of other people. You can't give CPR to anyone without fear of a law suite (or do anything else for fear of someone suing you for something). Kids can't play at all at school pretending ANYTHING violent for fear of expulsion because when Timmy makes a gun with his hand and goes "bang-bang" while playing cops and robber, what he's really doing is letting us know he's thinking of murdering his entire class. Because, you know, that's totally what I did when I was 4 as well as every other kid I ever grew up with...

....Oh wait, I turned out to be just fine? A decent, educated, contributing member to society? Well golly gosh gee, Batman, what are we to take from that?

Guess we'll blame it on the video games then.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Im not sure what i think about this notion of the kid being made an example of in order to deter trolling and vitriol online. Maybe search his house and see if theres piles of guns and a blueprint of the school, but 8 years is asinine, especially when the comment was followed by modifiers we use to signify the fact that were joking or pushing the sarcasm to the mac. He added the "lol jk" thinking it was a safeguard, and clearly that doesnt work that way. But actual murderers and rapists end up with less than 8 years. Im sorry but this is fucked up, and the word "terroristic" only makes it even more extreme of an overreaction. Check his house and look into it if you want to be safe, but for fucks sake dont lock the kid up until hes 26.

yeah this, at the very least make alot of it on house arrest or something, not full on prison.

OT: while i'm happy that threats have the potential to be taken seriously online (as in they can be used as legit evidence), i think this is overkill on the politically correct police portion, and unless it's hidden somewhere, i don't see this being a repeat offense or the kid being a "bad kid" so to speak, so this was way overdone for his first offense.


the day sarcasm is liable for 8 years is just...fuck me silly in the brain. I guess the PC police win, time for me to move somewhere where humor can roam free to offend or not offend, and people just deal with it.

 

[jetriot]

They didn't find any evidence of a serious threat and they have him in jail for 3 months? When he gets out in July when this case is thrown out I hope he sues the shit out of the police department. He has every right to make a sarcastic comment online. If his comment is misinterpretted as a legit threat then sure search his house. After nothing is found they need to get the hell out. Cops and prosecutors are turning more and more into bullies of average citizens and there will be a day of reckoning(That is a warning not a fucking threat).

 

[Pinkamena]

This is fucking ridiculous. 8 years in prison for something he MIGHT do? This is some serious Minority Report shit.

 

[NoeL]

Nobody understands irony on the internet. But then again, nobody seems to understand irony in the real world either, so I guess that's to be expected.

How ironic.

OT: I can't imagine he'd be charged if he didn't have several similar sentiments posted around the place, so I'm assuming he's a douchebag that made light of school massacres and threatened others on a regular basis. Really though, if all they have to go on is a Facebook post, let the kid go.

 

[SadisticFire]

I've seen so many threats like this. And no one called them out. It's because everyone could EASILY tell it was a joke, people laughed along with them, sometimes me included. Is it in poor taste? Possibly. Does it deserve time in prison? Hell to the no. I'm disturbed, appalled that people are perfectly fine with going with "watch what you say". Maybe if it wasn't clear that it was a feckin' joke I would side with them, but in the end it says "lol" and "jk". How much clearer can you get? At most it deserves a look into his history to see if he's at ANY risk for such a thing, and MAYBE a slap on the wrist, but still no other punishment. If you're reading this post, I'm sure you've seen one of your friends made a joke in similar taste, and know that they wouldn't do something like this, would they deserve eight years?

 

[Drizzitdude]

Completely ridiculous. Glad to see the world is still a complete shithole a lot of the time, I mean come on, he obviously wasn't serious, and making an obviously illegimate threat into an eight year long sentence doesn't fix the problem, glad to see not only are we paying for the criminals in for small crimes, we are also paying for teenagers who make inappropriate jokes (and with shows like southpark and the like, lets face it, there is no shortage of them) I hope the person who reported him feels proud they just ruined some kids entire life.

 

[Amir Kondori]

It is OBVIOUS that it was a joke. He wrote "lol" and "jk". The police that arrested him and especially the prosecutor who is actually going forward with this case should be imprisoned, not this kid.

This has got to be the stupidest thing I have read about in this country since the story about the little kid who got suspended because he supposedly bit his pop-tart into the shape of a gun.

What the hell is wrong with this country. Hopefully this ridiculous, overreaching case will get dropped.

 

[Amir Kondori]

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

Er, you have to claim innocence for that to work, it looks like he's not claiming not to have said it.

That is not how it works. He has admitted to the posting, he has NOT plead guilty to any crime. He has simply said he made those statements but believes they were not a crime. Until a judge or jury finds him guilty he is presumed innocent. The 500 million bail is also ridiculous. Like really, really out there. He is not a flight risk, he obviously had no guns and no means to carry out an attack, and it seems likely that most people would recognize his comments as a joke.

 

[chadachada123]

I can't wait to go next door, shoot my neighbor, and eat his corpse.

Lol jk.

----

Do you seriously believe that the above is some sort of threat? Like, seriously? Even without the "Lol jk" at the end, there is no way in hell that the above could be taken as an actual threat by anyone with an ounce of common sense.

1) Do you live in United States?
2) Has an incident of that description (or similar) recently happened in the United States?

Depending on the answers to those 2 questions, it can ABSOLUTELY be taken as a real threat. If they are both "yes" then I highly recommend editing your post before you are reported to the authorities and the shit hits the fan. If it's "no" (to the first one especially) then you'll be completely fine.

Common sense is irrelevant, only the 2 things I listed matter.

I don't believe that "cannibalism" has been a factor of any mass shooting in the United States. Beyond that, school shootings aren't happening with more frequency now than five years ago. It is, like the whole "terrorism" bullshit, just being picked up on and sensationalized far more now.

I stand by my first post. The United States may have, in recent years, become a terror-ridden police state where the courts ruin lives willy nilly, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't all fly in the face of common sense (and civil liberties).

 

[Jackel86]

"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.

Trust me, I am fully aware of how complicated raising a child is. I'm not saying the father could have certainly prevented this. If I implied that, it was by mistake (I wrote that while at work, so half doing something else). I'm just saying that he could have at least tried. And if he did, then what he said wouldn't really make that much sense, because it doesn't sound like they had ever discussed that. And if he had, then the argument that the guy didn't know better is invalid. Because like I said, he isn't a kid, he's 18 (I have some opinions on why maybe we shouldn't consider 18 year olds as adults in quite so many ways, but that's another discussion). He should know better just via common sense at this point (if not having been told), and not being aware of his surroundings is no longer a good excuse at that age.

You are right that a straight up criminal conviction for a crime that hasn't happened is messed up, but do you know how it feels to have someone threaten your life legitimately but have the police say they can't do anything because no actual crime has been committed? I'm not saying he deserved this, but I don't believe in unfettered free speech either. Some people should be apprehended based on threats if those threats are likely to be carried out (probably not this guy, but there are exceptions).

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Jesus fuckin' Christ. Is this what America's come to? People aren't even allowed to joke anymore? This is how our future looks like now? Living in the state of constant fear. Fuck that!

 

[Antari]

I'm honestly surprised at people who seem perfectly comfortable with the idea that we now live in a "be careful what you say" society. This kid - and he is a kid - spends three months in jail and faces a longer sentence than some killers simply because we are too afraid to make a call between a genuine threat and shit-talk on the internet, and this is somehow okay?

I'm not very surprised at all. I run into that sort of thinking on a regular basis. I blame the lack of a recent world war.

 

[Flames66]

Trust me, I am fully aware of how complicated raising a child is. I'm not saying the father could have certainly prevented this. If I implied that, it was by mistake (I wrote that while at work, so half doing something else). I'm just saying that he could have at least tried. And if he did, then what he said wouldn't really make that much sense, because it doesn't sound like they had ever discussed that. And if he had, then the argument that the guy didn't know better is invalid. Because like I said, he isn't a kid, he's 18 (I have some opinions on why maybe we shouldn't consider 18 year olds as adults in quite so many ways, but that's another discussion). He should know better just via common sense at this point (if not having been told), and not being aware of his surroundings is no longer a good excuse at that age.

You are right that a straight up criminal conviction for a crime that hasn't happened is messed up, but do you know how it feels to have someone threaten your life legitimately but have the police say they can't do anything because no actual crime has been committed? I'm not saying he deserved this, but I don't believe in unfettered free speech either. Some people should be apprehended based on threats if those threats are likely to be carried out (probably not this guy, but there are exceptions).

Threaten my life no, threaten my personal safety (and then follow through) yes, although I didn't actually notice the threat at the time. I agree that what he said was stupid and obnoxious, whether he knew about the school shooting or not. The point I am making is that at the most the local fuzz should have gone around to his house, had a chat with him about how what he said was taken the wrong way and that he should be careful, and everyone could continue with their lives. The fact that he has already spent several months in jail is a travesty.

I also agree that 18 is not a very good age to be considered adult. Neither is 21. A person should be considered an adult when they are ready to take on the responsibilities that it entails, which is different for every person.

 

[Tiamat666]

I suppose stuff like this happens when you live in a country where people are bombarded with fear and paranoia by the media.

 

[mythgraven]

... And yet, I see no mention of legislation aimed at stopping people from acting like -raging, incoherent, psychotic, belligerent ASSHOLES- to one another online.

I don't think "being nice to people" is something you can legislate in a free society.

You're correct, of course, as are the other two individuals who quoted my post, informing me that "being nice" isn't a legislative issue in today's society. However, here we are, exploring in an Escapist Post, the consequences for acting like an ass online. I was not the one who placed an article on LoL players facing legal action for douche-baggery, that was the Escapist.

Its very "cute" and pointed for commentators on my post to point out that there are no legal ramifications, as of right now, this very second, for acting the way that each and every single one of us knows, would be unacceptable in real life, because you have that screen in front of you. What you guys failed to divine was the point that if you keep abusing that, people WILL step in, and MAKE those rules. Those legalities.

Sure, you cannot fine someone for being rude, but if you walked into your grocery store everyday and told everyone there that they were inferior human beings, and threw some racial slurs around for fun, guess what? They would call the cops. And guess what further? The cops would come and escort you out of there, if for no other reason than to keep the peace. Maybe they would remove you so that no one would get a wild hair up their ass to knock your teeth out. Maybe because your actions might fall under inciting civil discourse, who knows? But you would be leaving the store. Sure, you were just being rude, whats the problem?

The problem is, you were acting like an ass. And, as I said in the other post guys, if you -keep- -doing- -that-, the angry mothers and "butthurt" children out there, who keep doing things the media finds interesting, like, killing themselves... Will have those very laws you're scoffing at made into reality. Keep pushing buttons, and eventually someone will push back. Society exists because people got tired of living in fear of uncontrolled bandits and murderers preying on them. They decided to do something about it, and they banded together, made laws, and empowered people to carry them out. If you keep acting like the internet is the setting of the Fallout universe, and you can just do whatever the hell you want, you will find out that there are plenty of people who are getting tired of that.


Whiskey Echo!!
mythgraven

(Edit: I forgot to mention that I also think the sentence is overblown. And I do not want to see the world turned into a Minority Report style "guilty until proven innocent" place, where your offhand/emotional comments are legally binding. What I ALSO don't want to see, is a world where people are so fucking comfortable saying things that they WOULD NOT say in person. It is just all too easy to slip into G.I.F.T. mode when you get behind the computer. I can't actually believe anyone can justify acting as evilly as possible to someone else, based on the idea of "setting".)

 

[McKinsey]

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.

Sorry. I was really pissed off by this story. It's actions, not words, that count, and you should only punish a person for something he has done, not something he has said.

 

[Skoosh]

League of Legends has almost nothing to do with this story. It's the first thing mentioned in the title and it's the pictured, yet the whole story has almost nothing to do with it other than he plays the game. Eh, whatever. I don't know what I expect anymore.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

Many times while working various jobs, I've said to a coworker, during a particularly hellish day, "I'm gonna burn this shit to the ground!" or "I'm gonna call in a bomb threat so I can finally get a day off." I would never actually do those things, but I think the humor lies in showing how extreme you're willing to say you'll go for something as routine as a day off. And hell, if people heard my raps, I'd probably be executed on site haha. (see, same humor device. Gross overreaction to something not deserving of it.)

Captcha: Blaze a trail. Captcha just threatened to set fire to your favorite hiking trail! Get'm!