Petition to Free Jailed League of Legends Player Reaches 100,000 Sigs

[kuolonen]

Hahahahahaha! Oh the land of the free indeed! With cases like this it is rather clear that U.S. is more close People's republic of China in terms of personal freedom than any western European countries. Oh you poor sods who have to live there. My sympathies.

Yeah, guy was idiot for making a statement like that on facebook, but putting him in jail for 8 years for it? Oh america, you so crazy. And they wonder why U.S. economy is in the toilet, with half of the working age population living in prison with goverment money taxed from the other half.

 

[mellemhund]

This is complicated for me as well. He posted a statement on Facebook saying that he's crazy and go shooting people at a school. And then a woman read it and took it way too seriously and actually found out where he lives and reported him. He deserves to be punished for doing something incredibly stupid, but eight years in jail is not the kind of punishment he deserves.

By what moronic standard does he need to be punished? Ever played an online game? The tone is much harder than sarcasm. People who think this statement was in any way inappropriate need to go to the asylum instead.

 

[Kal-Adam]

Me: " Oh wow, 100,000 signatures, impressive!"
(Reads article, see's that it's an internet petition)
Me: "... Nevermind."

Seriously, when has an internet petition ever been effective ,especially on something as large-scale as this?

 

[Woodsey]

This is a very complicated case for me. He without a doubt, did something incredibly stupid but... does he really deserve eight years in jail for it? Hell after that school shooting in Newtown or whatever that school was called, some kid from a neighboring school said he could do better on facebook and was arrested. He got away with a slap on a wrist from the judge and was expelled from his school. That should be this guys punishment. Give him some community service or something because this kid will be most likely murdered in prison.

What he did is not right and he deserves to be punished, but eight years in jail is to extreme.

It was a bad joke, but quite obviously a joke. You shouldn't be able to hand down a freaking legal sentence for bad humour.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

Wow... gotta love our country.. giving harsh punishments for nothing and small slaps on the wrist for actual crimes. Our country is run by morons.

 

[Serinanth]

So it looks like some anon Samaritan posted his bail.. all 500K of it. Becha it was Gates.

 

[tabristhegreat]

I haven't been following this case closely and quite frankly it may have been answered already but the comment in question, was it posted on his page or on some form of community page like a LoL page? I'm honestly curious whether that makes a difference in the matter. To me if someone wrote on his facebook page and he responded there I can't see the big deal, yes it's a stupid comment but isn't 99% of facebook made up of stupid comments and photos of food?

Now if it were on a public page such as a Loy page...maybe I can see the harm...maybe but still not really. Make the punishment fit the crime? Give the kid a slap on the wrist and tell him not to be a dumb ass again but are people seriously saying he deserves to rot with the murders and the rapists of the world? A lot of people have suggested community service or a fine but I still think that's ab unjust punishment. To paraphrase this weeks extra punctuation the justice system should be about victim compensation first, I see no victims here apart from someone finding a comment distasteful.

 

[Something Amyss]

I guess you have a good point. The overabundance of information is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, people should know what injustices are being committed on a daily basis. On the other, once you see them stack up mile high it's easy to become apathetic and bitter.

I think you just described me. >.>

Actually, I'm just bitter.

 

[Lee Quitt]

Allot of people saying he shouldn't be able to say things like "shoot up a school" on facebook. Yes yes you should be able to. Its call liberty, I assume most people are familiar with the term?

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

Wait, so...

joking about murdering someone or someones - 8 years.
Actually murdering someone - 10 years.
Robbing a bank and not murdering anyone - 20 years.

Hmmmm. That's actually pretty inspiring to think about!

I see a pattern. Joking about robbing a bank, but not actually doing it - Life sentence.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

Let me start by saying that was a really stupid and tasteless thing to say.

However this is the sort of thing that warrants a fine or community service at the most. People saying things like "we should make an example of this kid" (potentially ruining his life and/or driving him to suicide) don't seem to understand that this sort of thing makes the "Justice System" a contradiction in terms.

 

[Unia]

8 YEARS?! People who have actually committed crimes get less than this. I just...really, really wish this whole thing is some Onion article actually taken seriously. Otherwise 'murica is right on par with countries like China on the human rights scale.

 

[Sarge034]

I state a different opinion and the whole thread loses their minds!

Spoiler: sagitel

i don't know about you, but if i was a terrorist(which im not. please don't call the cops) i wouldn't go on the Facebook telling the world how im going to go and shoot down a bunch of kids in a school and eat their hearts. this is plain stupid. its the same as telling the gun salesman you are there to buy guns to kill people. and while terrorists are fucked up in the head they aren't THAT stupid.

>One, terrorists do use social media to communicate.

>Two, there is a difference between being a terrorist and making terroristic threats.

>Three, we must take every threat, made jokingly or not, as being dead serious or it will be the same story over and over again. "Yea we got warnings, but we thought s/he was just joking!" And bunches of dead and wounded kids will be our prize.

OT: the kid did a very stupid thing. a very stupid thing. but 8 years? 8 fucking years???? this is stupid. downright stupid and extreme. i dont think the comment should get any kind of detention IMO. the person was joking that is obvious to everyone (at least to us) and about the woman who reported this. yeah i think she is too stupid to understand sarcasm, im wondering how the woman did read the comments though. she is of the sort who goes on random timelines and read peoples comments?

He made a threat. All cases must be handled the same way or the court could end up making a legal precedent. That would be bad. Look it up, too long to adequately explain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent

Spoiler: Flatfrog

What? Surely that's the whole question, isn't it? What law did he break? Surely if he is acquitted, as he ought to be, then he *didn't* break any law. So what's your point? 'I have to take responsibility for other people's stupidity and never make any joke that an idiot might take seriously and report me for'?

What Law did he break? The one that says you can't make terroristic threats... I'll educate you since you can't be bothered to look it up.

Spoiler: Terroristic Threat Law & Legal Definition

A terroristic threat is a crime generally involving a threat to commit violence communicated with the intent to terrorize another, to cause evacuation of a building, or to cause serious public inconvenience, in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience. It may mean an offense against property or involving danger to another person that may include but is not limited to recklessly endangering another person, harassment, stalking, ethnic intimidation, and criminal mischief.

The following is an example of a Texas statute dealing with terroristic threats:

TERRORISTIC THREAT

(a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to:
cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;
place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;
prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building; room; place of assembly; place to which the public has access; place of employment or occupation; aircraft, automobile, or other form of conveyance; or other public place;
cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service;
place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury; or
influence the conduct or activities of a branch or agency of the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state.

He did this, adding "LOL, JK" don't make it any less true.

Seriously, what kind of society do you want to live in?

One where people realize the internet is a public space, there are no more murders, no more rapes, no more shooting sprees, no more crime at all for that matter. No racism, equal treatment under the law, no inflation, and a really good utilities infrastructure.

Until then, every threat is considered viable and is punishable under the law.

He Didn't Threaten Anybody! He made a vaguely worded joke that made no specific threat to any particular person or people. There was zero reason for considering this to be a threat, and no individual could possibly have felt in danger as a result of it.

If I had a kid in school and I saw someone post something like that I would be worried enough to report it. A vague threat is still a threat. So now you know of TWO individuals who would have felt threatened. The woman who reported it and me.

How often have you heard something like 'Oh my god, my kids are driving me crazy, I'm going to murder them one of these days'? That's a way more specific 'threat' and it's still not something you'd ever choose to investigate someone for.

Honestly, never. I hear that they are "gonna beat their asses" or "teach them a lesion", but I have never heard a parent say anything to the effect of killing their kids.

People 'threaten' one another all the time in jest, it's a standard part of human banter. Since when did it become something worthy of jail time?

This is the problem with people's attitude about the internet. If you are talking to a friend or friends in confidence and you say something like that it stays between you, but on the internet EVERYONE can see what you said. It is no longer a private conversation and someone might become concerned. It became worthy of jail time when he made a comment about killing kids in a school and someone felt worried enough to involve the cops.

Oh come on. Writing a comment on Facebook is not equivalent to 'going up to a cop', and besides that, people say all kinds of shit to police all the time.

Actually, writhing a comment on facebook is worse then going up to a cop. If you say it to a cop it is your word against theirs in court. A comment on facebook is admissible, irrefutable, evidence. It is a transcript of what you said.

An *Eight Year* plea bargain! Are you saying he should have accepted that?

I'm saying it didn't violate the 6th amendment. I asked you how it did and you failed to answer.

Who in this case could have feared for their wellbeing? And no, actually, if your fear is irrational, I don't have responsibility for that. If no offence or threat was intended, then you can take your offence or your fear and fuck off.

Careful now, this is starting to sound like a personal attack. The short answer is anyone with a kid in school.

I mean, this is fucking America we're talking about. A country where the right to own lethal weapons is practically a religion to some people. And they're worrying about some guy saying some crappy joke on Facebook? Jesus wept.

Yes, owning firearms is engrained into our culture because we had to fight an oppressive tyrannical monarchy for freedom once. The monarch kept the people disarmed to pacify them. Our founders made it so arms would never again be an issue if we had to once again raise up in revolution. This guy talked about killing kids in a school. I'm sure Jesus would have wept more if it had actually happened.

That *is* how it works! If you feel threatened, the police can't do anything unless they have real evidence of an intent to cause harm. The most they can do usually is a restraining order.

A restraining order IS something. It is now a crime to be around that person. A much easier crime to prove. Now, if that same person came to the cops with a screen cap of a threat of bodily harm sent via IM, facebook post, e-mail, or any other text that identifies the sender they can arrest the sender. The physical evidence is enough to prosecute.

I don't know where you got any of that, but I'm pretty sure it's bullshit through and through. A threat is certainly not proof of anything unless it's a credible threat, which means it has to be backed up by some kind of action.

I was referring to the text as being physical proof thing I hit on. Threatening someone with bodily harm is a crime.

Spoiler: Kamille Bidan

Does paranoia not mean anything to you? Murderers don't walk free just because they argue self-defence and claim the person they killed threatened to kill them first.

You are only paranoid if you are wrong. I call it being alert. And you would be surprised at the number of murders who try to run self defense when they know they are tied to the scene of the crime.

As for your example, that is exactly how it works. Law Enforcement cannot do anything about a threat unless they have reason to believe that the person giving the threat has the means or otherwise intends to carry it out. If I threatened to kill you, police (probably not the ones who arrested this boy) would probably say it was my word against yours. Now, if I actively tried to kill you or otherwise acted in a way that implied I was going to carry out my threat, then the police would be free to act, because they have reason to believe my threat is credible.

True, verbal threats are hard to pursue and it was my fault for not being clearer, although they can issue a restraining order which is technically doing something. I was focusing on the "known sender text" aspect. If you went to the cops with an e-mail, facebook post, ect, ect, you could press charges for the threat due to having physical evidence. This eliminates the "their word vs mine" problem.

In this case, Law enforcement had absolutely no reason to believe this boy's 'threat' was credible. They let themselves be guided by mass hysteria over recent events, which is a sign of poor law enforcement, Never let the threat of terrorism allow you to lose your head.

Credible threat or not, this MAN (18 years old people, ADULT!!!) broke the law. see above replies for clarification.

Spoiler: Father Time

It's incredibly obvious that it was sarcastic and not an actual threat (you can tell by the still beating heart comment amongst other things).

It fulfilled the legal definition of a terroristic threat and that is why they are pursuing it as such.

I'd say 99 times out of 100 when someone makes a sarcastic threat they aren't actually going to do it. So a sarcastic non-threat isn't exactly evidence they are going to carry it out. They should do nothing in all cases

And I say that we will prosecute 99 people for terroristic threats and 1 for legitimately planning to do it. Your way has 1 school shooting and mine has 0. Imma go with mine because 1 school shooting is too many. I have no sympathy for those too stupid to realize their actions have consequences.

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

I am 100% glad he got arrested. Perhaps 8 years is severe, but I think stupid kids like this need a gods-damned wake up call. You make rape threats, shooting threats, etc and expect to get off scot-free? Hah! Just because its the internet, doesn't mean it's all some big joke and nothing matters.

You're talking to real people. If this kid had flown off the bat and said it IRL to someone in school, he'd have been taken deadly seriously because this sort of thing CAN happen. All of you saying he's "innocent" or "harmless" have no idea the ramifications of what you're saying.

So someone makes threats on the internet, scoffs as a joke, and gets arrested only for people to go "SORRY JUST KIDDING HE WAS JOKING" and then it's suddenly all-fucking-right?

No, it isn't. And the sooner you learn that "sorry jk" isn't a get out of jail free card, the better.

 

[Nikolaz72]

The times a bit too much, but the idea is good

Great... Just glad you don't get to vote where I live. We seem to be doing just fine without jailing people like this.

 

[irok]

I signed, it was all because of a dumb fear mentality and lack of context and should never have happened, can we jail the woman who phoned him in instead, she's clearly more of a public menace then anyone else in this story. And yes a joke is a joke, tasteless it may be to some of you nothing is sacred and lets not get into the habit of snatching people up for what they say , k?

Freedom of speech and innocent until proven guilty, pick one and argue that, the fact that so many people want him locked away sickens me to no end.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Even though I found the whole idea of making a terrorist threat specifically aimed toward a school stupid in itself, the reaction that occurred in response was blown way out of proportion, and it just makes the US justice system, MY justice system, look extremely incompetent as a result.

I find the recent events at Sandy Hook and Boston important, yeah, and I did want some kind of response to ensure that something like that doesn't happen again, but this is ridiculous. It's not even like a police state; it's just the authorities flailing wildly at anything that might constitute a mild threat in order to calm an erratic mass. It just makes everyone look stupid in the end.

Nice to see the guy getting some attention. With hope, he'll be released and some people will try to calm down the public. This is just embarrassing.

 

[Hammartroll]

I wonder if it would get the message across that their overreaction caused more damage than good if the kid ended up committing suicide.

Edit- all the people saying you need to be jailed for obviously sarcastic comments on the internet disturbs me. Just because you're not allowed to state your plan on the internet doesn't mean a person's not going to still do it. Jeezus people.

 

[sagitel]

i don't know about you, but if i was a terrorist(which im not. please don't call the cops) i wouldn't go on the Facebook telling the world how im going to go and shoot down a bunch of kids in a school and eat their hearts. this is plain stupid. its the same as telling the gun salesman you are there to buy guns to kill people. and while terrorists are fucked up in the head they aren't THAT stupid.

>One, terrorists do use social media to communicate.

>Two, there is a difference between being a terrorist and making terroristic threats.

>Three, we must take every threat, made jokingly or not, as being dead serious or it will be the same story over and over again. "Yea we got warnings, but we thought s/he was just joking!" And bunches of dead and wounded kids will be our prize.

1. i never said they didnt

2. i dont know how you read the comment but it was a JOKE! it was made in bad time (like joking about your uncle dying right after you grandma died) but it. is. a. FUCKING. JOKE!

3. ok then. if that is the case then all of us should be arrested. which one of us didnt in our lives at least once threatened to kill somebody? i know i did threat many people. many times.

I mean, this is fucking America we're talking about. A country where the right to own lethal weapons is practically a religion to some people. And they're worrying about some guy saying some crappy joke on Facebook? Jesus wept.

Yes, owning firearms is engrained into our culture because we had to fight an oppressive tyrannical monarchy for freedom once. The monarch kept the people disarmed to pacify them. Our founders made it so arms would never again be an issue if we had to once again raise up in revolution. This guy talked about killing kids in a school. I'm sure Jesus would have wept more if it had actually happened.

im sorry dude but after this i couldn't take your post seriously

 

[miketehmage]

l

So we're jailing kids now for saying sarcastic comments on the internet?

Damn, the terrorists really did win in the end.

This. I can't believe that in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech, that this shit could happen. It was a JOKE, I can't even believe that people on this website are saying he should be punished at all! It was a joke, don't like it? Don't laugh. It scares the shit out of me that in the western world this shit can occur.