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

[Callie]

If this kid got arrested for a comment like that for 8 years, I'm glad I don't live in America or I feel I would be getting a life sentence. This is a bit extreme, wasting tax payers money and his life doing this, while more dangerous people don't get arrested because of 'lack of evidence'.

What evidence do they have that this kid eats dead children? jk. LOL

 

[Sarge034]

i meant that while terrorists use social networks they wont go around telling everyone what are their plans and how they are going to do it.correct me if im wrong but i dont think those who did the shootings also went on facebook saying "gonna shoot some kids. wish me luck".

Terrorists use Al Jazeera all the time to disseminate their threats. Now usually they don't say a specific place so the authorities can't just wait for them. Kinda like saying you are gonna shoot up "a school"...

Also found this. While it does not specify social networks, it does make a statement including all forms of communication.

"The study found that school shootings are rarely impulsive acts. Rather, they are typically thought out and planned out in advance. In addition, prior to most shootings other kids knew the shooting was to occur - but did not alert an adult. Very few of the attackers, however, ever directed threats to their targets before the attack."
http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac_ssi.shtml

i find that hardly unlikely but congratulations. you really do know the meaning of a life and a death threat.

I know the meaning, and ramifications, of a death threat. The meaning of life is stretching it a bit though. I am still human... most of the time.

is this real history? im not informed on USA's history at all. (i just know what are the main events) but is this real?
the founding fathers thought of giving everyone firearms so an oppressive tyrannical monarchy could not easily take over USA is a good idea? and no one after that thought that the threat of an oppressive tyrannical monarchy is over and the should rethink about that? please tell me this isn't the case.

This is real. However, you misunderstand. The 2nd amendment was not added to prevent an outside force from sizing power, as that is the duty of the armed forces. The 2nd amendment was added so US citizens would have some recourse if powers within our own government tried to forcefully turn our democratic republic into anything else (monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship, ect.). The monarch of England started sizing hunting rifles and other firearms when the colonies (later to be the US) became restless. This was to make sure the British troops could pacify the colonies without much effort. In the end the founding fathers made sure to give the citizens several weapons to keep the government in check. The 1st amendment is "the voice" of the people while the 2nd amendment is "the teeth". That, and the fact that the US has spent a lot of time as a frontier country has engrained guns as a fundamental part of our culture.

Also, the threat of an oppressive tyrannical monarchy is never over. My government has done several things over the last few years that are rather alarming. However, the government is still a democratic republic so the 2nd amendment does not come into play.

This is an interesting read.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

 

[CaptainThom]

Well so much for land of the free..

 

[Kl4pp5tuhl]

This is borderline insane, he was not serious in he least! Has the law gone mad!? Freedom of speech for crying out loud, if he wants to make an insane comment let him! If you think this should be something authorities should talk to him about and sit him down for a moment, ok. But locking him up? Throwing him in prison? For what, an online comment?

What the hell is wrong with this world!? *Anger*

 

[Therumancer]

This is borderline insane, he was not serious in he least! Has the law gone mad!? Freedom of speech for crying out loud, if he wants to make an insane comment let him! If you think this should be something authorities should talk to him about and sit him down for a moment, ok. But locking him up? Throwing him in prison? For what, an online comment?

What the hell is wrong with this world!? *Anger*

I see a lot of this, and really it's half the problem with the American people right now.

Read the article closely, you'll notice that the authorities are being quite blunt about how they cannot share details about the case. This is pretty much par for the course with criminal matters. The accused and their family can go screaming and yelling to the media and anyone that will listen with their side of the story and make whatever claims they want, but the authorities will only present their case in court.

Right now, people are making a HUGE assumption in this kid being arrested, held, and tried, only because of a sarcastic comment on the internet. You think this, because that's what his family is saying, and because the media is jumping all over that in order to spread controversy and get attention. Right now, we don't know that this is the sum total of the case being made.

Let me put it to you this way, let's say this kid was making pipe bombs and stocking up on guns and ammo and keeping it in a private locker in preparation for a school massacre. That would change the entire situation now wouldn't it? Of course the authorities won't tell you what they have, they will only comment if the media finds out about it on their own, and if they haven't, it remains quiet. I'm not saying that they found anything like this, simply that we do not know at this point. Save the outrage and petitions until after the trial. Anyone who protests/petitions for something like this before they have heard both sides is being pretty bloody silly. The authorities have heard of "freedom of speech" needless to say and chances are if they only had an internet rant to go on, they wouldn't be wasting the time or money to prosecute this. IF it turns out the worst suspicions are correct, they have nothing else, and he gets convicted, that's when you start writing the petitions and drumming up the outrage to demand a pardon from the governor or whatever.

I've said all this before, but honestly I'm beginning to get rather slotted off as I see a lot of this happening today and it's causing a lot of chaos for no good reason. This case is fairly mild, but we have that entire "Zimmerman" trial going on as well, which is the same basic garbage. A distraught mother went to the media and as many political groups as she could to QQ and turned a clear cut case of self defense into a media circus, one which has gone so far as to try and convince people that Trayvon (the victim) was some baby-faced kid when he looked nothing like that when this went down, yet it did drum up a ton of sympathy and caused things to start getting crazy before there was even a trial, and even after the ruling there was concern about riots and stuff.

As odd as this sounds, I'm a big believer in free speech, but I'm beginning to think we need to limit "Freedom Of The Press" in criminal matters, making a crime if the press interferes with or creates bias (in either direction) with an ongoing criminal investigation or legal process. I mean it's fine to report on what's going on, but this is one of those cases where I think something similar to the "equal time" doctrine needs to apply, and if the authorities don't say anything neither should the defense. The media should however be allowed to know it's going on, and of course be able to report on the trial when it's going on. Giving a grieving mother air time (she'll stand by her kids no matter what usually), or telling people someone is being held for trial over internet threats (when that is probably only part of the story if it's gone this far) is socially irresponsible.

I don't mean this to be offensive, but really, while I can see people are all upset, I think it's just silly right now. I'll be outraged too if this kid is in legal trouble for mouthing off on the internet, but right now I simply do not know that this is all there is to the case, so I'm not going to take a side yet.

 

[kasperbbs]

Thats just retarded. Soon Americans will arrest people who fart too loudly at airports.

 

[MCerberus]

Thats just retarded. Soon Americans will arrest people who fart too loudly at airports.

Of course. They'd need to be taken away to protect us all from the dangerous chemical weapon attacks.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

This is incredibly silly and dangerously stupid on behalf of the American Whatever Deparment.

 

[unpronounceable]

I dont think he needed an 8 year sentence, but he did need something for that completely dumbass comment. you cant just say jk or lol after something like that in the recent events of newtown and the boston bombing and think thats alright.

Stupidity is not a crime. The hysteria of other people is not a reason to jail a person who's barely an adult.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I have literally not signed into this site in at least a year but I had to today. I haven't gotten so fired up about something in a long time. I could say all my opinions on the matter, but many have said them on here already, perhaps more eloquently than I would have. Why I really signed in is just to levee my complete disgust with some of my fellow Escapist forumers who as condoning this... I enjoy Anthony Jesselnick and other such comedians who really would make jokes about school shootings and I actually am repulsed by the fact people like you are around. Not only are around, are actively spreading your opinion when it- to me at least- is just so mind boggling insane... It's not even like this kid posted it on his Newsfeed... he made an off-hand comment to a pal of his.

As many have said, we have all made comments like this. If you claim you haven't, either you are some sort of monk or a liar or perhaps both. I have said probably thing hundreds of times worse than that on X-Box Live messing around with my friends, and honestly I consider myself a very decent human being, definitely much more so than some people on this very forum thread.

It all reminds me of The Crucible or other works by Hawthorne, like the one about the priest in the black mask... You can condemn this young man, but honestly you should condemn yourselves for being so heartless. He was not threatening anyone. Not only that, they clearly found that he wasn't in any position nor had any actual interest in perpetrating the crime.

"Oh, it's just Texas, you guys should just ignore it LOL!!!" You are even worse than the people in Texas who are sick enough to go through with this. If you just sit idly by when injustice is taking place, shame on you. I have seen people at my very school getting bullied and beaten up until the LITERALLY commit suicide and you know what the police did? Nothing. The kid's sister was at a dance several days after this horrific tragedy, and you know what people said to her? They were glad he killed himself because he deserved it. We reported it to the police. They did nothing. The bankers who ruined many people's lives and almost ruined our economy? No jail time. The men who are torturing innocents and killing them in drone strikes? No jail time. This kid who made some comment? Eight years as a BARGAIN?

I could go on all day about how upset this makes me and how unfair it is. Obviously, in our country we, the people, have no say and can do nothing but apparently just accept all of this happening. But that won't stop me from posting this comment castigating all of you who are apparently so cruel you can't see the evil in this situation. That way, I can sleep at night and know that even though I have no power, at least I did my small part today against the insanity that we are all living today. I hope at least one person reads this comment and thinks a little more...

Be careful everyone out there and you all have my best. Even those who among us who have apparently have no empathy. I wouldn't wish what this child has gone through on anyone. Not even you. Maybe you should reevaluate your world view.

I don't usually read such long posts but I read yours and appreciate it 100% and agree with you 100%. I haven't read the other posts about "He deserves it" or whatever (basically people condoning it) but I agree in that I can't simply believe anyone would condone something like this. I also agree with you that the "higher-ups" in our society do get off easy when fucking over the world or certain parts of the world.

Edit: Also I feel like I should be doing something about all the tragedies in the world (or at least in terms of corrupt governments) but I don't know where to look or how to help.


I can't even recall how many times I've made jokes about children or people in general. Hell the jokes I've made to my friends on Steam have given me the nickname PedoFrohman and Polar Bear Fucker, not that I've been called either of those in a while, just using them as an example. Set this boy free! I swear the US legal system is fucked.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

the US 'justice' system!

Fixed.

OT: Shit like this makes me want to shoot myself in the head. You just can't fight stupidity of that magnitude. Perhaps we should just glass the planet and start over somewhere else. Make an ark ship with some babies on it, some form of training simulator to teach the children how to survive, then just let them loose on a habitable planet. See if they can't do better.

 

[targren]

I think I understand where the law is coming from here. They are making an example out of this twat. If he got a reasonable sentence of 6 months in jail and a year probation, no one would talk about it. But by giving him such a harsh sentence it has us talking about what is and isn't acceptable.

The last thing the legal system wants is for people to think about what is or isn't acceptable, or saner minds might actually realize that that throwing a kid in prison for 8 years for being flip is, not to put too fine a point on it, fucking ludicrous. There was no credible threat there, and nothing resembling a functional adult mind could come to the conclusion that there was.

Also by threating to shoot up a school and eat the still beating hearts of children is not something to acceptable joke about where anyone can see or hear. If you want to joke about it with your friends, don't got posting it on Facebook. I will not be signing the petition because I think we should punish idiots.

Congratulations. You're part of the problem.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

snip

You've raised a series of extremely good points here. I'm going to go sit in a corner and think hard about this for a while, it's far too easy to get mixed up and angry about things on the internet.

 

[thewatergamer]

I signed the petition, because frankly this is BS

I know, he said something really REALLY stupid online but I think he's learned his lesson, hes been in jail for over 3 months and has been assaulted by inmates,
not to mention the "investigation" turned up nothing, so whats the courts solution?
transfer him to another country so they can double his bail and treat him even more harshly...

I get it he said something stupid, but 8 years in jail is way overreacting, hell hes already been in jail for more than 3 months and has been ASSAULTED because of that and now hes stuck in solitary confinement for his own protection...

And people wonder why the justice system is so screwed up

Also comedians and other people online make jokes about murder, rape, assault all the time, nobody cares at all, in fact many find them funny,
but make a joke about terrorism apparently that makes it ok to jail someone for 8 years...

This is why I'm glad I'm not american (however that stupid canadian lady is making me look bad)

 

[LostintheWick]

I can't help but notice that many people aren't really commenting on how Justin has been treated within the prison/jail he was held in. When they say he was abused/assaulted, it's safe to assume that we're talking sexual abuse and rape here. And even if he wasn't, the kind of environment where people are assaulted (in any form!) shouldn't exist ANYWHERE for ANYBODY, regardless of whether they are convicted or not.

The punishment he has already received has crossed the line into criminal acts of negligence on behalf of the people staffed at that prison and those who just left him there.

Anybody who supports what happened to him or says he deserves it... you've probably said enough hateful things towards others to be in the same situation he is in, at least as far as our law enforcement is concerned. Think about that before you talk about what others "deserve".

 

[teisjm]

This calls for an imediate worldwide implementation of a sarcastic smilie, with worldwide agreement, that it indicates sarcasm, so retards don't lock poor kids up for making a joke.

I'm shocked to read this, and shocked that some people on his side even sees what he did as something truly wrong.
Obvious joke is obvious, and while some might find it in poor taste, i don't think he did anything wrong at all.

It's retarded to see how societies fail to prevent the real evil-doers, and then overreacts on people not having anything to do with any crime, just to prove that they're "vigilant" but really just prooving that they're incompetent idiots who should never have been allowed to wield any sort of power in the first place.

If what he wrote calls for jail-time, they should go arrest an arseload of musicians, actors, comedians, and anyone with a grim/morbid sense of humor.

EDIT: I just read Theumancers post, and feel kinda stupid now.
I fully agree with him on the bad impact sensationalistic media has on society, and how newspapers will care for nothing mroe than printing half truths, scandals and gossip in order to sell their shit.

/ragequit angrymob. Maybe the rational guys will let me back into their club if i bring cookies...
I feel kinda ashamed for jumping in with both legs.

 

[Celador]

United States looks less and less democratic with each day. I don't think you really got any freedoms left in there. Some restricted rights, some liberties on state-by-state basis and thats it. It's no better in US than in Russia or China at this point.

Who would've thought that its all going to end this way?

Can't sign the petition but the potential sentence and jailing someone for comment on the internet is appalling. Women who reported him should be ashamed.