From http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/30/lol-jk-texas-teen-faces-8-years-prison-making-terr/
An Austin, Texas, teenager faces eight years in prison for making a “terroristic threat” after he made a sarcastic comment online about shooting up a school. Justin Carter was 18 back in February when a dispute over the online video game “League of Legends took an ugly turn on Facebook, KHOU.com reported. “Someone had said something to the effect of ‘Oh you’re insane, you’re crazy, you’re messed up in the head,’ to which he replied, ‘Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were lol and jk,” said Jack Carter, Justin’s father. A woman from Canada saw the posting, did a Google search and found Mr. Carter’s old address was near an elementary school and she called police, he told KHOU.com. Justin Carter was arrested the next month and has been jailed since March 27, KHOU.com reported. He’s charged with making a terroristic threat and is facing eight years in prison, according to his dad. “These people are serious. They really want my son to go away to jail for a sarcastic comment that he made,” the elder Mr. Carter said.
I found this in another article:
“Justin was the kind of kid who didn’t read the newspaper. He didn’t watch television. He wasn’t aware of current events. These kids, they don’t realize what they’re doing. They don’t understand the implications. They don’t understand public space,” said Jack Carter.
Regardless of whether or not he knew about Sandy Hook - and it's hard to believe he didn't - it's absurd to jail someone over what essentially boils down to 4chan-level trolling isn't it? Now I say this as a guy who A) should probably watch what he posts online more than anyone and B) was once suspended for something similar in the 7th grade, thanks to Columbine (I posted about this in detail somewhere else - bad combo of me being stupid and not knowing what a "hit list" was). What exactly is the line here? Fair to make an example out of this kid, even though he was almost certainly trying to be offensive and "edgy"?
― frogbs, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:29 (eleven years ago) link
frogbs he hasnt been 'jailed for 8 years'
― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:34 (eleven years ago) link
oh ffs, he hasn't been jailed, that's the sentence that they are going for and there's no way it'll be anywhere near that
― mh, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:34 (eleven years ago) link
good pointlet me change the thread title
― frogbs, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:35 (eleven years ago) link
jail frogbs for 8 yrs
― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:35 (eleven years ago) link
i think "he shdn't go to jail" is kind of a no-brainer
they should take his internet away tho
― for many people a really special folder makes a huge difference (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:36 (eleven years ago) link
give the kid real life community service where he has to interact with people who aren't video game morons
― mh, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:36 (eleven years ago) link
i don't think canadians should be allowed to snitch on americans
― am0n, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:37 (eleven years ago) link
"canadian woman"
― mh, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:37 (eleven years ago) link
he's been in jail since March!
― frogbs, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:38 (eleven years ago) link
"jailed for 8 years"
― am0n, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:38 (eleven years ago) link
so he got arrested and didn't make bail, is what you're saying
― mh, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:40 (eleven years ago) link
if the choice is between this kid going to jail or him shooting up a school and eating the kids' still beating hearts, i say jail
― you live your life on the floor (sleepingbag), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:40 (eleven years ago) link
more video gamers should be charged and tried IMO, but their trial should be conducted online with headsets and people should be allowed to shout insults over the headset during the trial.
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:41 (eleven years ago) link
Canadian woman, mama let him be
― da croupier, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:42 (eleven years ago) link
gamers should also be arrested for poor performance in ranked matches
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:44 (eleven years ago) link
also what we're saying is that frogbs only became aware of his plight when thousands of news outlets started reporting this in the last two days, and yet he still ended up linking to the moonies' paper
― mh, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:45 (eleven years ago) link
I lolled
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
MOBA not MMORPG
― diamonddave85, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
broads of canada
― am0n, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:10 (eleven years ago) link
"This is some real BS!"--Frog
― copter (waterface), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:17 (eleven years ago) link
Jailed since march thanks obama!
― dj hollingsworth vs dj perry (darraghmac), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:20 (eleven years ago) link
if that is his real name
― Neil S, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:23 (eleven years ago) link
Obamadoesn'tcare
― Wide Area Network King (snoball), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:23 (eleven years ago) link
xp his real name is probably something like 'PwnsN00bs843 <racist word>'.
― Wide Area Network King (snoball), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:24 (eleven years ago) link
yo is it true a teenager got jailed for 8 years after a MMORPG beef??????
― am0n, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:24 (eleven years ago) link
still, beating hearts
8 years for an unnecessary comma seems fair.
― Wide Area Network King (snoball), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:25 (eleven years ago) link
He's been jailed for 8 years since March
― sjuttiosju_u (wins), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:26 (eleven years ago) link
everything's bigger in Texas
― for many people a really special folder makes a huge difference (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:27 (eleven years ago) link
I'd be impressed if dude actually ate a still
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:28 (eleven years ago) link
FPing all of you for inappropriate levity btw
― sjuttiosju_u (wins), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:31 (eleven years ago) link
fuck league of legends; send him to jail forever
― Mordy , Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:31 (eleven years ago) link
Lol jk
you know, my parents actually MADE me watch the news with them
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:39 (eleven years ago) link
lol community is pretty awful
― best null wave (bnw), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:05 (eleven years ago) link
Transcript of Canadian woman's emergency telephone call:
"You still don't get it, do you? He'll find them! That's what he does! That's ALL he does! You can't stop him! He'll wade through you, reach down their throats and pull their fuckin' hearts out!"
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 21:01 (eleven years ago) link
actual people on FB applauding his jailing, as apparently many of the blogs/media articles running this are reframing the context to leave out the provoking comments and making it look like he made the comment unprovoked.
wait, I forgot I was bored by this story n/m
― Neanderthal, Thursday, 4 July 2013 17:42 (eleven years ago) link
his comments don't bother me at all, he was obviously joking, and the fact that he's in fucking jail for saying some dumb-ass kid shit is just mind-boggling. i'm beginning to see why old men are so crotchety.
― Me and my pool noodle (contenderizer), Thursday, 4 July 2013 19:41 (eleven years ago) link
stuff like this reminds me of that groucho marx quote about how w.c. fields used to sit on his lawn and shoot at ppl with a bb gun. groucho said something like 'ppl are more serious these days -- i guess now he'd probably get arrested for doing that.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 5 July 2013 17:02 (eleven years ago) link
man back in the BBS days we were way more brutal than that. this guy who was almost 20 once told me in the chat room he'd be "drawing my chalk outline" soon. and this was a local one of all people who lived near me!
But then to be fair, sayin yer gonna shoot up a kindergarten after Sandy Hook (or at all really) on FB where sarcasm can't really be easily parsed by those less knowledgable about the gaming community is hella dumb.
― Neanderthal, Friday, 5 July 2013 17:05 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah you need indepth knowledge of the gaming scene to know what "lol jk" means iirc
― sjuttiosju_u (wins), Friday, 5 July 2013 19:31 (eleven years ago) link
ehh - if you're having to tag 'lol jk' at the end of something you say, you're not doing sarcasm right. if anything, that just drew more attention to dude's comments.
― Neanderthal, Friday, 5 July 2013 20:29 (eleven years ago) link
Point being, yes, he was obviously being sarcastic, but I've noticed that those outside the gaming community haven't picked up on it easily and have labeled this dude as "disturbed" or "in need of counseling" because they don't realize saying shit like that is fairly common for gamers (even if it was clearly in bad taste, in this case).
Sure, he said "lol jk" after it, but most of those 'shocked' by the comments didn't view that as anything other than him backpedaling (when he was really just trying to make sure they understood his sarcasm).
― Neanderthal, Friday, 5 July 2013 20:33 (eleven years ago) link
(obv tho I don't think dude should be in jail, and doubt he'll get much of a sentence. apparently his bail was $500,000 tho O_O)
There are comments you can say out loud to your friends and then there are comments you can write on a publicly-searchable forum.
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Friday, 5 July 2013 20:57 (eleven years ago) link
take it from me, this lesson is lost on a 17 year old
― frogbs, Friday, 5 July 2013 21:01 (eleven years ago) link
That depends entirely on the 17 year old IMO
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Friday, 5 July 2013 21:10 (eleven years ago) link
DJP otm. also frogbs this kid is 18 or 19.
― Neanderthal, Friday, 5 July 2013 21:17 (eleven years ago) link
Can't make out if he made the comment on his own wall or in a public group. I'm not sure what difference that would make but it seems like an important detail, and then there's another debate about privacy - where even if he could have made the comment private to a select group of people, and didn't, but if he didn't think to do that he shouldn't be treated as if he intended to make a public comment
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 22:13 (eleven years ago) link
And here's another problem - like some people arrested for being obscene or racially offensive on twitter, he's only been hauled in because someone complained. So there are millions of people breaking exactly the same law and committing the same offense who aren't being hauled in, because no-one's chanced to alert the authorities. And of course if everyone who did stuff like this was hauled in, the ridiculousness of the law would be obvious. But as long as there's only a few one-off complaints and one-off arrests, the ridiculous law stays how it is.
That seems really fucked up to me, and I don't think you have to have any sympathy with gamers or with people who like saying shitty stuff online.
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 22:17 (eleven years ago) link
Also there's a lingering sense ITT that because he 'said stupid shit' or was stupid or whatever him being in jail for this since March is not a big deal, which is rubbish.
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 22:42 (eleven years ago) link
Also someone reading about your complaint and reporting you to police is also not the same as you hitting someone and them reporting it to the police
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 22:43 (eleven years ago) link
*someone reading your stupid comment
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 22:44 (eleven years ago) link
cardamon otm
still kind of incredulous that someone went to jail for this
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 5 July 2013 23:00 (eleven years ago) link
‘Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were lol and jk,”
Seriously boggling that people think you should go to jail for this tbh
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Friday, 5 July 2013 23:12 (eleven years ago) link
No-one who has a working knowledge of how facebook works and what (particularly, young gamer internetty) people say on it would think that was a serious threat
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 23:45 (eleven years ago) link
Btway, I also very much think 'something should be done' about cyber-bullying and -stalking. But the same hard thinking that needs to go into that problem recognises that this guy getting put away is ridiculous
― cardamon, Friday, 5 July 2013 23:47 (eleven years ago) link
it's worse than ridiculous, it's criminal, a violation of both human rights and common sense. kids have been joking about killing kids* since i was a kid, and probably long before. the prosecutors involved are wrecking this poor dude's life, and he's done nothing, harmed no one. his only "crime" is indulging in the same dumb, cartoonishly offensive shit-talk that flows across every playground and gaming board in the country. it's fucking disgusting.
* and every other horror you can (or can't) imagine, just ask tyler the creator
― Me and my pool noodle (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 July 2013 00:15 (eleven years ago) link
more details here:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0703/Justin-Carter-case-How-one-man-s-Facebook-banter-is-another-s-threat
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 6 July 2013 00:55 (eleven years ago) link
i'm guessing this strip would not go over too well these days:
http://media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/261/439/439261.jpg
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 6 July 2013 01:10 (eleven years ago) link
contenderizer otm
LOL/jk explicitly negates the prior statement, saying it's not something he wishes to do. It could just as well have come at the front, but he's in jail because he didn't instead prefix his statement with some explicit equivalent.
In other words, he's in jail for using a Wayne & Garth sentence formation: If the above is to be believed, the literal meaning of what he said was something like "you think I'm messed up like a school-shooter. Yeh, that's something I really want to do, not!"
― Campari G&T, Saturday, 6 July 2013 01:19 (eleven years ago) link
he's in jail cuz he didn't make bail, hasn't been convicted of anything yet iirc.
― balls, Saturday, 6 July 2013 01:55 (eleven years ago) link
I have never 'made bail' in my life, and yet somehow... I'm not in jail
― Campari G&T, Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:07 (eleven years ago) link
$500,000 bail for this seems crazy.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:09 (eleven years ago) link
The other day I was ranting on a friends FB post about how a politician on TV made me so mad I threw a shoe at the TV then went and shot up a milkbar.
The hyperbole should be obvious. And I'm to understand in the USA I'd be jailed for it. Freedom freedom freedom Oy.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:11 (eleven years ago) link
People in US don't even know what a milkbar is
― Sufjan Grafton, Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:16 (eleven years ago) link
i like to assume it's a bar that serves only milk
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:17 (eleven years ago) link
it sharpens you up and gets you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence
If it's a bar made of milk, you need to buy new milk maybe
― Sufjan Grafton, Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:18 (eleven years ago) link
― cardamon, Friday, July 5, 2013 6:42 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I don't think that's it, I just think most people wondered what we were supposed to discuss. most of the comments have been to the effect of "he shouldn't be in jail" (NV said it within the first ten posts).
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:33 (eleven years ago) link
― Campari G&T, Friday, July 5, 2013 10:07 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
wtf does this even mean?
This kid shouldn't have been in jail since March. He's still an idiot.
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Saturday, 6 July 2013 03:05 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D63pVYsehg4
LOCK UP IAN SVENONINOIONS
― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Saturday, 6 July 2013 03:16 (eleven years ago) link
milkbar = bodega/corner store. Should have known better than to assume.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, 6 July 2013 03:57 (eleven years ago) link
yeah that crazy high a bail for something else would make me think 'ok guy is maybe a flight risk' or 'guy acted like a moron in court' but this would seem to be almost definitely overzealous da or judge.
― balls, Saturday, 6 July 2013 03:58 (eleven years ago) link
I just.... wtf, America.
Zimmerman *actually shot and killed someone* and wasnt even fucking ARRESTED for it initially, and this kid's sitting in a holding cell with an insane bail he couldnt hope to make (who has half a mil just lying around?) just because some random person online complained about sometning he said that was clearly a joke. How can this happen in a nation with a freedom of speech law?! I just.. what.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:05 (eleven years ago) link
This is not really a wtf America situation, this is more of a wtf local prosecutor/police department situation.
― Magna Sharta (jjjusten), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:10 (eleven years ago) link
technically, this COULD fall under threatening speech. free speech is not 100% absolute.
with that being said, in THIS case, charges should not have been filed after they spoke to the kid and read the context on FB. there've been cases like this in other parts of the States where someone made a 'questionable' comment on FB, and the police interviewed them, and it was cleared up. surprised that isn't what happened here, but in a way, I'm also not....
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:13 (eleven years ago) link
if they didn't do anything to that comic book store owner who tweeted after the tucson shootings that he supported assassination attempts against "members of congress and their staff," then i can't really see the argument for this as threatening speech.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:19 (eleven years ago) link
thats a fair point jj
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:21 (eleven years ago) link
Not to mention all those times women like the game blogger who had constant "you should be raped and killed you pig" tweets/comments posted at her, apparently thats perfectly ok bcz lol wimmins.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:22 (eleven years ago) link
xxpost hence why I said "could". I (and most of this thread) don't think it was, but what matters is what the local authorities think. For whatever reason, they saw the context, talked to him, and still arrived at the curious decision that he was indeed threatening an unknown school of kiddies.
(I get the impression that we all generally agree, the only difference of opinion being that some of us have taken the added step of saying the kid is a 'moron' that nonetheless doesn't deserve to be in jail.)
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:24 (eleven years ago) link
I mean maybe the terroristic speech thing is misapplied her but idk man, if I make the slight change of "yeah dude, i'm super angry that Obama just won the election, I'm going to go shoot up all the houses on my block with hope signs. Lol! J/k!" I kinda hope that the cops might stop by that dudes house and ask a few questions.
― Magna Sharta (jjjusten), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:26 (eleven years ago) link
much of the nation is also a little jumpier than they were prior to the Boston bombing and Sandy Hook. not that that should lead to such excessive punishment levying, but is at least an explanation.
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:28 (eleven years ago) link
the key when making threatening internet comments is to tell people to kill themselves, see! rather than offering to do it for them!
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:29 (eleven years ago) link
lol, good point
― Nhex, Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:38 (eleven years ago) link
No shock, this dude is the subject/cause celebre of a billion tea party "political correctness GONE MAD" opinion pieces.
― Magna Sharta (jjjusten), Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:46 (eleven years ago) link
"gone are the days where we can make death threats freely, uninhibited by the long arm of the law"
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 04:50 (eleven years ago) link
Surely the key here is the diff between obvious sarcasm, and teaparty nuts/Alex Jones/etc saying "kill soandso" and MEANING IT.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, 6 July 2013 06:48 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, no. If you say stupid shit in public, it's fair game. Hell, if you say stupid shit in private and someone is recording you, it's still fair game. The end goal should be to reduce the amount of stupid shit said.
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Friday, July 5, 2013 10:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Exactly. Unproductive speech wastes time and resources. It must be dealt with swiftly and harshly.
― Banaka™ (banaka), Saturday, 6 July 2013 06:59 (eleven years ago) link
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Saturday, July 6, 2013 2:48 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yup. there was another similar case not that long ago where a kid ran afoul of the law by telling his classmates on FB "students of xxx school, there's a surprise waiting for you tomorrow!". and it turned out he meant he was going to dress up as Santa and hand out candy or something (I forget what), but of course someone reported him and the cops paid him a visit.
But naturally, once they interviewed him, he was let go. I'm still curious why the interview convinced them in this case that the guy was seriously gonna shoot up a kindergarten.
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 13:12 (eleven years ago) link
I mean it was basically a MIke Tyson "I will eat his children" comment.
looks like some anonymous donor (??) bailed him out, but not before he was regularly beaten, given solitary, and put on suicide watch. way to go, America!
http://gawker.com/teen-jailed-for-sarcasm-speaks-out-after-anonymous-dono-756076899
― frogbs, Friday, 12 July 2013 21:00 (eleven years ago) link
In April, a grand jury in Comal County, Texas, indicted Carter on a charge of making a terroristic threat, and a judge set bail at $500,000. The high bail has kept Carter imprisoned while his case moves through the court process.
"I have been practicing law for 10 years, I've represented murderers, terrorists, rapists. Anything you can think of. I have never seen a bond at $500,000," says Carter's attorney, Don Flanary.
― the most promising US ilxor has thrown the TOWEL IN (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Friday, 12 July 2013 21:18 (eleven years ago) link
"the end goal should be to reduce the amount of stupid shit said"
Who the fuck voted for this end goal? gl usa etc
― dub job deems (darraghmac), Friday, 12 July 2013 23:17 (eleven years ago) link
"its cool because ruining his life will serve as a warning to anyone else saying things sarcastically in the future"
― NI, Saturday, 13 July 2013 16:06 (eleven years ago) link
Hmm can any legal types verify this? Is the bail exceptionally high?
― cardamon, Saturday, 13 July 2013 16:28 (eleven years ago) link
"err I mean alleged murderers, terrorists, and rapists!"
― staff rules everything around Mi (Neanderthal), Saturday, 13 July 2013 17:30 (eleven years ago) link
What happen
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Wednesday, 6 January 2016 06:30 (eight years ago) link
https://www.change.org/p/release-my-son-justin-carter-being-prosecuted-for-a-facebook-comment/u/11321755
― lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 6 January 2016 06:36 (eight years ago) link