Teenager rages over MMORPG; jailed for 8 years over Facebook post

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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 point
let 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

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

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

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

"canadian woman"

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

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

sjuttiosju_u (wins), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:31 (eleven years ago) link

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)

Neanderthal, Friday, 5 July 2013 20:33 (eleven years ago) link

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

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

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:17 (eleven years ago) link

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

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, 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

I have never 'made bail' in my life, and yet somehow... I'm not in jail

― Campari G&T, Friday, July 5, 2013 10:07 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wtf does this even mean?

Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 02:33 (eleven years ago) link

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

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, 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.

Neanderthal, Saturday, 6 July 2013 13:12 (eleven years ago) link

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 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

"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.

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

two years pass...

What happen

Hammer Smashed Bagels, Wednesday, 6 January 2016 06:30 (eight years ago) link


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