Possible 8yrs in prison for video game comment

Well this is the country who has a school district that expelled I think it was a 2nd Grader for biting his pop tart into the shape of a crude looking gun and going "bang bang" at the other kids. I get that in recent years we've had a number of awful tragedies but shit man people are WAY overreacting to shit like this. Its just stupid. Kid is a distasteful asshole but getting 8 years in prison is fucking way overboard.

After looking into it, the conversation was on facebook and was over league of legends with a friend. It went something like this:

"I'm going to try playing attack speed kennen"

"lol ur insane"

"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"

It is bullshit when you note that this kid has spent 5 months in jail and has this thing permanently attached to his name now, even if he gets cleared at the trial. Every future employer will google his name and see this mess that was made with no real context or justification.

Live 15 miles from Austin guess that's why I see more of a mix.

Bunch of bullshit, he deserves a LoL account suspension, not jail time. If there is any justice left in America this kid will get off with no legal consequences, the alternative is pretty terrifying.

So, I mean, I'm all for teaching dumb kids a lesson.
But just, I don't know, let him out now? I think he understands the "stop acting like a fucking idiot online"-rule now.

If he does it again then lock him up again and this time a bit longer.

8 years is maybe just a tad crazy.

Lock him up again if he shit talks online? are you insane?

Won't somebody pleeeease think of the children!?!

Oh...wait...that kid's only 18. I guess they are thinking of the children then?

@clonedzero: Well not if it's just the dumb kind of shittalk that kids usually do.
But if it's like "yeah, I'm going to my aunts place and I'm gonna kill her babies and then shoot up a school and rape a random infant" then sure, he needs a few more months in prison.
Anyone does really because... jesus fucking christ I can't even believe I actually have to sit and explain why that's probably also a dumb thing to say even in jest.

It's right up there with going up to someone and go "Oh man, you lost a member of your family during 9/11 (or any other terrible event). Hahaha that's fucking funny. Suck it, loser" and just keep laughing in their face.

This.

While eight years for some stupid shit talk online is a bit harsh, this isn't the sort of thing you can "lol, jk" off. In the unfortunate world we live in, you have to take every threat of a school shooting seriously.

Yeah, just looking around that site, it seems the sort of place the Tea Party would love.

It's amazing how stupid, paranoid, and reactionary people can get about fairly innocuous stuff while they do fuck all about actual problems like bullying.

No one's actually defending his behavior. It was a distasteful and dumbass thing to say. He deserves to get shit for it, even if it was in jest.

But sending him to jail for it? I don't want to live in a world where sensationalism has that kind of power.

@zeforgotten: Ive heard comedians stand on stage and say comparable things and get laughs.

Come on, let's be real for a second. Would you really send someone to jail and irrevocably change their life for saying something like that? Also, why are you on a video game website if you hate gamers so much?

You dont deserve jailtime for either of those....

Sure you're a complete asshole if you say that stuff, but theres actual crimes we should be working on. And you CAN go up to someone and mock them for having a family member die. Its completely legal, it sucks, but it should remain legal.

This kids life is pretty much ruined because he said one dumb thing once. That's beyond retarded.

Have you or anyone you know ever been so pissed you/they said "I'm gonna kill him!". Its a pretty common thing really. Do they all deserve jailtime? When is jail acceptable and when it is not? It's a VERY dangerous line to walk. Jail-time for WORDS is wrong. I don't care what the words are.

Yelling bomb on a plane or fire in a theater are not counters to that, its not the words that are illegal. It's purposely causing a panic thats illegal. Which is completely different.

@demoskinos: I don't actually think I have heard any comedian make jokes like that now that I think about it.
Still doesn't make it funny to me though.

I'm more thinking along the lines of like I wonder if he learned his lesson from being in jail compared to someone going up to him and saying "stfu idiot" in a game chat.
or a parent going up to him saying "no, that's not nice. Behave, you little rascal"

@clonedzero: Sure sure, but what I'm thinking here is, do you think some time in jail makes him think before he speaks/types next time?
But it's good to know that people could just get away with everything they do by going "ROFL! JK! LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL!"

And no, I never said stuff like I'm gonna kill someone for getting angry. Mostly because I don't get angry at people in video games.
It seems like a silly thing to waste all that energy on seeing as it is just that, a video game.

@zeforgotten: Learned his lesson for what? From the context we have been given it looks like the comment wasn't even made in spite but in jest, as if that would have changed anything.

The best part is that people will call it insensitive to make light of the "terrible" school shootings we have experienced while they completely ignore the fact that their Iphone was made by a Chinese child being paid in barely edible food. Or that there are children in Africa who claw eachothers eyes out over a piece of moldy bread, only to get their heads caved in by a passing adult over the same piece of bread.

Yet here are are, hysterically lobbying for MASSIVE reforms over these "awful" shootings where a grand total of 10 children died.

8 years is a little much but I'm glad to see someone facing some consequences for being an asshole online. What he said was way over the line. But, 8 years is probably 7 years and six months too long.

League of Legends, I believe sarcastic comments about killing children and devouring their still-beating hearts is pretty low on the scale of offensive language.

ಠ_ಠ

@zeforgotten: I never said "in video games".

He was wronged. He shouldnt be afraid to make a joke since he might GO TO JAIL. That's insane. That's not "teaching him a lesson" thats unfairly punishing him for a distasteful joke. If anything, he's traumatized.

I fully sympathize with this poor guy. He didn't deserve this and i hope he gets some form of compensation for being unjustly jailed.

That makes it even worse if it wasn't said to random people and was just a joke among friends. That's borderline totalitarian and is actually pretty terrifying.

And you're in your full right to hope for that.
I just hope he learned something more than he would've had he just gotten a parent shaking his or her head at him and going "oh you"

If this is accurate, this is inexcusable for the kid to be getting into trouble over something like that. I can't possibly see anyone seeing the correct context of what he said and still think this whole thing is justified.

Someone please contact the Giant Bomb staff and warn them to take down one of their PAX panel videos. Jeff talks about opening up the chest of someone working at a gas station and stuffing it full of pennies.

also, it's worth noting that this sort of overreaction to online-chatter isn't without precedent.

i'm not saying the overreaction is merited (quite the opposite actually)- but people will learn one way or another that they're responsible for what they say. to think otherwise is just naiive- the internet is not really anonymous unless you really go out of your way make it so.

Welcome to the 21st century United States!

This is the type of case that will be thrown out by the judge before it even hits trial unless there is missing information we are not aware of.

Removed from this specific situation, I don't think that saying "jk" or "lol" legitimizes vile shit that people say. "It's a joke" is irrelevant rationale in the face of bigotry or threats. I don't think comedians "get away with" anything, it's more that it's understood that they are performing an act. If you remember that Michael Richards stuff with him yelling the n-word at audience members, he tried to pass it off as part of his act to avoid blame. Or as another example, you often hear about how joking about suicide can be considered a warning sign.

This kid shouldn't go to jail or be punished for a stupid joke, I think that's obvious, but no, I don't think "lol" or "jk" can necessarily change the context of a threat and it doesn't magically permit people to say whatever they want.

So many kids can get jailed if the police start listening to Xbox 360 Call of Duty players.

Now that I think back on it I think I had more people angry on MAG then I ever did on Call of Duty, but the Tacticool audience is always kinda testy.

Man, this kind of thing just makes me want to go out and shoot up a school.

Hi PRISM.

@example1013: Quick, over here! A troupe of ex-KGB and french canadian acrobats are five minutes away! Get in the car! No time to explain! D:

Just insane that what is clearly a joke between friends has ended up like this. Even more crazy that he doesn't warrant bail. Has he got some previous we don't know about. You'd think America' jails were full enough without jailing people for nonsense like this. At worst this should be an account suspension.

However its not just the US this happened here in the UK, but at least it was just a fine and it got overturned in the end.

On a larger point I think our justice systems are having real trouble striking some sort of balance between what is public and private speech in the digital age, both in minor (although not for the guy in question obviously) cases like this and the really serious issues surrounding privacy and the Prism and Tempora revelations recently.

Thank god I live in a moderately sane country. This kind of shit is just unexcusable.

Anyone who makes a joke like that is probably well on the way to shooting up a school full of kids eventually...so lock him up and throw away the key.

Poor kid, hope he get's through this in one piece.

I've said worse things to my boss.

@blastroid: If you have to take his written threats as exactly what they mean then you also have to take his "lol" and "jk" as exactly what they mean, and it means it was a joke. Just my thoughts on it as I don't think it's fair to pick and choose what part of his sentences were truth. I'm pretty sure that it will end up getting thrown out of court or if the kids parents are dumb they will end up taking a plea deal.

damn, america!

Yeah, if it's true that is a joke.

I know sarcasm can be hard to detect on the internet, but that was CLEARLY sarcastic. Come on, seriously?

Yeah, it's a dumb thing to say, but this shouldn't have even went to court. Fucking ridiculous.

The difference is that this was said while playing a video game. He was not standing outside a school saying this, or holding a gun. Therefore no one would have reason to suspect that he might actually do it.

We have to be missing a huge part of this story or there would be an army of lawyers lining up to represent this guy. Isn't America also the country where you can sue the fuck out of anyone that wrongs you?

I can totally see how he would have said that sarcastically when someone calls him insane. If people are getting thrown in jail for being sarcastic, I guess we all might as well turn ourselves in.

8 years in prison because someone doesn't understand sarcasm. 'Tis a great world we live in.

He shouldnt be jailed for his idiotic comment, but maybe these morons will think twice before they spout bullshit online next time.

My favourite part of the article?

"But a Canadian woman who saw the post looked up Carter’s Austin address, determined that it was near an elementary school, and called the police. Carter was arrested one month later, and has been in jail ever since."

Yeah, he's such a threat that we want to lock him up for 8 years but they took their sweet time arresting him -.-

It's what happens when you sign over your freedom to the federal government. People don't seem to mind until it's something like this that any rational thinking person knows was just a dumb joke, but the people in charge thinks is a credible threat and treat a teenage kid like a terrorist.

Sigh.

I miss the days when people would dole out punishments that fit the crime. In this case, a stern talking and a night in jail would've been enough.

I don't like online shit talkers more than anyone else, but Jesus Christ this is insane.