Texas teen makes violent joke during video game, is jailed for months

After read this http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/27/t...-joke-during-video-game-is-jailed-for-months/ and watching a video where I first heard the news , I'm going to have to side with the kid. Sure his joke was taking it a bit to far, but that's what dark humour is right?

The video -

 

I'd say I have to side with the kid on this one. I mean, yeah, the joke was a little over the top, even compared to the jokes I've seen on MMOs (and I've seen a LOT of bad jokes), but it's not like you should get jailed for that. What I can't really believe is that some random woman decided to actually look up his address....actually, how did she manage that in the first place? It's not like google will show you someone's address by just typing it in. I've tried to no avail.....My point being, the fact that one person decided to take this seriously and call the police because he was making a joke. If they were to look at a lot of MMOs you'd see a bit of dark humor like that. If they seriously imprison him for 8 years just because of that, I'm going to have to say our government, or rather the judicial part of it anyways, needs a look at.

 

Actually, I work at a law firm where I locate people for court and letters. I know it's semi-hard to find someone who's over 18. It depends on where the person is, how many people live in the area with the same name, etc...But you have to pay for it.

Seeing all the shootings and living with an insane father, I know most people who kill people are mostly on a whim. Yes, there are plans sometimes, but something like this isn't planned and wouldn't be posted. I feel terrible for the kid, it was a stupid remark, but he's a kid. Kids do **** like this all the time without thinking, and unfortunately, this isn't the first nor last time that this will happen.

I wonder where in the **** these people are when a nutcase goes and shoots a bunch of ****ing kids in the head and scarring their lives at SIX ****ING YEARS OLD. Sorry I'm ranting, but is ****ing stupid when people are being shot down in movie theaters, schools and god-knows where else. Not to mention the Boston Marathon bombing and 9/11, that a EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD GETS ARRESTED FOR A IDIOTIC WOMAN AND A BUNCH OF TEXANS THINK THAT A KID WILL MURDER A BUNCH OF KIDS BECAUSE THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND LEET TALK!!!!!!

I know sarcasm is hard to read sometimes, but that's why lol and j/k is USED. A friend of mine used it all the time to show he was joking, I do the same thing and the :P symbol. THAT'S WHY IT EXISTS.

You have to watch what you say today, but this is beyond stupid. I'm more worried about the nutcase who found out this information. I am going to be more censored than ever now. I pray for the family and hope to hell that this is fixed. Bring it to the Supreme Court if you ****ing have to.

I apologize for the swearing.

 

Completely unacceptable behavior from the law. The teenager shouldn't go to jail for a sarcastic comment, which was clear sarcasm.

 

Utterly ridiculous and very Big Brother-esque. I feel bad for the kid and hope the petition to have him released works out.

Jokes like that, although in bad taste, are very common in many walks of life, not just in online games. The fact that he clearly indicated that he was just kidding makes this incident all the more stupid.

 

Sometimes I feel like the only smart guy in a world that's retarded when stuff like this happens. Granted I'm obviously not the only person who feels all those who falsely imprisoned this guy for his sarcastic remark are a bunch of idiot moral guardians that are blinded by fear and paranoia, but I still feel like I'm the only one sometimes.

 

stuff like that will get you banned out the site, but put to jailed? it's like me saying "this test is as stupid as ******s" then i get expel from school just from saying it. people need to not take things seriously.

 

It's not a joke. A joke relies on an inevitable use of wit and/or set up to lead the audience expecting something and receiving the opposite. This is just a statement with an lol and jk added after because the hands move faster than the brain, and before he can recover the situation and not post it, he has to reassert that his thoughts weren't true and were a 'joke'.

So this statement was stupid but not a crime nor a violation of any known law as far as i'm aware. School shootings have never been for terrorist attacks as far as i'm aware, at least not made by teenagers. It'll get thrown out, because like a lot of arrests in America after shootings or bombings, any mention of said events, even in jest or by accident, makes them a criminal before anything else. I'm thinking back to the arrests of Muslim men who were jailed without trial for being suspects in 9/11 when no evidence was found. Brutality in society is not gone.

 

Both sides seem to be at fault here. I mean, the joke was crossing a line there. That's a really messed up thing to say as a joke. Yes I know a normal person would not believe that, but there are limits to a joke and what a person can fool around with. On the other side, being jailed for that is just plain dumb. My god are authorities are dumb to jail a teenager for some joke. If it's a REALISTIC joke (remember that tweet from a teen about wanting someone to assassinate Obama?), then I can ease on that, but the authorities need to fix their brains or something.

 

I respectfully disagree with this. There are no limits and sometimes crossing the lines can be funny. Sure sometimes the humor is unfunny given the subject matters sometimes, but anything can be funny.

 

It relies mainly on the execution and deliverance, both failed by this individual. I doubt he was even trying to be funny but was back pedalling after he thought he was going to far with his comment. True anything can be funny, but it takes certain individual's skill to properly do so. This teen was not that kind of comedian.

 

It doesn't matter whether his joke was ~hilarious~ or not. When people say something 'jokingly' it doesn't have to have a good setup or punchline or what-have-you, the only criteria is that what is said isn't true. I also don't believe that he was back-pedalling with 'lol jk' because oftentimes the 'lol jk' is the punchline.

But, like I said, that's not the point. The point is that this kid is in jail already, awaiting his sentence over a comment that he shared with an acquaintance. If that doesn't smack of ~political correctness gone mad~ or ~big brother is watching you~ then I don't know what does.

 

What's more appalling is that, in the event that he is being accused of terrorism, wouldn't they search his house, talk to his friends, check his computer logs? At which point, wouldn't they be able to determine that he is or isn't going through with what he mentioned? He's been in jail for months. Not days, not weeks.

And the bail was half a million dollars. It's all crazy. I hope he gets out okay and can hopefully move on from this.

 

Right. This wasn't a joke, it was merely intended to be taken in a humorous manner, as per the 'lol' and the 'jk'.

While the intentions may have been basely meant as harmless, it is a rather disturbing form of humor. It has to be some of the darkest humor I've ever seen.

I agree that it should be definitive that he gets banned from the game; I think he needs to get out more and learn about humor. I don't agree at all with the imprisonment though. Forty-two hours at most he should have been held. That would have been long enough to check things out and see that he wasn't a 'terrorist'. I personally think the court system is using this boy as a 'martyr' to set an example for everyone out there. What the end intention is, I've no idea. If they aren't going to do their jobs and look into things, what are they even there for? That's like letting an actual terrorist walk through the airport because he said he loved the Reds and hamburgers (because the boy is being imprisoned for making a 'joke'). Completely ridiculous.

 

This is why I don't like dark humor. Because it would cause a lot of misunderstandings in real life. Like this one. The kid shouldn't talk like that. Yet the Law shouldn't be too harsh on the kid. It's plain sarcasm, the kid didn't mean it seriously. Yet, the police took it verreactedly and they think that the kid is an actual threat to society.

 

So from my understanding when people say it wasn't a joke and giving a dictionary definition of a joke don't you think that's why the kid is in jail now? Now dark humor is not for those weak in the common sense department because there's been a lot of comedians who have had to publicly apologize for their joke going too far because of how dark the humor is. If you take offence to it then why watch it? Like if your going to play a game online you should know off the bat the game online is not rated by the ESRB therefore letting a huge burden off their shoulder... Sorry the governments shoulder from the concerned parents.

I just want to ask why is it when it comes to virtual things actions are taken so quickly yet when its physical forms of volatile acts its takes longer? If you tell me because its harder since in the real world things are different, because you got to take this, that, and the third into account you are an idiot. I mean that in the most nicest way possible because for those on this site who claim to be very intellectual individuals when it comes to actual online harassment and something like this you aren't as wise as you claim to be. Its that arrogance and your ego that has you on that high horse of yours

Getting back on topic dark humor is always a very risky form of entertainment, and in this case communication. Addressing this topic and trying to play the righteous to protect yourself and shine light upon those you're as ignorant and idiotic as those individuals who is going to have this boy locked away for 8 years. I agree with Vinyl Scratch about getting banned, but you have to understand in online gaming people will say some pretty intense words. I've done it when beating try hards in Halo, or just beating on anyone in Street Racing games.

Now to prove this point with comedians look at the case of Eddie Murphy getting flack for his Stevie Wonder skits. Its dark humor, but these were the same people who paid to see his show. Now they know Eddie from going to his show. This boy wasn't know by those who searched up his information, and had him brought to "Justice" to begin with. Explain to me why they aren't getting punished for doing this in secret please ?

 

As someone who has literally been psychologically screened for this same kind of ****, I agree that he should not be sentenced at all. I think that the government is stupid if they're sentencing someone for something as... Umm... I wouldn't say little, but something that isn't big. There could be an actual terrorist attack, but no, they're focusing on a kid that went a little too far and said something he shouldn't have at all. Anyone can add lol jk to something to make it look like a joke, so I understand SOME hesitance, but something THIS messed up? How the hell can you actually believe that someone would DO something like this?