Current Events > Guy spends SIX YEARS in jail for words said over the internet

(+) Yeah! (+)

You'd only get suspended on gamefaqs if you made a threat to shoot up your local high school.

GameFAQs moderation system is literally more fair than the American justice system

i like how the same people who argue "ITS NOT THE GUNS! we need to do something about these people!" whenever there is a school shooting are the ones now arguing "It was just WORDS! he didn't really mean it!"...
---

PepperoniMaster posted...

A 19-year-old is more than capable of going on a shooting spree with guns acquired illegally or taken from someone else.

19 year olds can buy their own rifles.
---

PepperoniMaster posted...

Slayerblade11 posted...

Empty threats where nobody was harmed or planned to be harmed. Grotesque misuse of government power Giving a random kid years of prison time over something he would never be able to do is beyond absurd.

A 19-year-old is more than capable of going on a shooting spree with guns acquired illegally or taken from someone else.

His description also seemed graphic, almost sadistic so of course it'd be seen as a huge red flag.

They searched his house inside and out and he owned ZERO FIREARMS and no explosives or materials to make them.

He had a fascination with serial killers and making bombs but those aren't enough to convict someone for 6 years.

Slayerblade11 posted...

They searched his house inside and out and he owned ZERO FIREARMS and no explosives or materials to make them.

but he could have still legally obtained them with no issue.
---

Slayerblade11 posted...

19 year gets drunk and gets in an argument threatening to destroy nearby high school and kill people. Police raid his house and throw him away for 6 years despite finding no weapons or plans to do anything.

Fair next
---

Fair, next. Hopefully he learned something
---

Number39 posted...

YourWifesNewBF posted...

You'd only get suspended on gamefaqs if you made a threat to shoot up your local high school.

from personal experience, if you threaten to do something like that online, especially on a popular forum, you better have a private lawyer or you're fucked

Of course you have "personal experience"
---

Don't say stupid shit unless you're prepared to deal with the consequences.
---

ShutTheF---_Up posted...

Six years seems a little excessive

---

KLouD_KoNNeCteD posted...

Don't say stupid shit unless you're prepared to deal with the consequences.

He said this is in a video game. 90% teenage of video game players need to be in jail for saying stupid shit over a video game then.

I don't see the benefit to jailing him over this. If you haven't hurt anyone, you shouldn't go to jail. Period.

I'm fine with the cops giving him a stern talking to and making sure he doesn't have any weapons. Hell, keep him on your radar just in case. But don't waste taxpayer money on throwing him in jail. What does that accomplish? Who does that benefit?

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1697456.html

On October 4, 2012, while playing the online video game Runescape, Pillault communicated violent threats to other players. Runescape is a fantasy role-playing game that is played online. Players can communicate with each other by typing comments, which appear above the players' characters as well as in a chat box at the bottom of the screen. In response to provocative comments made by another player, Pillault stated that he was going to acquire guns, Molotov cocktails, and pipe bombs in order to reenact the Columbine school shooting at Oxford High School. Pillault threatened to level [O]xford hi[g]h school and turn it to gravel. Pillault also stated that [i]ts always a good time to talk about columbine and that he could not wait to blow brains out of skulls.

The Oxford Police Department (OPD) received two phone calls, one from a man in Virginia and the other from an employee of the company that owns and operates Runescape, both reporting Pillault's statements. The gaming company sent Pillault's account details to the OPD, which, after enlisting the help of the FBI, traced the offending account's IP address to a computer registered to Pillault's mother. The FBI obtained an arrest warrant and arrested Pillault in their home on October 8, 2014. The FBI also obtained a search warrant for electronic devices, which it executed that same day. The FBI's forensic examiner, who testified at Pillault's sentencing, performed an examination of Pillault's computer and found numerous documents pertaining to the creation of bombs and other explosive devices. Pillault's computer also had folders entitled columbine and serialkiller, which contained pictures relating to the Columbine shooting and other high-profile serial killers. The forensic examiner also found evidence that Pillault had searched on YouTube.com for Super Columbine Massacre RPG, a game that recreated the Columbine Massacre. In addition, Pillault had searched on YouTube and Google for instructions on how to make a sawed-off shotgun and information about Molotov cocktails.

Was it really just an empty drunken threat?
---

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I don't see the benefit to jailing him over this. If you haven't hurt anyone, you shouldn't go to jail. Period.

I'm fine with the cops giving him a stern talking to and making sure he doesn't have any weapons. Hell, keep him on your radar just in case. But don't waste taxpayer money on throwing him in jail. What does that accomplish? Who does that benefit?

SMH @ some people's logic in this topic.
---

frozenshock posted...

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1697456.html

On October 4, 2012, while playing the online video game Runescape, Pillault communicated violent threats to other players. Runescape is a fantasy role-playing game that is played online. Players can communicate with each other by typing comments, which appear above the players' characters as well as in a chat box at the bottom of the screen. In response to provocative comments made by another player, Pillault stated that he was going to acquire guns, Molotov cocktails, and pipe bombs in order to reenact the Columbine school shooting at Oxford High School. Pillault threatened to level [O]xford hi[g]h school and turn it to gravel. Pillault also stated that [i]ts always a good time to talk about columbine and that he could not wait to blow brains out of skulls.

The Oxford Police Department (OPD) received two phone calls, one from a man in Virginia and the other from an employee of the company that owns and operates Runescape, both reporting Pillault's statements. The gaming company sent Pillault's account details to the OPD, which, after enlisting the help of the FBI, traced the offending account's IP address to a computer registered to Pillault's mother. The FBI obtained an arrest warrant and arrested Pillault in their home on October 8, 2014. The FBI also obtained a search warrant for electronic devices, which it executed that same day. The FBI's forensic examiner, who testified at Pillault's sentencing, performed an examination of Pillault's computer and found numerous documents pertaining to the creation of bombs and other explosive devices. Pillault's computer also had folders entitled columbine and serialkiller, which contained pictures relating to the Columbine shooting and other high-profile serial killers. The forensic examiner also found evidence that Pillault had searched on YouTube.com for Super Columbine Massacre RPG, a game that recreated the Columbine Massacre. In addition, Pillault had searched on YouTube and Google for instructions on how to make a sawed-off shotgun and information about Molotov cocktails.

Was it really just an empty drunken threat?

This makes a lot more sense. I refuse to believe they were dumb enough to sentence the guy to six years in prison for the empty threat. Had to be a lot more to it
---

jukester posted...

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I don't see the benefit to jailing him over this. If you haven't hurt anyone, you shouldn't go to jail. Period.

I'm fine with the cops giving him a stern talking to and making sure he doesn't have any weapons. Hell, keep him on your radar just in case. But don't waste taxpayer money on throwing him in jail. What does that accomplish? Who does that benefit?

SMH @ some people's logic in this topic.

He's a troll that defends swatting, ignore him.
---

Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

jukester posted...

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I don't see the benefit to jailing him over this. If you haven't hurt anyone, you shouldn't go to jail. Period.

I'm fine with the cops giving him a stern talking to and making sure he doesn't have any weapons. Hell, keep him on your radar just in case. But don't waste taxpayer money on throwing him in jail. What does that accomplish? Who does that benefit?

SMH @ some people's logic in this topic.

He's a troll that defends swatting, ignore him.

I have never in my life defended swatting. Just said that if a cop ends up breaking into someone's house and killing them over nothing but an anonymous tip, he should to go jail.

It happened in Runescape?!? Lmfao
---

Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

jukester posted...

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I don't see the benefit to jailing him over this. If you haven't hurt anyone, you shouldn't go to jail. Period.

I'm fine with the cops giving him a stern talking to and making sure he doesn't have any weapons. Hell, keep him on your radar just in case. But don't waste taxpayer money on throwing him in jail. What does that accomplish? Who does that benefit?

SMH @ some people's logic in this topic.

He's a troll that defends swatting, ignore him.

Oh ok.
---

Words have consequences and the anonymity of the internet does not make you invincible, this is his natural consequence for being a dumbass...

I think 6 years is excessive personally, but i would have been perfectly okay with 3 years...
---

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I have never in my life defended swatting.

What do you think is the appropriate punishment for someone that calls in a swat that results in homicide?
---

tc is full of bullshit
---

Number39 posted...

Dustin1280 posted...

Words have consequences and the anonymity of the internet does not make you invincible, this is his natural consequence for being a dumbass...

This is something that needs to be taught in schools and by these days.
Sticks and stones isn't a valid statement anymore, especially in the internet age where everyone's trying to log everything so they can use it against you in the future

One thing I feel i need to clarify is if you get physically violent because someone is using hurtful words, the fault is on you and not the person using hurtful words.

That said if you are being a asshole spouting nonsense, I am not going to be upset if someone gets sick of your shit and punches you in the face (doesn't necessarily make it right, but don't expect me to feel bad for you).
---

Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I have never in my life defended swatting.

What do you think is the appropriate punishment for someone that calls in a swat that results in homicide?

Take away their phone or internet services permanently so they can't repeat that idiocy.

Thanks for making my point for me.
---

Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

Thanks for making my point for me.

What point? That I think your archaic prison system is stupid and you shouldn't put non-violent idiots into it?

Wow

The article mentions other judges taking other measures of deradicalization that aren't jail time. I think the kid needed help, not incarceration.
---

MutantJohn posted...

The article mentions other judges taking other measures of deradicalization that aren't jail time. I think the kid needed help, not incarceration.

It helps that he was also not in his right mind at the time.

Slayerblade11 posted...

6 years rotting in jail and having guns pointed in face for saying dumb shit that hurt no one is ok

He won't serve all 6, for one. Secondly, yes, because not taking shit like this seriously is how atrocities continue to happen.
---