A jury has found a delivery driver not guilty in the shooting of a YouTube prankster who was following him around a mall food court earlier this year
There is little to celebrate here.
Victim still got charged with a felony after spending 5 months incarcerated waiting for trial, and has to wait another month in jail to find out if the judge will overturn his final charge.
Self-described “Goon” still walking around on the streets getting paid for harassing and assaulting strangers. As a bonus, nearly doubled subscribers.
This case is exactly why DA’s level stack multiple felonies in these cases.
Jury: Well this is clearly self-defense, but he also probably pushed it too far so we don’t think he is innocent. Better just give him one felony.
For those that don’t know, the American courts have interpreted the constitutional “right to bear arms” as void for felons. This guy who was just acknowledged to have used his firearm in self-defense, is no longer allowed to own a firearm for his own protection.
Discharge of firearm in in public building: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter7/section18.2-279/
This guy who was just acknowledged to have used his firearm in self-defense, is no longer allowed to own a firearm for his own protection.
Good. Because that wasn’t self-defense, and he clearly doesn’t know what situations are appropriate for lethal force. Neither his life nor property were in any danger.
That doordash guy shouldn’t own a gun.
You know that his life wasn’t in danger because you know it was a prank. The defender here did not have the benefit of that knowledge.
When someone nearly a foot taller with 50 more pounds of muscle gets in your face and starts accusing you of thinking about their private parts, then you get to decide if self-defense is necessary. The defender tried to get away from the aggressor multiple times and told him to stop multiple times, but the aggressor obviously kept engaging.
Do you think he should have waited until the giant started punching or kicking him before he decided to draw his weapon? Should he have tried to punch the giant instead of using the weapon he has? Do you think you could outrun someone taller and in better shape than you are?
If the defender had multiple self-defense options he might have chosen another, but all of this is arm-chair quarterbacking. We weren’t there and the person that was chose the only real defense option they had.
This situation is entirely the Goon’s fault. He should be the one facing charges. While it might be reasonable to recommend a self-defense course for the victim, my understanding is that he already followed good self-defense principles.
Edit: Also, since no one else is saying it, I will. If the victim happened to have been gay, the aggressor probably would have been charged with a hate crime. The goon was clearly accusing him of it.
I see the argument for self-defense but that is not the same as using lethal force. Nor is it the same as opening fire in public.
There wasn’t a threat or posturing like a bar fight. There needs to be some actual positive evidence to be able to claim you fear for your life. Even cops make up those reasons.
Seems to me that people are just happy about the annoying guy getting shot for shitty behavior, and they’ll rationalize it however needed.
Cook said he continues to make the videos, from which he earns $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
Professional asshole gets shot and learns nothing. All over 2 to 3k a month. Dude could literally work at mcdonalds and make that kind of money.
I’d rather get shot than work at McDonald’s. Have you worked a low wage customer facing job? Literally anything is better. I’d rather have children kick me in the balls all day.
But you would also have to be a total asshole and go around harassing strangers who are just trying to get on with their lives.
Guaranteed to live but you have to shit in a bag for the rest of your life.
I’d rather get shot if it was a mild wound and I didn’t have to pay the medical bills afterwards*.
America, the land of opportunity!™
It’s interesting, the YouTuber clearly doesn’t have medical insurance through his job because… well he makes YouTube videos for a living. He was shot, so that was presumably a huge medical expense. I wonder who’s paying his bills? His parents?
He’s working up his immunity by getting shot with smaller calibers first, by the time he’s making 10k/month, he’ll have himself immune to high-caliber rifle rounds from people that are trying to kill him from a distance.
2,000 a month is 12.50 an hour not 25. And here 12.50 is below minimum wage.
You’re right, my bad. I’d like to blame the bad math on it being early morning… But it’s just me being dumb.
Well that’s not take home. They’d prob be taking home around 2/3 of that. So more like 1,300 at $12.50/hour if my quick math is right.
I feel like every person in this thread that cannot fathom how he feared for his life has never had personal experience dealing with someone with severe mental illness, in their family or in public or something. Direct experience, though, of interacting with a large, loud, mentally ill person.
If you think you can just assume a stranger you encounter who shoves a phone in your face is mentally healthy, you’re missing some facts of life.
The youtuber is 6 foot 5. Someone that tall is going to be intimidating if they get in your face and will not fuck off when asked regardless of what your prior experiences are. This guy knows he scares people. Thats the point of his channel. I mean the dude calls himself the goon squad. He knows hes being an asshole. He gets into peoples’ faces, scares the shit out of them and films the reaction.
I work with people with mental deficiencies and emotional issues. Some of them are significantly bigger than I am.
Can you then not empathize with how this delivery driver was afraid for his life? Not necessarily taking his time and thinking through his options, but reasonably in an actual state of irrational fear?
I can empathize but that doesn’t mean I think he was justified in shooting someone.
the fact that you think mentally ill means it’s okay to shoot him means you have lived a bit too long in the dystopiam shithole that’s the USA.
did I? or did I just make the logical conclusion feom thwir words, he just said lthat you can’t assume someone is mentally healthy when he approaches you and puts a phone in your face, he said many people don’t understand the trauma of dealing with mentally ill people and feeling threatened thus justifying the actions of the person who shot the youtuber.
At what point in that small reply do you see him saying that?
The entire comment. The topic is fearing for one’s life and defending oneself with a gun, and this guy basically says that it’s right to fear for your life because someone might be mentally ill. Comment again so you don’t have to scroll up:
I feel like every person in this thread that cannot fathom how he feared for his life has never had personal experience dealing with someone with severe mental illness, in their family or in public or something. Direct experience, though, of interacting with a large, loud, mentally ill person.
If you think you can just assume a stranger you encounter who shoves a phone in your face is mentally healthy, you’re missing some facts of life.
You’re going to headbutt someone half a foot taller than you? Do you wings? Spring boots?
What are you going to do next?
These are the types of people who don’t understand consent. They shove a camera six inches from your face, say nonsensical bullshit, keep following you when you back up, don’t listen when you repeatedly say No and Stop, yet are all shocked Pikachu when someone finally has enough. Fuck these “pranksters”. I hope his next injury is worse, because we all know this literal warning shot wasn’t enough and he’s going to continue.
I don’t think a shot in the abdomen counts as a “literal warning shot”. I think it’s more of just a shot shot.
I hope his next injury is worse, because we all know this literal warning shot wasn’t enough and he’s going to continue.
…trying to out-Jackass Steve-O.
I didn’t watch Steve-o’s own show but were there any Jackass skits where they accosted sometime who wasn’t in their crew? Some of them happened in public but they were still members of the crew being stupid and filming the publics reaction from afar.
That said, maybe I’m forgetting a skit?
one of the best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C1Pr4AU2wc
Reading the article it seems they found that he acted in self defense but still got him on a weapons charge which is being appealed.
He is being rewarded by youtube and his subs for that behavior. Which is especially messed up given youtube demonitizes videos for saying shit and fuck but not the harassment and stalking this guy does.
Its a serious problem in our entire criminal justice system. Trump is the post child for the inequality. Charged with 91 felonies and walking around doing as he pleases. Meanwhile this poor guy has been locked up for months without a trial, and may get off with no jail time but he’s in jail anyway.
It doesn’t sound like he was in physical danger but if someone was doing that to me I’d certainly feel like shooting them.
This “prankster” is 6’5". I’m 6’3 and I apparently intimidate people by just existing. If I was going around assaulting people I would fully expect someone to act defensively.
