Date: April 18th, 2007 10:58 PM Author: dun menage Subject: *questions
Yes, I am the copy-and-paster of the original threat (OT) and the first person to have notified the law school.
It seems some people at XOXO are willing to assume Trustafarian wasn't seriously planning to kill based on one or more of these inferences:
1. "Since he had no history of flame at XOXO, Trustafarian's threat should have been dismissed as bad flame."
2. "Since he edited his original threat to read 'wgwag', he elucidated his intent to convey a joke."
3. "Since he turned himself in, this demonstrated that his threat was in fact an empty one, for which he was sorry."
4. "Since it turns out he was a Boalt student, it is clear that he had no motive."
Does anyone else see the flaw in assuming someone is not legitimately homicidal based on these reasons alone?
Indulge this HYPO:
A blood thirsty copycat-wannabe logs on to XOXO as Trustafarian. Sure, he's had no history of flame in the past, but for once, he cannot contain his secret-- his plan to murder people on the campus of Hastings, where his ex-girlfriend attends. He posts the threat, but as soon as it seems that people are unexpectedly going to take him seriously and potentially report him to the authorities, he makes a last-ditch effort to save his ass by editing the threat. As cries for his investigation pile up on the board, he realizes he is fucked. Even if he wanted to go through with the shooting now, he couldn't because he still hasn't bought a gun. He believes the FBI will catch up with him soon, and in an attempt to seek lenience, he "turns himself in."
Is it not somewhat plausible that this or something similar was the case? If so, why would anyone be willing to risk lives by not reporting him?
(And these criticisms are just from one person! PS: Get off my nuts, fag.)
The guy's OP, which edited after approximately 10 minutes, indicated that he would consider shooting people at Hastings tomorrow if it wasn't raining. I COULD NOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE GAMBLE WITH PUBLIC SAFETY BY ASSUMING THIS WAS FLAME. It sucks that it actually did end up just being flame, and I feel somewhat bad for the guy, but the bottom line is that there was a perceivable threat. And if you don't agree, fuck you, I will fucking shoot your asses.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:03 PM Author: black erotic institution
Agreed, I don't think you deserve the sort of shit you're getting from some people. Think about those girls who didn't press charges against Cho back in 2005 and how they must feel right now.
you're a blithering fucking idiot. "those girls who didnt press charges" did not have a context within which to judge cho's actions--they did not have, like the retard who started this thread did, the chance to google search trustafarian's name to see what sort of history he had on this board or the opportunity to understand the context in whcih the post was made, namely one of the most ridiculously filthy and deranged fucking message boards anywhere. one would figure you'd know this considering how ardently you defended free speech and how you refused to moderate this board and all. of course now this poor guy, who, judging by the google history, is in the top 95% of normal, sane posters on this board, will have to deal with who knows what with the FBI, who knows what sort of disciplinary sanctions at his school and who knows what sort of C&F implications. but yeah, the OP is a fucking hero.
he apparently authored normal posts right, and then all of a sudden a thread about murder-suicide...if he posted flame all the time it'd be less worrisome. the fact that there was a context of normal posting then this, that gives more of a reason to alert the school.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:14 PM Author: black erotic institution
Free speech doesn't cover murder-suicide threats. Was he kidding? Probably 99% likely. But if it was your school, would you take that 1% chance after seeing what happened at Virginia Tech? I probably wouldn't.
As for moderation, that was never my choice. I never ran the board or had any control over those decisions, and I have frequently advised rachmiel to do something about some of the threads on here, sometimes with success, sometimes without success.
there have been COUNTLESS threads on xoxo saying things like "i'm about go go and slaughter a village full of niggers" and "i'm about to rape and kill a nigger bitch"...... if those arent murder threats, then what the fuck are they? oh, they're FLAME, right? how do you distinguish THAT flame from the hastings guy's flame?
I'm sure if they named a specific person they were going to kill or a specific place where they were going to kill someone, cops would have been notified.
Date: April 11th, 2008 3:21 PM Author: Odious piazza
excellent. i hope all the documentarians have this post on their list. it's amazing how much good material ak47 generated to justify every future employer ever in firing him.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:53 PM Author: Opaque Hyperactive Resort
you have to take those within the context of what was going on. the regular nonsense that goes on here is far different than someone making a (I assume) specific threat to a specific location the day after a similarly tragic event. Heightened scrutiny based on the circumstances that occurred just now.
should someone have called the FBI about azn's countless "ALL WHITE GIRLS WILL BE SHOT IF THEY DONT FUCK US" threads? surely heightened scrutiny applies in that case too.
Date: April 21st, 2007 8:59 AM Author: Thriller theater stage
Mike Church used to regularly say he'd have specific posters "put down" and claim that he knew who they really were, then talk about what "the street price on a hit" was. That seems like much more a direct threat, to me at least.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:09 AM Author: Razzmatazz Free-loading Property Trump Supporter
Girls get stalked all the fucking time. It's only a big deal when it's a big deal.
It's dissimilar to what is going on here.
And if the rat had followed your advice to get perspective on trustafarian's good character he would have found out that the fucking loser idiot lived in the same town where he made the threat. That would have justified doing something right there. At the very least, it does not help your position.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:11 PM Author: very tactful heaven
I don't know if I really buy this. I can understand calling the school or calling the cops, if you really wanted to be safe. But what would be accomplished by copying and pasting the original post? As well as keeping it preserved after it's been established as a (poor) joke?
It's wrong to yell "fire!" in a crowded cinema. But I don't see how it's justified to record the original threat and play it over and over again (as it were).
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:13 PM Author: Iridescent athletic conference
Exactly. I don't buy it either. I'd fully understand if some outsider stumbled upon the thread, found it frightening and reported it to the school. But this guy strikes me as just a typical xoxo-asshole who gets his jollies solely out of stirring shit up.
Date: April 19th, 2007 7:53 AM Author: Chestnut nighttime knife plaza
"I'd fully understand if some outsider stumbled upon the thread, found it frightening and reported it to the school. But this guy strikes me as just a typical xoxo-asshole who gets his jollies solely out of stirring shit up."
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:29 PM Author: very tactful heaven
Okay, here's a sincere question. How long have you been on this board? Did you recognize Trustafarian's moniker? Did you really think that he could be a real threat?
Quite frankly, it's hard to accept the sincerity of a poster with the moniker "How many WGs could a WGWAG WG if a WGWAG could..."
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:32 PM Author: dun menage
A few months. And no, I didn't recognize the moniker.
I still googled for his past posts before calling. I didn't find anything to lead me to believe he was a full-time joker that would be capable of such extraordinary flame. Even if I had, I'm still not sure I could have assumed with good conscience that it was flame, given the especially acidic nature of the threat.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:46 PM Author: dun menage
The creators of this site, the majority of posters, the administration and student body of a Tier 1 law school, and the FBI all disagree with you. Give it a fucking rest.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:51 PM Author: Wine Locus Roommate
sorry buddy. your intentions may have seemed somewhat noble if you had just quietly called the cops after seeing it, rather than copy and pasting, fanning the flames, and generally being an attention-whoring douchebag up until and including now.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:28 PM Author: passionate indecent tanning salon Subject: Thank you
As a Hastings student, I wanted to say thanks for alerting our school today. Although this may have turned out to be a sick joke... On the off chance that this guy was serious, it's nice to know that there are people out there who will take action during times like this. I have a hard time believing that if someone had made a threat like this at one of your schools, that you would have thought it was humorous. We, like all of you, are in the process of studying for finals that start in 2 weeks.. it's a shame that someone's sick sense of humor had to increase everyone's anxiety in what is already a very stressful time. Again, thanks for looking out.. I hope all of you who thought this was just a "joke" will do the same when things like this happen in the future.
Date: April 19th, 2007 2:33 AM Author: Gay Affirmative Action
i think it's retarded to believe that anything posted on xoxo would be serious. =(
Even if the situation warranted caution, i bet this guy didn't go to the cops saying, "there's a guy that posted a semi-threat on a messageboard but the messageboard is full of bad-taste humor, so please make the call that you think should be made"
he probably just went straight for the kill: "THERE'S A GUY CLAIMING TO SHOOT HASTINGS IF IT RAINS TOMORROW"
Date: April 21st, 2007 7:58 AM Author: Navy violent degenerate Subject: * don't feed the trolls *
seems pretty obvious that "How many WGs could a WGWAG WG if a WGWAG could..." is a troll:
1. look at the moniker: unless I'm mistaken, it's directly responsive to Trustarian's edit and clearly indicates the intent of the author in reposting the original message ~ in other words, it sounds a bit flippant for someone who really took the original post seriously...
2. even if one were legitimately concerned about the original post, reposting the message didn't make anyone safer and was completely unnecessary: s/he could have just forwarded the message to the appropriate authorities and left the thread alone
as it is, WCWAG's getting a lot of attention on this thread... and apparently spending a lot of time and having a lot of fun responding to these posts...
trolls live for attention ~ don't feed the trolls...
Date: April 19th, 2007 9:38 AM Author: Provocative Tank
180. And probably fucking true. Seriously, this was obviously fucking flame. But the whole, hey, better safe than sorry schtick would cover your worthless act and you could do something that actually fucks someone's life under the cover of the VT tragedy.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:10 AM Author: dun menage
"Try Again."
I'll consult the manual of the Official XOXO Pro-Attention Whoring Committee for any recommended strategies for defending attention whoredom and will do so.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:10 AM Author: Provocative Tank
Notice I didn't post until you created your attention whoring little thread. There would not have been a post to fend off if you hadn't, at least from me. If you really think you did the right thing you wouldn't care about criticisms in different individual threads, and you wouldn't take credit for reporting the flame.
Knowing there are people like you on this board has the most chilling effect on speech.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:14 AM Author: dun menage
"Knowing there are people like you on this board has the most chilling effect on speech."
Oh, darn. Perhaps some charitiable organization can find you and others like you who have had your ability to utter threatening speech "chilled" some spare coats.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:53 AM Author: Provocative Tank
The whole point is that it was supposed to be a joke. While his post wasn't hilarious it sure was funnier than your lame attempts, such as saying we should have coats.
Moreover, that "charitable organization" was this board. Everyone realized that in addition to information about law school, this was a board that was not moderated, so you could post edgy shit. Some of the shit falls on its face but other stuff is funny. That's why people post here.
Well, I guess some people post here to attention-whore, but that's another matter.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:08 PM Author: dun menage
The whole point is that intent isn't the overriding consideration in this type of speech.
Moreover, free speech isn't absolute. If you perceived XOXO as a protected microcosm, you were not only wrong but completely ignorant of the law, thus demonstrating that you shouldn't even be posting here in the first place.
I'll be looking for your retirement thread to be up by the end of the day.
Date: April 19th, 2007 1:45 PM Author: Provocative Tank
You're an idiot.
I was not talking about whether you had a RIGHT to report him or whether OP had a RIGHT, according to law, to say what he said. So this is not a law question douche. I was making an analogy, obviously.
First of all, OP probably did have a RIGHT, in the sense that he probably didn't violate any laws and won't be arrested. Did you do the right thing? Probably not, in the sense that you did it for the purpose of attention whoring. And the fact that there are people who will cause a ruckus and invite the FBI upon jokers out there BECAUSE they want to attention whore will chill the speech on this board. Because if it was just limited to reporting credible threats then speech wouldnt be chilled as much as when you are worried that people will report you to attention-whore. This is not a LAW argument, this is an argument about how to best interact in a messageboard environment. STFU please.
1. I was not overly cautious. My response was the only correct one. I was not going to gamble the public safety by "assuming flame" like someone such as your stupid ass, who would rather glorify the context of XOXO than err on the side of the lives of Hastings students.
2. Even if I was attention whoring after the fact, this doesn't disprove that I originally perceived a threat. Your reasoning here is simply fallacious. Did you get better than 10% on the arguments section of the LSAT? I'd be shocked.
3. Throwing out a generic term like "chilling effects" doesn't necessarily demonstrate you "know your free speech law". If you knew the law, you would respect my decision, regardless of any "attention-whoring" I may or may not be guilty of.
4. The motherfucker yelled "fire." You're the kind of overly-trusting son of a bitch who wouldn't budge in the movie theatre.
Date: April 19th, 2007 2:10 PM Author: Provocative Tank
Sorry to insult a LEGEND. JEEEESE, I didn't know who I was talking to.
2. Even if you were attention whoring it doesn't disprove that you perceived a threat. No, the two could go together, it just makes it suspicious. If you weren't attention whoring, would you have reported it? Possibly. But your attention whoring muddles this fact. Did A cause him to report, or B? We can't know, all we know is that attention whoring was certainly a factor. And when attention whoring becomes a factor, it becomes more likely that people will report stupid jokes.
Again, maybe your overly cautious self would have reported it anyway. But, it is suspicious.
I love it when idiot trolls backtrack when they face superior argumentation. First you said attention whoring "PROVES" I didn't perceive a threat. Now you say it "doesn't disprove." Now you're just "suspicious."
Oh noes~! Suspicion!
PS: If you want to call me a legend, that's your perogative. But I don't know what you're trying to get at.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:04 PM Author: scarlet main people hissy fit Subject: *****NOTE I DID NOT WRITE THIS ITS A COPY/PASTE JOB*****
Reply
Date: April 18th, 2007 10:58 PM
Author: How many WGs could a WGWAG WG if a WGWAG could...
Subject: *questions
Yes, I'm the guy who copied and pasted the OP, calling for the guy to be investigated. And yes, I'm actually also the first person to have called the law school about the matter.
The bottom line here is that you shouldn't have any questions for me. At least not ones like this:
(And these criticisms are just from one person. PS: Get off my nuts, fag.)
The guy's OP, which edited after approximately 10 minutes, indicated that he would consider shooting people at Hastings tomorrow if it wasn't raining. I could not in good conscience gambe with public safety by assuming this was flame.
It sucks that it actually did end up just being flame, and I feel somewhat bad for the guy, but the bottom line is that there was a perceivable threat. And if you don't agree, you can kiss my ass.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:08 PM Author: dun menage
5 threads? Links?
I started one thread asking others to call the authorities, since I was in class at the time. Since no one responded within a few minutes, I went ahead and called myself, and that was the end of it. No other threads, besides this one.
titcr. It's one thing to take the threat seriously and, in addition, take other precautions to preserve the safety of your classmates.
It's another matter to 'play the hero' and repost the original message. The fact that Trustafarian EDITED THE POST is indication that it was a joke in extremely poor taste, and if the OP of this thread was really interested in saving evidence for the FBI he could have just as easily archived the thread.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:52 PM Author: copper stimulating indian lodge filthpig
anyone who thinks that these threats should have been laughed off and ignored is retarded. What kind of crazy asshole posts things like this 36 hours after the most vicious school shooting in US history?
I mean it looks like it's turning out that it was just flame or whatever, but still, the onus rests on the guy who originally posted the threat. How can you all be so self righteous about it all? It's demented.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:00 AM Author: copper stimulating indian lodge filthpig
"so it's retarded to be correct?"
HA. Is the man who gambles all his money on a roulette table and wins not still guilty of making a really dumb decision? You make choices based on the information you have available.
"apparently someone who wasn't that crazy."
obviously he was, as he posted fucking murderous intentions on a message message board that's widely read by the demographic he was threatening. This is absolutely stupid no matter what way you look at it.
Now, that said, I don't know either poster, so as far as I know Trustafarian or whatever is a great guy who just made a really stupid choice. People do that all the time. But don't demonize the OP for making the best call with the info he had.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:04 AM Author: Vengeful exhilarant crackhouse pozpig
the point is he is not being honest in this thread. he is a trouble making troll who wanted to teach trustafarian a lesson and it got out of hand.
if you read the "threat" its not really a threat in any meaningful way. In fact, its written carefully so that it avoids making a direct threat - which a good flame artist knows.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:10 AM Author: Wine Locus Roommate
i dunno, it seems pretty fucking likely that if a mass murderer WAS going to go on a serial rampage, he wouldn't alert the feds ahead of time. maybe that's just me though.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:14 AM Author: copper stimulating indian lodge filthpig
He didn't alert the Feds, he posted something on xoxo.
People do things like that all the time. That's why threats are taken seriously.
regardless, it was hastings' call to make. OP didn't call the FBI or whatever, i don't think. but even if he did, it's then the FBI's prerogative to assess the threat and act.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:45 AM Author: Wine Locus Roommate
lol!!! comparing a guy posting on an internet board FULL OF FLAME that he's NOT GOING TO KILL ANYONE to a murderer sending a videotape of himself to NBC in the MIDDLE OF A KILLING SPREE! LOL you're really desperate to look good here!
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:30 AM Author: Wine Locus Roommate
except there are negative repercussions from acknowledging a fake threat, e.g. loss of $$$ and resources, increased likelihood of other dumbasses making fake threats to get school cancelled, and the loss of brain cells from all this stupid coverage this crap is going to get.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:37 AM Author: Nudist cracking ticket booth cuckoldry
it also fails to acknowledge that a simple, "hey this is a serious matter, you should edit that out, say you were kidding and ask GTO to delete this or else boalt and the FBI might be up your ass and you might get fined an enormous amount and sent to jail and you might get expelled and never be able to pass C&F" might have been the proper course of action to take before calling hastings. not a single word of warning about the dangerous ground on which he was treading. not a single post encouraging the poster to take back what he said. nope... instant red alert.
Date: April 19th, 2007 1:06 AM Author: very tactful heaven
You know, it's posts like this that suggest that your motive was not safety, but to punish a poster who you thought had crossed a line and said something in bad taste.
Date: April 18th, 2007 11:55 PM Author: Buff ratface locale
I agree. There were some threads in horrible taste regarding VTECH, but none went as far as to warrant an alert. Naming 'hastings' is what did him in, especially considering the number of incidents today around the country.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:01 AM Author: Vengeful exhilarant crackhouse pozpig
how about "Jill looks like she wants to be raped." - or whatever the threads about her say.
the point is you can justify the douche's actions if you want, but it was obviously a joke - especially when the OP thought over it and edited 2 minutes later.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:11 AM Author: copper stimulating indian lodge filthpig
ok, again with the non sequitar. Just because someone should have alerted Jill to the fact that she's receiving threats or whatever on this board does not mean someone should NOT have alerted Hastings about this one.
Truth be told, Jill probably knows all about these threats as, if i'm not mistaken, she blogs about them all the time.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:06 AM Author: Nudist cracking ticket booth cuckoldry
if there was legitimate concern, why didnt someone say, "DUDE, YOU WILL GET INTO BIG TROUBLE FOR SAYING THAT...." and explain the situation to the poster? at that point, he could have explained it was a joke, contacted GTO to request it be taken down, etc. etc. etc.
instead, some attn whore wants to be a "hero", wastes hastings and the FBI's time and is going to cause that dude a SHITLOAD of aggravation. if said attn whore had said "you really should not be joking about this stuff... people will take it seriously" and engaged in a dialogue with the guy (and cross check with a google search of his posting history) to ensure it was flame, then all of that could be avoided. if the poster did NOT respond to the attn. whore's entreaties, at that point it certainly would have been warranted for the attn. whore to contact someone.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:30 AM Author: copper stimulating indian lodge filthpig
again, demented. The point was not that the thread was up (as you seem to suggest by saying the thread cold be taken down) the point was that the threat was made. Also, as pointed out elsewhere, a google search revealed this guy was in the same city as hastings. Just more cause to take the threat seriously.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:30 AM Author: Pearly big rigor mental disorder
Reporting this to the authorities was the 100% correct thing to do. If you're actually a law student, IMO, it was the only ethical thing you could've done anyway and shame on anyone who thinks that it should be blown over. The threat was downright creepy, and following Monday, I don't think anyone who professes to want to be an officer of the court should take such things lightly. HTFH.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:34 AM Author: bateful effete mad-dog skullcap telephone
85% of the douchiest posts on xoxo have the phrase 'officer of the court' in them.
It's not the alerting the police that's bothersome - it's the blatant attention-whoring attitude of the self-proclaimed hero. The false bravado, the strutting smugness... it all points the fact that the OP of this thread realizes that the 'threat' was a joke and just wants to take credit for what happened.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:49 AM Author: Pearly big rigor mental disorder
Don Imus doesn't care about black people, okay?
But anyway, I don't care about whether he's gloating about turning the dude in. All I care about is whether he was morally justified in turning him in, and I was simply responded to what seemed like a reaction against that.
Date: April 19th, 2007 2:03 AM Author: claret range
"85% of the douchiest posts on xoxo have the phrase 'officer of the court' in them."
exactly right. and the OP's inflated self-importance -- talking about being "unable to gamble with public safety" breaks new douchebaggery ground. In concert with GTO seixing every opportunity to be an advocate for the "responsibility" attendant to free speech and presenting obvious examples of unprotected speech as if they are trenchant first amendment analysis makes this a fairly puke-inducing thread. when people start talking about their "duty" it's generally going to go badly.
Date: April 19th, 2007 2:06 AM Author: claret range
"85% of the douchiest posts on xoxo have the phrase 'officer of the court' in them."
exactly right. and the OP's inflated self-importance -- talking about being "unable to gamble with public safety" breaks new douchebaggery ground. In concert with GTO seixing every opportunity to be an advocate for the "responsibility" attendant to free speech and presenting obvious examples of unprotected speech as if they are trenchant first amendment analysis makes this a fairly puke-inducing thread. when people start talking about their "duty" it's generally going to go badly.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:53 AM Author: Pearly big rigor mental disorder
You willing to take that chance? Do you realize that Cho posted on some forum that he was going to "kill some people at VT today?" Obviously it was a flame thread. Obviously.
Date: April 19th, 2007 9:30 AM Author: autistic bawdyhouse
LOL, why do you imbeciles give a fuck about this dipshit at BoalTTT? Someone was going to call that in based on the tread title alone, and this guy is likely the dumbest fucker alive to post what he did.
Date: April 19th, 2007 10:20 AM Author: balding azn nursing home
I just wanted to pop in and put my vote in for the OP. I read this board regularly for laughs in class, but the OT was way over the line and fucking stupid. Let 'em burn.
Your idea of "obvious flame" is not the same as other people's. Even if there was only a 1/10000 chance it wasn't flame, it was worth the call. The OTer deserves to get investigated in light of the heightened scrutiny since Monday.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:03 AM Author: Vengeful exhilarant crackhouse pozpig
"Please return to obscurity now, thx."
This is why you dont understand how the board works, n00b.
Amyway I have had enough of this, but I wonder if you are also going to testify against the joker if anything comes of it, since you are the only one who has obvious personal knowledge of the "threat" and since you alerted Hastings or the authorities or whoever.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:10 AM Author: Vengeful exhilarant crackhouse pozpig
yes I do. Since some people seem to think real charges will come of it. You and I are the basically the only people who saw the original post before it was edited.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:22 AM Author: dun menage
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:10 AM
Author: Seung-hui Cho's Prestigious Aimbot (earl)
yes I do. Since some people seem to think real charges will come of it. You and I are the basically the only people who saw the original post before it was edited.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:41 AM Author: Vengeful exhilarant crackhouse pozpig
I dont dispute the accuracy. I say that it is meaningless to a third party observer because its so easy to change to whatever you want. Which is why reposting is pointless.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:59 AM Author: dun menage
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:41 AM
Author: Seung-hui Cho\'s Prestigious Aimbot(earl)
I dont dispute the accuracy. I say that it is meaningless to a third party observer because its so easy to change to whatever you want. Which is why reposting is pointless.
whoops I guess I did. you are still missing the point. anyway once you get over yourself, hopefully you'll go back to being a mediocre poster about your poor undergrad problems.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:00 PM Author: balding azn nursing home
The OT needs to grow up a little, not me. Actions have consequences. You don't joke about having a bomb in the airport anymore, do you? I admit this situation isn't quite as obvious, because this board is known for flames, but its still the same sort of common sense line.
To me, the threshold is pretty clearly: IF THE FBI WERE TO FIND OUT WHO I AM, WOULD THE COMMENT I JUST MADE GET ME INTO A LOT OF TROUBLE? If the answer is yes, DON'T MAKE THAT COMMENT.
All the nigger and fag jokes in the world don't amount to threatening to kill 32 people in a similar fashion as just happened a couple days ago. Tough shit, deal with the consequences, moron.
Date: April 19th, 2007 10:58 AM Author: Dark rehab gaming laptop
Did you alert the police/fbi or the school? It seems like if the police/fbi were alerted first, they could have sorted out the credibility of the threat without contacting the school and causing Hastings to shut down.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:05 AM Author: Translucent fanboi
I hope you enjoyed the attention-whoring, OP. You've shut down a school & fucked with someone's life by pretending to be scurrrred. You're a douche-and-a-half.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:15 PM Author: Translucent fanboi
I don't expect you to feel bad. You're too busy soaking up the attention. Not only do you rat someone out, but you start a thread b/c you want all of the acknowledgement, good & bad. You were eager to get to argue w/ people in this thread & proclaim your pious nature. You're as much of an attention-whore as Cho. Maybe you can make a video & mail it to NBC explaining your desire to save world by reporting people on message boards to the FBI. The guy you reported was clearly just making a distasteful joke, but you had to take it to the next level b/c of your own need for attention.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:25 AM Author: domesticated meetinghouse
I love how all you brilliant people that don't go to Hastings sit and condemn this guy for reporting this. So brave and courageous. It makes perfect sense to stick up for the idiot that thought it was funny to joke about shooting up a law school two days after a fucking school shooting. I'm so positive that all of you would be perfectly willing to just assume that post was flame if it named your school. None of you would have hesitated to go to school today, care free. Fucking idiots. A guy got shot right behind Hastings on Friday. The Dean sent out a security alert earlier yesterday morning. About an hour after that, this fucking idiot posts his thread. Geez, why would that worry anyone, I mean it's obvious flame. Grow the fuck up. Get over your self importance. Your actions have consequence (even on XO). HTFH.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:51 AM Author: domesticated meetinghouse
I never said the dude who got shot was a Hastings student. The point is it happened 50 feet from one of the school entrances, dick. The point is that people are already edgy, especially at Hastings. It was an incredibly stupid thing to post, and only an idiot that would think that your moniker is funny would bash this OP for re-posting the thread and notifying the school. Fucking douche.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:04 PM Author: domesticated meetinghouse
I bet he does. Douchery is genetic. A lot of the sociopathic behavior on this board is funny. Some isn't. Maybe if someone posted/joked about shooting up your school, you would learn that. Btw, I don't go to Hastings, thankfully.
Date: April 19th, 2007 11:59 AM Author: hideous hall
What the fuck is wrong with you people who are ragging on the guy who reported this? You call yourselves students of law? Did it occur to you to perhaps... oh I don't know... consult the LAW? You know, those rule thingies that our collective society has decided in a somewhat organized fashion will guide us in deciding what is right and what is wrong?
You may be shocked to learn that the question of whether a dumb motherfucker with too much time on his hands has a right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre has actually been asked before in our country. We've thought about it. We've argued about it. And we've decided he does not.
As far as I know, no one's been arrested and no one's going to do time in the federal pen. The FBI has the right to react to such a situation by finding out who wrote the post and investigating him before probably concluding that it was, indeed, a stupid joke. My instinct is that he will not be charged with anything. If you don't want people to ask questions, don't say stupid things.
Well, if the dumb motherfucker yells 'fire' and you are sitting right next to him, know there is no fire, could find out if he was serious by asking him or looking it up online, and really don't believe him, then
are you a douchebag for running to the authorities and reporting him for doing something 'illegal', even though you knew or should have known that he was harmless?
While I understand what the OP did and don't really fault him, the people who do have a problem with him have plenty of valid criticisms.
Everyone should know that law without discretion (as you seem to be arguing) results in more far more problems than it prevents.
Date: April 19th, 2007 12:42 PM Author: hideous hall
Yeah I have seen a lot of criticism of the OP. Not one is valid. A post doesn't have to be "illegal" in order to cause a reasonable thinking person to report it to authorities, and frankly I don't think there was anything illegal about it. That doesn't mean it should pass without someone knocking on the author's door and asking him what the hell he's doing.
The critics forget that there were many levels of scrutiny before any of this even became news. When the poster called authorities they could have looked at the situation and just laughed it off. They didn't. When Hastings learned of the situation they too could have ignored it. They didn't. What I'm suggesting to you is that a lot of people with more experience and knowledge than you quite obviously DISAGREE with your judgment about this. A smart person would be humbled by that fact.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:19 PM Author: rusted lettuce
um, not really. if anything he yelled "FIRE!" in response to somebody saying "fire" in a sing-songy voice and immediately saying "just kidding" afterwards.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:25 PM Author: hideous hall
what i dont get is how much energy you fuckers are putting into disagreeing with FBI agents and law school administrators. do you really think you know better than they do?
if you were RIGHT, they wouldnt have REACTED. get over it and move on.
Date: April 19th, 2007 4:20 PM Author: Provocative Tank
Many people come here to read the shit people come up with. Most, in fact. Most do NOT come here for law school advice.
A messageboard is a different medium than a book. There is interaction here, both between people who get the joke, and feed into it, and those who do not, and react to it. A book is not interactive in this way.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:11 PM Author: hideous hall
A messageboard is also a public forum that any person can freely read. Anyone who posts here should know that 100% of people are not going to interpret a post the precise way you want them to. There's a difference between yelling Fire! in a car full of my college buddies during a night out, and yelling Fire! in a crowded theatre.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:22 PM Author: Provocative Tank
Quite right. Obviously people will interpret it differently, that's part of the fun I was alluding to earlier. And could it be expected that someone might take it seriously and report it. Certainly it could. I just don't like that it was partially reported for attention-whoring. This threatens how much good fiction will be on the board because in addition to worrying about the sensibilities of others (whether they may take a joke seriously) which is something posters should legitimately worry about and consider, LEGEND WGWAG made it clear that posters also have to worry about attention whores. This broadens the attack on good fiction to a degree that I don't like. But yeah, I guess it should have been expected.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:38 PM Author: hideous hall
it should have been expected, it would have been expected at all times in the past, and it will always be expected in the future.
im not buying into the chilling effect sob story. it is not that hard to use common fucking sense when you're freely posting jokes and "good fiction" on a message board. if you issue threats to hurt people, there is a risk that law enforcement will want to knock on your door to make sure that you're not joking around. always been true, always will be true.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:22 PM Author: Chest-beating sienna national bbw
op's reaction to the Hastings thread may have been reasonable (though I think it wasn't). op's starting this thread was pure, 100%, uncut attention whoring.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:30 PM Author: hideous hall
op's starting this thread may have been attention whoring (though I think it wasnt). but (a) what's wrong with attention whoring? and (b) I still dont get why you're so mad at him when the FBI agreed with him. are you smarter than the FBI?
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:37 PM Author: Chest-beating sienna national bbw
(a) i'm not going to explain this. if you don't understand what's wrong with it now you never will.
(b) this is a non sequitur.
i'm not "mad" at him. i think his reaction was unjustified, given what he knows about this ridiculous, awful place. i think posting this thread was toolish attention whoring and makes me skeptical of the truth of his justifications for his initial response.
above all, what trustafarian did showed an incredible lack of judgment. the response of the authorities was completely predictable and probably necessary under the circumstances. cf. what happens if you joke about bombs at an airport.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:24 PM Author: rusted lettuce
you're absolutely correct, and the sane innocent bystander in your scenario would not have a WGWAG moniker, would not be an attention whore, and would not have known that the thread was a joke, as the OP so clearly did.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:30 PM Author: rusted lettuce
yes you did asshole. i watched the thread as it was posted and he edited mere minutes later to wgwag. after that you went on your little "woe is me i mustn't let this happen" diatribe with an admonishing "you never should have posted that anyway" tone.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:32 PM Author: hideous hall
i think its really funny that you guys are so mad. do you seriously disagree that posting such a message on a public form is a really stupid idea? where did you learn that you could possibly get away with such antics?
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:37 PM Author: rusted lettuce
who's mad? i'm only interested in portraying the truth. just because i disagree with the OP doesn't mean i condone the original thread either. i think it's funny that you assume that someone who has the instinct to immediately copy+paste and leave it up in spite of the threat effectively being clarified as a joke only minutes later is such a heroic individual.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:39 PM Author: Chest-beating sienna national bbw
i agree with all your points completely, but i think the authorities would have shut the school down based only on the thread's title anyway. (assuming someone brought it to their attention.)
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:43 PM Author: hideous hall
well, as i see it, the guy reported the post and immediately preserved it. the calls of him being a douchebag came pretty quickly after that, so he got defensive about it and posted a thread as a way to tell his detractors to fuck off. how do YOU handle people who call you a douchebag?
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:58 PM Author: Provocative Tank
you can tell them to fuck off without saying, fuck off, fuck off, i am a hero, i am a legend, fuck off, he had it coming anyway, fuck off, i WGWAG XOXO legend, and then coming back here again and again.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:45 PM Author: hideous hall
you gotta admit that he is a legend, and he will probably make millions by writing a book about all this while the rest of you toil away selling your souls to the biglaw devil.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:51 PM Author: Provocative Tank
He's a coward for editing that portion out, even if he is an XOXO legend. Look, I like the board, a lot, but even I don't think that's something to be proud of and proclaim loudly. And, if he does feel the need to assert his LEGENDARY status in order to somehow prove a point to me, he shouldn't edit it out, and then AFTER editing it out, pretend he never said it and act confused about me making fun of him for calling himself a legend.
The fact is, he edited it out because it showcased that his legendary status is important to him, adding fuel to the speculation that he did the whole thing to attention whore. I NEVER had an issue with the reporting of the thread UNTIL i saw that he was attention whoring and suspected that he did it for that purpose.
Also, the XOXO community is important to a few users, but obviously he's not going to be writing any book, or making any money off of it if he does.
Date: April 19th, 2007 5:49 PM Author: talented idiotic dragon hairy legs
Yes, xoxo is JUST LIKE a crowded theatre! Especially since everyone in the theatre is also in on the joke, including the one that calls the cops! Fantastic analogy!
Date: April 27th, 2007 5:32 PM Author: painfully honest house rigpig
From what I have seen of you so far, you are a completely worthless human being. Boalt students may have had cause for concern but as an xo poster, you knew damn well this was flame, reported it to get some attention for yourself, and caused potentially irreparable harm to other people's lives.
Date: April 27th, 2007 7:02 PM Author: Fantasy-prone selfie windowlicker
What's so hard about all of this?
Did trustafarian make a mistake? We all know the answer is yes.
Did the snitch do the right thing? Yes, IF he legitimately viewed it as a threat. He might have some legitimate vigilante justification if he wanted to be a true hero.
But no, he didn't want to be a true hero. He wanted autoadmit notoriety. That's why we're all labeling him a douchebag. There's other ways of gaining xoxo norotiety/legend status other than fucking someone over.