There is something so weird about this. I don't think these guys are trying to protect children, I think they are getting off on the roleplaying and using the 'hunting predators' thing as an excuse to justify it.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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And teens he confronted killed him? He typically posed as a 15 year old girl to catch people it says. I guess these teens are in the wrong if they're 18-19? Story just seems a little strange.
Confronting people by yourself is not something a level headed individual does. This guy was clearly getting off on some type of vigilante hero complex.
Low hanging fruit. There's not that many actual pedophiles out there, and the ones that exist are usually pretty cautious (otherwise they'd have been caught already).
But technically an 18 year old wanting to have sex with a 16 year old...
I don't know anything about this guy, but the fact that he was accusing teenagers of being pedophiles suggests he was just trying to get fame and attention by capitalizing on the current "pedophiles everywhere" moral panic.
But technically an 18 year old wanting to have sex with a 16 year old...
Is highly dependent on local laws. Some outlaw it, some are perfectly fine with it, and some fall into a gray area between. For instance, it may be a minor offense (no pun intended, I swear) instead of a major offense if there were a greater age gap. These are sometimes known as "Romeo and Juliet" laws
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It's literally for money. He makes a living from the amount of views it gets.
*he made a living
See also the ammosexuals who fantasize on the daily about the day they get to "defend themselves" against a "home intruder"
The hero complex is IMO just the masking of sociopathic violent fantasies in self righteousness. "No no no, I'm not obsessed with being able to kill justifiably, I just REALLY hate pedos!"
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While they managed to catch 4 people, out of a total of 132 people that doesn't sound very good, and might have even made it harder for the police to catch these people. One of them was found to be innocent, what if more of them were?
I really don't understand the boner so many Americans seem to have for vigilantism
Just fix your goddamn police system - there's a reason why vigilantism is outlawed since it's too easy to misjudge or misidentify stuff and the consequences are horrible - let professionals do their job properly
Oh sure, lemme just fix the police system real quick. Give me a minute. I don't know why nobody thought of that!
Well shit if only we'd known all we had to do was fix it quick!
Silly us!
That's it? Just fix the police system?? Whoa, why didn't we think of doing this sooner?!
Why don't I just strap on my fix the police system helmet and hop in the fix the police system cannon and fire myself into fix the police system town where police reform grows on trees?
Just fix your goddamn police system - there’s a reason why vigilantism is outlawed since it’s too easy to misjudge or misidentify stuff and the consequences are horrible - let professionals do their job properly
We've tried that, but the problem is they can't seem to do it without executing people, and/or the neighbor's dog, for fun.
Listen, in order to reduce crime in America, sometimes a bunch of innocent dogs, people in wheelchairs, children playing with toys, and people getting health checks have to die.
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I think that's just it right there. Our police system is completely broken and for-profit. People want justice. So out of desperation they're seeking it themselves.
While we do have a problem with vigilantes deciding that their contribution is vitally necessary to keep things running (see: Kyle Rittenhouse), I'm not really sure this qualifies as vigilantism in support of the law or even to protect kids from predators. Honestly, this just strikes me as yet another wannabe influencer/YT 'star', only instead of 'restoring' old items, cleaning cars/yards/houses, edging over weird 'recipes', or popping pimples, this guy's schtick was 'going after pedophiles'.
Fixing the police is great but I don't think that's enough to reduce child rape.
Find the causes—childhood abuse / neglect, most likely—and aggressively address these social ills. Find more reliable ways to rehabilitate and use it for those convicted. Among other things.
Just fix your goddamn police system
Policing doesn't prevent crimes.
And it was never really intended to.
I think part of it has something to do with the popularity of superhero movies like Batman and such. Honestly I think having the world's biggest movie production system has been a net negative for Americans and humanity as a whole.
Alan Moore, who wrote Watchmen, was trying to make this point through his media, but he also explicitly stated it in interviews. He was like, "Y'all do realize that superhero stuff is fascist power fantasy, right? You shouldn't like this stuff as an adult."
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The US also has very much of a "cowboy" self image
Cowboy justice in movies is kind of a semi whitewashed version of lynching.
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I went through a period where I binge watched a bunch of episodes of that show, but I read that it was difficult to convict some of the people they caught because adults posing as children to lure people into getting arrested is considered entrapment or something. Therefore, their method of catching them could be considered unlawful, leading to the case being thrown out.
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Maybe punching a suspected pedophile is not the best way to bring them to justice?
Maybe punching a suspected pedophile is not the best way to bring them to justice?
Especially when he has accused innocent people in the past.
That was my first thought. I can only imagine he wasn't able to control his anger in the moment. I'm sure he saw himself as doing important work. It's sad that a child is going to grow up without a father now.
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he would often pose as a 15-year-old girl
Authorities say that Lee accused one of the teens at a local restaurant of being a pedophile
Let that sink in.
He accused a teen interested in an age-appropriate partner of being a pedophile. The age difference between the people that killed Lee, and the 'victim' Lee was pretending to be online is, at most, 4 years.
Fuck that dude. That kind of accusation wrecks lives.
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Dude accuded aTEEN for being a pedo.
What?????
Don't most states have Romeo and Juliet laws that specifically say a 19 year old wanting to date a 15 year old is acceptable? Maybe it's only a 3 year gap or something. IANAL.
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Why were they charged? Sounds like a pretty obvious case of self defense.
If you have to use any kind of deadly force in self defense, it is always in your best interest to be the first one on the phone with 911. Police aren't known for their critical thinking, so the first story they get is most often they one they are going with until proven otherwise.
If one of the teens had called 911 and said some creepy guy catfished and physically assaulted them first, this story would probably read a lot differently.
Disclaimer: Not victim blaming. More of a PSA. And really one of the very very few times I would recommend calling the police.
Probably a magnitude of force issue. If they didn't legitimately fear for their life, then deadly force in response would be a crime.
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