No jail time for axe-wielding black man who set Asian UC Berkeley students on fire with blowtorch

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[–]weavilsatemyface 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (29 children)

It wasn't a blowtorch. It was a can of WD-40 set alight with a cigarette lighter. That's like saying a BB gun is an assault rifle.

In this particular case, I actually think this is the right decision. Nobody was injured in the attack and Brandon McGlone is a veteran who has honorable served his country for many years. That's not a Get Out Of Jail Free card but he deserves some compassion and a second chance.

He is suffering from mental illness exacerbated by drug abuse. He did some bad things that could have gone much worse, but they didn't.

Putting him in jail won't fix any of his problems, it will just make sure that the rest of his life is fucked up and turn him into a genuinely dangerous felon. Sure, we'll all get that rush of righteous pleasure about "punishing a criminal" which will last less than a minute before we've forgotten all about it.

Brandon McGlone has a family which gives him a huge incentive to get clean and stay on the straight and narrow.

There are no guarantees in criminal justice but in this case I think the punishment fits the crime, and McGlone can be rehabilitated.

[–]Node 8 insightful - 3 fun8 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 3 fun -  (14 children)

You wouldn't mind if he sprayed flaming WD-40 in your moms face?

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

Of course I would mind. But justice isn't about personal vengeance and retribution. Especially not when nobody was actually hurt. Not even minor injuries. No injuries at all. There's no point in talking about what punishment is appropriate if he did something different from what he actually did.

McGlone committed crimes while not in his right mind. Turning him into a professional criminal by sending him to jail just for the satisfaction of seeing somebody get punished doesn't help. US prisons don't rehabilitate criminals, and they don't even protect the public from them, except temporarily. They just create more and worse criminals. The US imprisons more people than any other country in the world ("land of the free" my arse), if prison worked the country would be the safest in the world.

McGlone will have to be on his best behaviour for the next decade. One slip up and you'll get his wish and he'll go to jail. Then he'll be out again in five, a hundred times more dangerous than he is now.

[–]niggerjewfaggot 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Why do you support the slaughtering, raping, torturing, displacing, burning, and kidnapping millions of Ukrainian people, but not jail time for a violent crime? You've explained the latter rather well, but not the former. Other Saiditors are consistent in their desire to ruin the lives of others who aren't reflections of themselves. Why aren't you?

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Why do you support the slaughtering, raping, torturing, displacing, burning, and kidnapping millions of Ukrainian people

Fake news. Even the Kiev fascists haven't killed etc "millions" of Ukrainians.

Not from lack of trying.

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

Careful. Is population taken into account when looking at those statistics? Because if not, the US obviously imprisons more people simply because it has a lot more people.

I had a similar problem a few days ago, when I couldn't get someone to understand that Rottweilers are at least as dangerous as pit bulls. Rottweilers are responsible for far fewer dog attacks, but there are also far fewer Rottweilers.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

The US is well known to have one of the highest prison population per capita

It's easy to say the US has more people than some countries, but despite its geographic size, it only has about 6x the population of the UK or 4x the population of Germany, each vastly more densely populated than the US...

[–]weavilsatemyface 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Is population taken into account when looking at those statistics?

Yes. On a per capita basis, the US imprisons the highest number of people in the world. Even individual states imprison more than the rest of the developed world.

The exact number varies from year to year and source to source, and you might find the occasional reference that lists the US as second or third. These sorts of statistics are not an exact science, but if you look at the general trend the US consistently jails more people per capita than everyone else. Even places like China.

It may be that El Salvador's recent crack down on gang members may have pushed the US into second place, or maybe not. But over the last three or four decades the US consistently leads the world rankings in per capita number of imprisoned people.

The US uses the prison system as a source of cheap slave labour. They don't even try to hide it they're proud of it.

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I'm sure North Korea is in first, but idk if they even count.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

North Korea doesn't release statistics of imprisonment in their country or allow anyone to inspect the prisons, but according to the US State Department (so heavily biased against NK) there are between 80 and 240 thousand prisoners in the country. Per 100,000 population, that would be between 308 and 923. At the high end that's well above the USA but at the low end that would put them around about 15th in the world, below (e.g.) Russia, Brazil and Panama. If we split the difference between the two estimates, that would put NK second, behind only the USA.

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It's definitely on the higher end. Did you know that one of the first things parents teach their children there is not even to whisper, lest the mice hear you and rat you out?

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Did you know that one of the first things parents teach their children there is not even to whisper

I too believe every piece of propaganda I am told.

[–]Oyveygoyim 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

And yet with niggers they don't even make up a quarter of the population yet are responsible for more than half of all violent crime in this country...

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I can believe that there's some bias against them in court. But not because of racism, but because they have more masculine physical characteristics.

[–]scornedandsedated 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

He is not facing jail time because he is black and lives in califuckup. Try it. Go out and try to use a homemade flamethrower on someone...betchya go to jail.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Go out and try to use a homemade flamethrower on someone...betchya go to jail.

You mean like Mark Foad?

Or Dan Rigney?

The courts are not always as stupid as you think. They recognise that there are many reasons why people who commit assault should not be jailed.

White people have committed far worse crimes and avoided jail. Crimes ending with actual deaths, not just a scare.

[–]Vulptex 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Sure, we'll all get that rush of righteous pleasure about "punishing a criminal" which will last less than a minute before we've forgotten all about it.

Even Christians will crucify you for criticizing this. All life wants to do is hurt each other; someone's mistakes are merely an excuse to do so.

[–]Ferretman 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

He needs to go to jail. He could have killed somebody, he could have blinded somebody, who knows?

Put him back in jail...or sure, a mental ward...where he can be removed from society and hopefully get treated for his illness.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Last time you went out, you could have killed somebody -- but you didn't. You could have blinded somebody -- but you didn't. If we are jailing people for what they didn't do, you would be in to jail too.

[–]Scolias 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

People like you are what's wrong with this world.

The world was a better place when we still put criminals, especially violent criminals, behind bars for a long time because it's where they belong.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

The world was a better place when we still put criminals, especially violent criminals, behind bars for a long time

You think its a good idea to put non-violent criminals behind bars for a long time for minor offenses where nobody was hurt?

How very Christian of you. Remember what the Lord says: "if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, lock him up in jail for thirty years".

[–]Scolias 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I'm not a Christian. And yes, lock em up. A threat of attack is almost as bad as an actual attack, and an attempted attack is somewhere inbetween. Put them away.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

A threat of attack is almost as bad as an actual attack, and an attempted attack is somewhere inbetween.

An "attempted attack" is an actual attack, just one which didn't succeed.

I feel that anyone with your attitude is a hair-trigger away from an actual attack, so I guess we ought to lock you away for the threat of an attack.

[–]Scolias 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Yeah that's not how reality works retard. How are you this stupid?

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Yeah that's not how reality works retard.

Exactly: in reality we don't imprison people for not hurting somebody. This guy didn't hurt anyone. Treating him as a dangerously vicious criminal because he might have hurt somebody is not how the justice system works, and if he was white, you would 100% agree that he deserves a second chance.

[–]Scolias 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Exactly: in reality we don't imprison people for not hurting somebody.

Yeah, we do retard. What the fuck do you think attempted murder is? If you shoot at someone and miss you still go to jail you dumbass.

Holy fuck think before you speak fucktard.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

If you shoot at someone and miss you still go to jail you dumbass.

Even Florida, which has some of the strictest laws regarding gun crimes in the USA, allows probation for assault with a firearm under some circumstances.

The courts have many punishments available to them aside from prison. Attempted murder is usually considered a very serious crime in and of itself deserving a prison sentence, but this wasn't attempted murder.

Aside from prison, courts can and do sentence people to suspended sentences, community correction orders, home detention, fines or other sentences depending on the circumstances and severity of the crime, the likelihood of rehabilitation, the previous character of the convicted person, any previous criminal record, the presence of aggravating or mitigating factors, whether the accused exhibits remorse, etc. Some jurisdictions (e.g. Singapore) allow corporal punishment as an alternative to prison.

In this case the person is a veteran who has served his country and the court believes that if he gets treatment for his PTSD and drug abuse he is not likely to re-offend. Who the fuck are you, who knows nothing about the case or the person, to say they're wrong?

Prison is not always the best or only option. That's the whole point -- especially in the USA, where your prisons are completely fucked up and people come out of them worse than when then go in. If you want to fuck somebody up so that they become an even worse criminal, and screw what that does to society, you send them to prison.

[–]Scolias 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm aware of what happens now. I'm saying it's retarded and they all belong in jail for life or given lethal injection.

[–]chottohen 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

C'mon Jake. It's Chinatown.

[–]Oyveygoyim 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Another nigger district attorney letting another animalistic nigger back on the streets to hurt more people. Be a real shame if something bad were to happen to Pam.

[–]8thmonitor 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I get PTSD and substance abuse, but why the hell would someone then get attack random students? Is that really PTSD and substance abuse?

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

No, it also doesn't cause you to commit felony domestic violence. Usually it's nightmares/daymares, hyperawareness in crowds/threat assessment. It doesn't cause you to go on the offense randomly. Walking outside past a bubble tea shop, for instance, would be zero PTSD sufferers triggers. If you walked past a crowd that heightened your anxiety, you wouldn't walk into it. Especially not if you'd been treated for the PTSD like this guy.

During the April hearing, Judge Cramer issued a ten-year protective order between McGlone and his wife and daughter, according to the outlet. He also granted nine other victims in the WD-40 attacks protection orders, as well.

Innocent PTSD sufferers don't need a ten-year protection order from their wife and kid because PTSD doesn't make one violent. That was already there and is going to happen again.

[–]rubberbiscuit 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

My take is these Asians are lucky they weren't white, because they'd all be in prison for attacking that poor black man.

[–]UncleWillard56 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Isn't that an actor saying? "Can't even get arrested." Sounds like no one can get arrested in CA.