What do you do when someone pranks you?

Checkmite said:
FWIW, I've just seen unsubstantiated claims that the prank in question involved accusing the target of being a wanted sex offender and pretending to put them under a "citizen's arrest". Allegedly, the prankster has other videos on his channel where he performs this "prank" on people.

I still don't think it justifies shooting the prankster, but if true it might represent an angle for an attempted legal defense.
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Interesting. If that's what it was, I have no sympathy whatsoever.

I see that Moist Critical has covered this one. I haven't actually watched this video because I don't have time now, but he usually goes into as much detail as can be found out.

 
quadraginta said:
Yup. And as with those other things they have found substitutes more in keeping with the decorum they profess. Like action movies, and horror movies, and even slapstick comedy.
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In some ways, human nature does not change much.
And at least no one is really hurt in the genres you mention.
As far as pranks go, a big difference between something dangerous and putting a Whoopee cushion on someone's chair.
 
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What I don't get is why the news reports don't publish what exactly the prank amounted to. The fella that got shot, he seems well enough to be able to speak. And in any case, the guy that got arrested, there's no reason why he shouldn't have been asked (by the police; and the police, in turn, by journalists).

Surely that's the obvious question to ask, and to want answered. It is a crucial missing piece in the puzzle. It is the nature of the prank that will determine whether the shooting was warranted or not. And it seems pointless to talk about whether the shooting was justified in absence of that missing piece.
 
theprestige said:
You're talking about actual jokes. We're talking about harassment and abuse that the perpetrators try to dismiss as jokes when challenged about their anti-social behavior.
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You seem to think of yourself as 'we', and instead of talking about pranks, which is what I am doing, you want to talk about harassment and abuse.
You may not have noticed, but the title of this thread isn't What do you do when somebody harasses or abuses you?
prank
noun
a practical joke or mischievous act.
"the tapestry was stolen as part of a drunken student prank"
Similar: practical joke, trick, mischievous act, piece of mischief, joke, escapade, stunt, caper, jape, game, hoax, antic, lark, leg-pull, dido, goak, rag, cutup, quiz, frolic, freak, gambado, gambade, rig, prat

verb
INFORMAL
play a trick or practical joke on (someone).
"the individuals who were pranked thought they were auditioning to be a TV show host"
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Checkmite said:
FWIW, I've just seen unsubstantiated claims that the prank in question involved accusing the target of being a wanted sex offender and pretending to put them under a "citizen's arrest". Allegedly, the prankster has other videos on his channel where he performs this "prank" on people.

I still don't think it justifies shooting the prankster, but if true it might represent an angle for an attempted legal defense.
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Ehh, if a non-LEO tries to physically put me "under arrest" they are likely looking at several puncture wounds. How the **** do I know thats not a kidnapping?
 
lobosrul5 said:
Ehh, if a non-LEO tries to physically put me "under arrest" they are likely looking at several puncture wounds. How the **** do I know thats not a kidnapping?
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If it is unlawful it is kidnapping...
 
theprestige said:
You're talking about actual jokes. We're talking about harassment and abuse that the perpetrators try to dismiss as jokes when challenged about their anti-social behavior.
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Yeah, kind of the point I was trying to make all along, but I'm obviously not as eloquent. Some stuff lacks the joke punchline where the victim actually has a foolish reaction. Most of them are just a case where perpetrator X is acting like an idiot or abuser or something along those lines, while the victim Y is having a perfectly normal human reaction, given the information that they have.
 
Just to make it clear though, I don't think anyone DESERVES to be killed for being an idiot. Nobody DESERVES it. But if anyone reacts like their or a nearby bystander's life is in danger when that's exactly what it looks like, and kills or injures the idiot in self-defense, I'm also not gonna cry a river.

It's kinda like nobody deserves to die in a car accident, but if anyone intentionally drives into a tree, oh well, they only have themselves to blame...
 
dann said:
You seem to think of yourself as 'we', and instead of talking about pranks, which is what I am doing, you want to talk about harassment and abuse.
You may not have noticed, but the title of this thread isn't What do you do when somebody harasses or abuses you?
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The problem is that most of the people publishing their "pranks", are not actually doing pranks at all. They're doing exactly abuse or harassment. They may think they're doing a joke, presumably because they're the kind of people who think abusing others is funny, but seen from the other side it may look like anything but.
 
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dann said:
You seem to think of yourself as 'we', and instead of talking about pranks, which is what I am doing, you want to talk about harassment and abuse.
You may not have noticed, but the title of this thread isn't What do you do when somebody harasses or abuses you?
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I think you miss the point that a lot of what are rererred to as "pranks" on YouTube and other social media can also be classified as harassment or abuse.

Side note, from the definition you posted:
verb
INFORMAL
play a trick or practical joke on (someone).
"the individuals who were pranked thought they were auditioning to be a TV show host"
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I've always disliked that type of prank.

Fake job interviews (which is what an audition amounts to) are a particularly low thing to do to someone. Getting someone's hopes up for an opportunity just so you can laugh when they find you've been wasting their time is ********. Particularly if they are currently unemployed, but also if they are employed and took leave time to go to a fake interview.
 
lobosrul5 said:
Ehh, if a non-LEO tries to physically put me "under arrest" they are likely looking at several puncture wounds. How the **** do I know thats not a kidnapping?
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One way to know it's not a kidnapping is when you know you're committing a crime and you hope that nobody is going to try to prevent you from getting away before the cops arrive.

Of course in that scenario you might try to puncture the arresting citizen for a different reason...
 
HansMustermann said:
Just to make it clear though, I don't think anyone DESERVES to be killed for being an idiot. Nobody DESERVES it. But if anyone reacts like their or a nearby bystander's life is in danger when that's exactly what it looks like, and kills or injures the idiot in self-defense, I'm also not gonna cry a river.

It's kinda like nobody deserves to die in a car accident, but if anyone intentionally drives into a tree, oh well, they only have themselves to blame...
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"Deserves" probably isn't the right word. But we do recognize that inciting or provoking a violent response tends to reduce or eliminate the liability incurred by that violent response.

Do you deserve to die for causing me to fear for my life? Probably not. Do I deserve to be punished for killing you as a rational response to the impression you intentionally created? Also probably not.
 
theprestige said:
Does the story describe the prank? Some of them involve property crime or border on sexual harassment. They're not trying to put people off. They're trying to provoke and violent reaction as a game of brinkmanship.

At some point the line gets crossed from prank to incitement.
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And is shooting people acceptable in such cases, do you think?

Hans
 
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