Justin Carter: A Psychoanalysis

Which one is just kidding?

Justin Carter, a 19 year old male in Texas, made this comment on the internet:

"Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts"

This was followed by LOL, and JK, which as everyone knows means Laughing out loud and just kidding.

So a Canadian woman spotted this, and alerted authorities in Texas, who put Justin in Jail and he is still there, awaiting trial and in solitary confinement, four months later.

Following some of the discussion on the internet, I notice a trend for left wingers and right wingers to each blame the other for this incarceration.

It starts with Texas, a well known right wing state, and the location of this debacle.  So you might think that this is the typical right wing Texas justice, famous for executions and harshness.  But no, apparently this is in Austin Texas, and the crime is a Federal crime.  Austin is the left wing stronghold of Texas, and of course Obama is president of the Federal government, so it's all his fault.  But actually that is partly a lie too, because the court that set the bail of $500,000 is not a federal court, and is not even in Austin. It is in New Braunfels, Texas. Not only is New Braunfels closer to San Antonio than to Austin, it is a German community like my home town of Kitchener (The Lost Motorcyclist lives in Kitchener, Ontario).  From the New Braunfels web page:

"Willkommen! to a little bit of old Germany smack dab in the middle of the Texas Hill Country. New Braunfels is the kind of old-fashioned town that makes folks feel right at home."

The court that set the bail for Justin, and delayed his trial, and the jailers who put him in solitary confinement, are not directly under federal jurisdiction.  While it is a federal law that has been violated, I'm not so sure Obama or the Lefties take all the responsibility for a law against uttering terrorist threats.

But of course, stupidity does not stop there: check this out, from a blog named "Small dead animals"

http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/free-justin-car.html

"The woman who called police about this "threat" should undergo some intense involuntary re-education in recognizing sarcasm and satire. A couple of years of "re-education" would likely be appropriate."  by Loki, July 1, 2013

Well, it seems to me that arresting Justin is only the tip of the iceberg of stupidity.  I mean: An ordinary citizen notifies the police of a threat to shoot kindergarten kids, and the concerned citizen should be locked up for two years? In my opinion, the concerned citizen has really done nothing wrong, and everything right. She is not responsible for any of the 4 month detention or harsh conditions in the jail.  She does not even really understand the Texan judicial system, as she comes from Canada and may not have watched "Thelma and Louise".

Although we cannot prevent any given person (either Justin or Loki) from being stupid, society's response to stupidity should be rational. After investigating Justin Carter, and seeing there was no credible threat, the police should have released him.  Then nobody needs to get their knickers in a twist until Justin actually goes into a school armed to the teeth and kills twenty kids just before killing himself.  And what is the probability of that happening? 1% maybe?  And I base that 1% entirely on the fact that Justin was stupid enough to make that comment, in response to some online friend saying he was crazy.  Otherwise I would say effectively 0%.

Now for Doctor Lost's (me) official psychoanalysis of the situation.  Justin seems to have a style of communicating that does not mesh well with reality.  I don't know the full context of how his crazy conversation got started, but let me guess that Justin said many crazy things online, prompting one of his gaming buddies to comment on the fact that he seemed "messed up in the head".  To which Justin gave his classic answer "Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts".  Now that response indicates a person who has a tendency to answers that make him look even crazier than was originally thought.  If this is Justin's shtick, (i.e. he does it all the time) then what response did the police officers get when they questioned him about his online comment?  I'm guessing Justin was not aware of his own condition, and unknowingly continued with his sarcasm until the authorities finally decided to lock him up.  "Tourett's syndrome" is a disorder where a person cannot help swearing inappropriately.  I imagine there is another as-yet-undiscovered syndrome where a person cannot help getting themselves in deeper trouble with sarcastic comments, I will now name it "The Cousin Vinnie Syndrome" after a movie by the name of "My Cousin Vinnie".  And I think Justin Carter probably has it real bad.

Picture: The guy in the orange wig was not "just kidding" (allegedly).