This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/us-news-blog/2012/oct/17/reddit-violentacrez-cnn-gawker
The article has changed 19 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|
| Reddit user Violentacrez to explain 'gallows humour' in CNN interview | Reddit user Violentacrez to explain 'gallows humour' in CNN interview |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The prolific anonymous Reddit user who was exposed by a Gawker article as the troll 'Violentacrez' has issued an apology of sorts for his involvement in posts that included racist and misogynistic images, comments and links. | The prolific anonymous Reddit user who was exposed by a Gawker article as the troll 'Violentacrez' has issued an apology of sorts for his involvement in posts that included racist and misogynistic images, comments and links. |
| Gawker's Adrian Chen exposed 49-year-old Texas programmer Michael Brutsch in an investigation of the frequent Redditor contributor on Friday. | Gawker's Adrian Chen exposed 49-year-old Texas programmer Michael Brutsch in an investigation of the frequent Redditor contributor on Friday. |
| Violentacrez was also attached to hundreds of sub-forums with names including Chokeabitch, Hitler and Rapebait. | Violentacrez was also attached to hundreds of sub-forums with names including Chokeabitch, Hitler and Rapebait. |
| In an interview with CNN for Anderson Cooper 360 to be broadcast on Thursday night, Brutsch described his activities as "gallows humor" which he claimed had been a way of unwinding from his job. Asked by reporter Drew Griffin if he was stopping because he has been identified. Brutsch replied: | In an interview with CNN for Anderson Cooper 360 to be broadcast on Thursday night, Brutsch described his activities as "gallows humor" which he claimed had been a way of unwinding from his job. Asked by reporter Drew Griffin if he was stopping because he has been identified. Brutsch replied: |
| Yes. I mean that is, you know, Violentacrez is what I did in my spare time to unwind from my 10-hour-a-day job. That's how I relaxed in the evening. I no longer need to relax in the evening, because I no longer have a job. That and the fact that the curtain's pulled back and everyone can see the puppeteer … that and the fact that I have, as with the rape and pregnant Reddits, I have come around over the last few months to understand that some of these things can be harmful to other people. | Yes. I mean that is, you know, Violentacrez is what I did in my spare time to unwind from my 10-hour-a-day job. That's how I relaxed in the evening. I no longer need to relax in the evening, because I no longer have a job. That and the fact that the curtain's pulled back and everyone can see the puppeteer … that and the fact that I have, as with the rape and pregnant Reddits, I have come around over the last few months to understand that some of these things can be harmful to other people. |
| In the interview, Griffin asked: "Are you apologizing for what you did or trying to make an excuse for what you did?" | In the interview, Griffin asked: "Are you apologizing for what you did or trying to make an excuse for what you did?" |
| "Well, I am to some degree apologizing for what I did. Again, I was playing to an audience of college kids. Two years ago, when all of this was at its height, the audience was appreciative and supportive of the sort of gallows humor that I put out there," Brutsch said. | "Well, I am to some degree apologizing for what I did. Again, I was playing to an audience of college kids. Two years ago, when all of this was at its height, the audience was appreciative and supportive of the sort of gallows humor that I put out there," Brutsch said. |
| Brutsch also said Reddit admins instructed him to make sure there was no overt or real child porn on the site. He said the Jailbait forum was mature teenagers with clothes on or "their naughty bits covered". According to Brutsch: "They [Reddit administrators] depended on me to make sure things were within the rules and things were with the lines." | Brutsch also said Reddit admins instructed him to make sure there was no overt or real child porn on the site. He said the Jailbait forum was mature teenagers with clothes on or "their naughty bits covered". According to Brutsch: "They [Reddit administrators] depended on me to make sure things were within the rules and things were with the lines." |
| Brutsch deleted his Violentacrez account after Chen told him he knew his identity but returned to Reddit under username mbrutsch. He said on the site Tuesday that he was fired from his job over the weekend and that he would be appearing on CNN. He declined an interview with the Guardian to prepare for the interview. | Brutsch deleted his Violentacrez account after Chen told him he knew his identity but returned to Reddit under username mbrutsch. He said on the site Tuesday that he was fired from his job over the weekend and that he would be appearing on CNN. He declined an interview with the Guardian to prepare for the interview. |
| Violentacrez also created Reddit's Jailbait forum which hosted images of underage girls, usually pulled without consent from their Facebook accounts. It included the phrase "keep a teen off the streets – put her in your van" in the group's description. | Violentacrez also created Reddit's Jailbait forum which hosted images of underage girls, usually pulled without consent from their Facebook accounts. It included the phrase "keep a teen off the streets – put her in your van" in the group's description. |
| Anderson Cooper reported on Reddit last year and called out Violentacrez for creating the site, without identifying Brutsch. | Anderson Cooper reported on Reddit last year and called out Violentacrez for creating the site, without identifying Brutsch. |
| The full interview will air Thursday on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 at 8pm and 10pm ET. | The full interview will air Thursday on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 at 8pm and 10pm ET. |
| Comments | Comments |
| 13 comments, displaying first | |
| 17 October 2012 11:54PM | 17 October 2012 11:54PM |
| Oh that's alright then.....scumbag | Oh that's alright then.....scumbag |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 7:21AM | 18 October 2012 7:21AM |
| Who cares? He's a dick. | Who cares? He's a dick. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 8:20AM | 18 October 2012 8:20AM |
| He's only apologising because he got found out, how honourable. | He's only apologising because he got found out, how honourable. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 12:12PM | 18 October 2012 12:12PM |
| Meh. What an idiot. Deserved to be unmasked and fired. | Meh. What an idiot. Deserved to be unmasked and fired. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 12:15PM | 18 October 2012 12:15PM |
| I don't mean to defend the guy's behaviour, but the Gawker story seems to suggest that, as Reddit's "devil you know", he kept a lot of paedophilia off the site, although he's obviously reprehensible for many of the posts that he encouraged. Isn't there now a risk that his demise will weaken Reddit's defences against the worst stuff? Or is Reddit now going to retreat from all the content that could be described as "unacceptable"? If so, who will draw that line? | I don't mean to defend the guy's behaviour, but the Gawker story seems to suggest that, as Reddit's "devil you know", he kept a lot of paedophilia off the site, although he's obviously reprehensible for many of the posts that he encouraged. Isn't there now a risk that his demise will weaken Reddit's defences against the worst stuff? Or is Reddit now going to retreat from all the content that could be described as "unacceptable"? If so, who will draw that line? |
| Just askin'! | Just askin'! |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 1:09PM | 18 October 2012 1:09PM |
| He's only apologising because he got found out... | He's only apologising because he got found out... |
| You are giving this sleaze too much credit by far as he made absolutely clear that he did not actually apologise. | You are giving this sleaze too much credit by far as he made absolutely clear that he did not actually apologise. |
| He sort of, to some degree, and because he was unmasked said " Well, I am to some degree apologizing for what I did." | He sort of, to some degree, and because he was unmasked said " Well, I am to some degree apologizing for what I did." |
| He incites violence against girls ("keep a teen off the streets - put her in your van") and this is the best he can come up with? | He incites violence against girls ("keep a teen off the streets - put her in your van") and this is the best he can come up with? |
| Why anyone would want to interview this scumbag, much less listen to such an interview is beyond my comprehension - yet apparently CNN thinks he belongs in front of the cameras, instead of behind bars. | Why anyone would want to interview this scumbag, much less listen to such an interview is beyond my comprehension - yet apparently CNN thinks he belongs in front of the cameras, instead of behind bars. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 1:15PM | 18 October 2012 1:15PM |
| I think criminal psychologists anaylsing his behaviour would probably have a field day | I think criminal psychologists anaylsing his behaviour would probably have a field day |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 1:38PM | 18 October 2012 1:38PM |
| it's worth remembering that he flourished on Reddit because there's a large audience for what he's posting. This stuff tends to crop up when people can do what they want, just look at 4chan! | it's worth remembering that he flourished on Reddit because there's a large audience for what he's posting. This stuff tends to crop up when people can do what they want, just look at 4chan! |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 5:22PM | 18 October 2012 5:22PM |
| Kind of apologizing? Like how a kid 'apologizes' because mommy made him? This scum deserves to be unemployed and live under a bridge for real. | Kind of apologizing? Like how a kid 'apologizes' because mommy made him? This scum deserves to be unemployed and live under a bridge for real. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 7:33PM | 18 October 2012 7:33PM |
| Anyone with a shred of knowledge when it becomes to internet culture should know that these places would have existed even without Violentacrez. At least he provided moderation and kept the content legal. Creepy as he was, he doesn't deserve this uninformed slander. | Anyone with a shred of knowledge when it becomes to internet culture should know that these places would have existed even without Violentacrez. At least he provided moderation and kept the content legal. Creepy as he was, he doesn't deserve this uninformed slander. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 11:22PM | 18 October 2012 11:22PM |
| He claims what he did was gallows humour? Rubbish, it is only gallows humour if you are the one on the scaffold. What he did was bullying and harassment of others. | He claims what he did was gallows humour? Rubbish, it is only gallows humour if you are the one on the scaffold. What he did was bullying and harassment of others. |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| 18 October 2012 11:26PM | 18 October 2012 11:26PM |
| Also worth pointing out, the reason for his sacking was that he was taking the same kind of creep photographs of his co-workers as he was strangers. Regardless of your feelings about taking "barely legal" photographs of others, doing it to your co-workers on-the-clock is gross misconduct any day of the week. He then went on the internet and bragged about doing so, no problem with him losing his job over that workplace behaviour. | Also worth pointing out, the reason for his sacking was that he was taking the same kind of creep photographs of his co-workers as he was strangers. Regardless of your feelings about taking "barely legal" photographs of others, doing it to your co-workers on-the-clock is gross misconduct any day of the week. He then went on the internet and bragged about doing so, no problem with him losing his job over that workplace behaviour. |
| Link to this comment: | |
| 19 October 2012 1:07AM | |
| The prolific anonymous user who was exposed by an article as a troll has issued an apology of sorts for his involvement in posts that included racist and misogynistic images, comments and links | |
| Poor fuck; reduced from fucker to fuckwit. | |
| Facebook, and to some degree Twitter, and their publicising ilk, are THE most pernicious predators on the internet. They, and all those other sites that encourage people to expose themselves to the public, are poison. Go out and walk down your street naked, why don’t you? And, while you’re at it, flash your cash for anyone to see, and leave your front door open behind you. SUCKERS! | |
| Wiser people go online anonymously, and select what sides of themselves they expose, and to what degree. However much many bastards may be tracking their every on-line trace, at least people can preserve some level of distance btwn themselves and those they interact with on websites they visit. | |
| Who’s fucked up? Those who seek to expose poster’s IDs, or those who post vile-seeming stuff (to some) anonymously to other anonymous (if they’ve got sense) posters? That’s a matter of opinion. | |
| But it’s the exposers who fuck freedom up. They don’t want the wild web, where people can detach from their real-world IDs, and soar the skies. They want a dull web, where everyone is themselves, and dimwitted trivial normality with it’s suffocating manners and delusional decency dominates. | |
| God, is there anything more tedious than Twitter’s twats tweeting? More feeble than Facebook’s friends forwarding their every online action to all and sundry? “I ate a cookie” (That’s 100 calories!) “I listened to a song” (on Spotify). | |
| Who’s making $billions and laughing at you as his empire expands? Zuckerberg (his real name, honest!) or Violentacrez (fuck his real name)? | |
| Link to this comment: | Link to this comment: |
| Turn autoplay off | Turn autoplay off |
| Turn autoplay on | Turn autoplay on |
| Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off | Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off |
| Edition: UK | Edition: UK |
| About us | About us |
| Today's paper | Today's paper |
| Subscribe | Subscribe |
| Texas programmer Michael Brutsch was fired from his job after a Gawker expose on his involvement in misogynistic posts | Texas programmer Michael Brutsch was fired from his job after a Gawker expose on his involvement in misogynistic posts |
| The prolific anonymous Reddit user who was exposed by a Gawker article as the troll 'Violentacrez' has issued an apology of sorts for his involvement in posts that included racist and misogynistic images, comments and links. | The prolific anonymous Reddit user who was exposed by a Gawker article as the troll 'Violentacrez' has issued an apology of sorts for his involvement in posts that included racist and misogynistic images, comments and links. |
| Gawker's Adrian Chen exposed 49-year-old Texas programmer Michael Brutsch in an investigation of the frequent Redditor contributor on Friday. | Gawker's Adrian Chen exposed 49-year-old Texas programmer Michael Brutsch in an investigation of the frequent Redditor contributor on Friday. |
| Violentacrez was also attached to hundreds of sub-forums with names including Chokeabitch, Hitler and Rapebait. | Violentacrez was also attached to hundreds of sub-forums with names including Chokeabitch, Hitler and Rapebait. |
| In an interview with CNN for Anderson Cooper 360 to be broadcast on Thursday night, Brutsch described his activities as "gallows humor" which he claimed had been a way of unwinding from his job. Asked by reporter Drew Griffin if he was stopping because he has been identified. Brutsch replied: | In an interview with CNN for Anderson Cooper 360 to be broadcast on Thursday night, Brutsch described his activities as "gallows humor" which he claimed had been a way of unwinding from his job. Asked by reporter Drew Griffin if he was stopping because he has been identified. Brutsch replied: |
| Yes. I mean that is, you know, Violentacrez is what I did in my spare time to unwind from my 10-hour-a-day job. That's how I relaxed in the evening. I no longer need to relax in the evening, because I no longer have a job. That and the fact that the curtain's pulled back and everyone can see the puppeteer … that and the fact that I have, as with the rape and pregnant Reddits, I have come around over the last few months to understand that some of these things can be harmful to other people. | Yes. I mean that is, you know, Violentacrez is what I did in my spare time to unwind from my 10-hour-a-day job. That's how I relaxed in the evening. I no longer need to relax in the evening, because I no longer have a job. That and the fact that the curtain's pulled back and everyone can see the puppeteer … that and the fact that I have, as with the rape and pregnant Reddits, I have come around over the last few months to understand that some of these things can be harmful to other people. |
| In the interview, Griffin asked: "Are you apologizing for what you did or trying to make an excuse for what you did?" | In the interview, Griffin asked: "Are you apologizing for what you did or trying to make an excuse for what you did?" |
| "Well, I am to some degree apologizing for what I did. Again, I was playing to an audience of college kids. Two years ago, when all of this was at its height, the audience was appreciative and supportive of the sort of gallows humor that I put out there," Brutsch said. | "Well, I am to some degree apologizing for what I did. Again, I was playing to an audience of college kids. Two years ago, when all of this was at its height, the audience was appreciative and supportive of the sort of gallows humor that I put out there," Brutsch said. |
| Brutsch also said Reddit admins instructed him to make sure there was no overt or real child porn on the site. He said the Jailbait forum was mature teenagers with clothes on or "their naughty bits covered". According to Brutsch: "They [Reddit administrators] depended on me to make sure things were within the rules and things were with the lines." | Brutsch also said Reddit admins instructed him to make sure there was no overt or real child porn on the site. He said the Jailbait forum was mature teenagers with clothes on or "their naughty bits covered". According to Brutsch: "They [Reddit administrators] depended on me to make sure things were within the rules and things were with the lines." |
| Brutsch deleted his Violentacrez account after Chen told him he knew his identity but returned to Reddit under username mbrutsch. He said on the site Tuesday that he was fired from his job over the weekend and that he would be appearing on CNN. He declined an interview with the Guardian to prepare for the interview. | Brutsch deleted his Violentacrez account after Chen told him he knew his identity but returned to Reddit under username mbrutsch. He said on the site Tuesday that he was fired from his job over the weekend and that he would be appearing on CNN. He declined an interview with the Guardian to prepare for the interview. |
| Violentacrez also created Reddit's Jailbait forum which hosted images of underage girls, usually pulled without consent from their Facebook accounts. It included the phrase "keep a teen off the streets – put her in your van" in the group's description. | Violentacrez also created Reddit's Jailbait forum which hosted images of underage girls, usually pulled without consent from their Facebook accounts. It included the phrase "keep a teen off the streets – put her in your van" in the group's description. |
| Anderson Cooper reported on Reddit last year and called out Violentacrez for creating the site, without identifying Brutsch. | Anderson Cooper reported on Reddit last year and called out Violentacrez for creating the site, without identifying Brutsch. |
| The full interview will air Thursday on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 at 8pm and 10pm ET. | The full interview will air Thursday on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 at 8pm and 10pm ET. |