Arizona Hijacker Suicide

[DepricatedZero]

So I'm at work today, and I was kind of following the situation with the car chase on Fox - cause we have a bunch of TVs on the wall, one running Fox one CNN, no sound - anyway, I glanced up to see the guy running through a field, then turn and shoot himself in the head live on TV. I was stunned.

I've been thinking on it all day. I don't know what to say about it, can't figure out what I even think of it. It bothers me. I keep wondering what must have been going through his mind (other than the bullet). Like, one minute there's this guy running from the cops - ok, seen it a million times, he's going to jail - then bam...death. I'm not even sure how to describe what I've been thinking. I'm lost on it.

Here's the video, if you're curious - but I warn you, it disturbed me to some level I can't even figure out. I'm not sure what to make of it. Watch at your own discretion.
[showmore=Video][/showmore]

Life is so small, so precious...what can be so terrible as to throw it away?

 

[bluejatheist]

That's what happens when the media censorship screws up and shows you what actually occurs out there. I remember another clip of a man with HIV/AIDs setting his truck on fire and then shooting himself with a shotgun while on a freeway, in clear view of a news helicopters camera, which didn't stop recording after it happened. Also reminds me of another CCTV capture of a suspect who was left in a police interrogation room with a water to drink, they forgot to search him so after a few swallows he pulled out his handgun and shot himself, the cops weren't that shocked by the sight when they came in, more concerned about removing their cup of coffee and keys from the table near him.

Regarding this guy he probably wasn't thinking clearly in his situation and acted impulsively. As for dealing with what you saw, don't waste your time trying to rationalize the insanity of the actions of some humans and time will take care of it for you- your brain will process it and come to terms. In my own experience sitting and contemplating it won't help you.

 

[DepricatedZero]

I think I'm more disturbed by the spectacle of it, than by the fact of it, if that makes sense.

CCTV, sure. But this was ridiculous. I'm surprised, I don't want to say shocked, but maybe I am. Maybe that's what I'm feeling. I'm truly, literally in shock by how inhumane this ridiculous up-to-the-second 24-hour news cycle is getting. And it's not like this is the first time I've seen someone die, or the first time I've realized how bad the media is. It's weird...I'm in a weird place from it.

Think I'll distract myself with some Counterstrike: Source. You're right, sitting and pondering it won't do me any good, just bother me more.

 

[bluejatheist]

I think I'm more disturbed by the spectacle of it, than by the fact of it, if that makes sense.

CCTV, sure. But this was ridiculous. I'm surprised, I don't want to say shocked, but maybe I am. Maybe that's what I'm feeling. I'm truly, literally in shock by how inhumane this ridiculous up-to-the-second 24-hour news cycle is getting. And it's not like this is the first time I've seen someone die, or the first time I've realized how bad the media is. It's weird...I'm in a weird place from it.

Think I'll distract myself with some Counterstrike: Source. You're right, sitting and pondering it won't do me any good, just bother me more.

In this case it looks like the news was showing the video live. They usually have a delay to prevent this stuff from being shown and they did cut away so I'd say they honestly messed up rather than making it a spectacle. I'd actually argue against such censorship. If people saw the kind of graphic, bloody death and suffering going on in places like Syria they would be smarter with their votes. Hiding from such things is similar to being sheltered from other ideas, it does you no good to be willfully ignorant of what happens, no matter how painful it is to know. It's consciousness raising and puts life and peace into a perspective that makes you value it so much more.

(Edited on and off)

 

[Duvelthehobbit666]

This just shows that there aren't really any good, non-sensationalist, non-biased news sources. For me it is strange that a car chase in Arizona should be national news which is shown live. I find it strange how someone who lives half a continent away finds this relevant.

 

[)O( Hytegia )O(]

I'm going to say that it was obviously a technical malfunction. You can obviously tell that there's a 5-second delay in the broadcasting because afterward there's just him shouting on the side "GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" as if he saw it happening.
I think there's a 5 second delay between Live and it reaching Fox - and a 5 second delay between Fox and the broadcast.

Even for Fox News, there's a line - and the guy looked sincerely horrified when it was on.

 

[Laurens]

Strangely, I had little to no emotional reaction to watching that clip.

Perhaps because the footage I've seen of people being shot by other people strikes me as more pertinent. This just makes me think 'what a loser'.

 

[bluejatheist]

A baby cries, a cop dies, a days pay on the wild side

 

[nemesiss]

Strangely, I had little to no emotional reaction to watching that clip.

Perhaps because the footage I've seen of people being shot by other people strikes me as more pertinent. This just makes me think 'what a loser'.

also didn't blink when watching, but i didn't think loser.
i thought it was okay that he decide to do it himself, rather then a death by police brutality

 

[DepricatedZero]

I'm over it. It put me in a weird place. I've seen people die, killed, accidental, but I think it's because it's the first time I've ever seen someone kill themself.

It's interesting. It's rare that I come to a point like that.

 

[Dragan Glas]

Greetings,

I think it's because we expect the news media to protect the viewer - in this case, namely, yourself - from such incidents. When they fail to do so, it causes considerable shock to those who expect such protection.

I recall a similar incident in Australia, some years ago, where a lawyer(?) was expecting to face criminal charges and came out of his office to the waiting daytime tv camera crews, made a short statement before taking out a gun, putting it in his mouth and blowing his head off (mostly) - on live tv.. Most networks cut the video feed but left the audio on - one network, however, showed it. There was a hullabaloo from the public, who complained about it. At least one parent said their pre-school child had seen it.

Perhaps if you wrote to Fox News and complained, that might help you regain some sense of control over the incident and its effect on you.

It's worth noting that the graphic US media coverage of what went on in Vietnam - actions (a Marine captain shooting a VC prisoner through the head) and atrocities committed by the US forces (the use of Agent Orange resulting in the infamous footage of the little girl who'd been burned by it) - caused the American public to turn against the war.

There's a time and place for such graphic coverage - but it shouldn't occur during daytime tv when children might witness it and be even more affected by it than a adult, such as yourself.

Although this does appear to have been a technical hitch in that they didn't act fast enough - unless the director thought it would garnish approval ratings from their right-wing viewers "serves him right" attitude!?

Kindest regards,

James

 

[)O( Hytegia )O(]

Although this does appear to have been a technical hitch in that they didn't act fast enough - unless the director thought it would garnish approval ratings from their right-wing viewers "serves him right" attitude!?

Kindest regards,

James

Nah.

Even crazies have their limits.

 

[CommonEnlightenment]

Although this does appear to have been a technical hitch in that they didn't act fast enough - unless the director thought it would garnish approval ratings from their right-wing viewers "serves him right" attitude!?

Kindest regards,

James

Nah.

Even crazies have their limits.

Do you live on planet Earth?

Can I make a suggestion? Can you document your sarcasm from now on...... Perhaps your own personal smily will let the rest of us know your use of sarcasm.

 

[)O( Hytegia )O(]

Nah.

Even [right wing Fox-News Anchors] have their limits.

Do you live on planet Earth?[/quote]

I adjusted that for a better tone.

 

[Laurens]

Strangely, I had little to no emotional reaction to watching that clip.

Perhaps because the footage I've seen of people being shot by other people strikes me as more pertinent. This just makes me think 'what a loser'.

also didn't blink when watching, but i didn't think loser.
i thought it was okay that he decide to do it himself, rather then a death by police brutality

He's a fucking criminal who has just been hijacking, if he decides to blow his own brains out; so fucking what? He made the wrong choices somewhere along the line. He's a fool. Fuck him.

As Bill Hicks once said: "Yay! We lost a moron!"

I mean imagine how you'd feel watching a video of a child accidentally shooting themselves in the head with their father's gun. Compare that to how you felt watching this. The difference is; this guy is a loser and is also not innocent, so therefore his death holds no emotional value whatsoever to me.

 

[)O( Hytegia )O(]

He's a fucking criminal who has just been hijacking, if he decides to blow his own brains out; so fucking what? He made the wrong choices somewhere along the line. He's a fool. Fuck him.

As Bill Hicks once said: "Yay! We lost a moron!

I'm going to place money that he was strung out on something, or had a severe mental disorder.

Even in dire situations, the reflexive response is always Fight or Flight. Stand one's ground, or run to the hills.
The body's natural output is never naturally "Killing myself is the best way out of this current situation" - especially if the perceived output is less than the notion of death.
Why? Well, you don't make it far as a biological organism when the natural response to stress is a self-destruct feature.

People end their lives for a variety of reasons, yes, but we'll chalk up many of them to depression or psychological disorders (religious brainwashing included). ie. Inability to cope with life problems, severe depression, PTSD, psychological illness, self-sacrifice for a cause, altered mental states due to drugs, etc.
In my experience suicide as an intentional decision in stressful situations is usually weighed out by something much worse ie. burning to death, drowning, and so on.
On the rare occasion, it's done as an act to make a point, but those are far premeditated ie. people blowing their brains out at press conferences, setting themselves on fire as protest, standing in front of tanks, etc.

Hytegia's prediction:
In time, we will see that he either has a severe mental disorder,
he was strung out on some form of substance,
or that he's done something more than simply steal a car - something that would make him consciously overcome biological hard-wiring billions of years time-tested.

 

[Visaki]

Greetings,

I think it's because we expect the news media to protect the viewer - in this case, namely, yourself - from such incidents. When they fail to do so, it causes considerable shock to those who expect such protection.

I recall a similar incident in Australia, some years ago, where a lawyer(?) was expecting to face criminal charges and came out of his office to the waiting daytime tv camera crews, made a short statement before taking out a gun, putting it in his mouth and blowing his head off (mostly) - on live tv.. Most networks cut the video feed but left the audio on - one network, however, showed it. There was a hullabaloo from the public, who complained about it. At least one parent said their pre-school child had seen it.

You mean R Budd Dwyer?

It's worth noting that the graphic US media coverage of what went on in Vietnam - actions (a Marine captain shooting a VC prisoner through the head) and atrocities committed by the US forces (the use of Agent Orange resulting in the infamous footage of the little girl who'd been burned by it) - caused the American public to turn against the war.

You might be thinking of the picture of general Nguyen Ngoc Loan (South Vietnam's chief of National Police) executing a handcuffed, civilian clothed Vietcong officer during the Tet offencive. Also, the other famous picture was after a SVAF napalm raid, not a agent orange spraying. But all in all they did sway the American public against the war (even if the execution was apprently justified and in accordance with Geneva convention).

All in all I think I'm way too sanitized to TV and video violence. Though I'm not looking for shocking things like this in the net my reaction to real violence (like this guy ending his life) when viewed on the screen is just about "meh". I suppose I just make a connection with "screen = not real people". On the other hand I drove past an accident scene a few weeks ago with a clearly dead motorcyclist (nothing craphic but the lack of people around him when no ambulance had arrived yet and the condition of his bike told the story clearly enough) and I don't think that affected me at all. Then again I've worked in a hospital with dying and dead patiens (as a security guard) so I got used to the idea of being close to a corpse and even handling them.

 

[DepricatedZero]

Do you live on planet Earth?

Can I make a suggestion? Can you document your sarcasm from now on...... Perhaps your own personal smily will let the rest of us know your use of sarcasm.

I didn't think he was being sarcastic. Fox is generally pretty bat-shit crazy, but even they were clearly mortified by the fact that they accidentally aired that. i.e. even crazies(the fox crew) have their limits.

At any rate, it was interesting having the experience of being affected by something in that way. It doesn't bother me any more, but at the time I felt like bringing it up and talking about it would be a good way to handle my emotions on it.

I'm with nemesis - at no time did I think "what a loser," and in a way I'm glad he made the decision on his own rather than having it forced upon him. Part of me wonders what had gone on behind the scenes with the guy, what was he running from, etc. I'm sad for any loss of human life, but the choice was his to make and he made it.

 

[bluejatheist]

Ironic since if there was any group that I'd imagine would pay money to attend public street executions if the U.S. had them, it'd be Fox News viewers.

 

[CommonEnlightenment]

Ironic since if there was any group that I'd imagine would pay money to attend public street executions if the U.S. had them, it'd be Fox News viewers.

Apparently........

In some parts of the States they already do....... I'm thinking that those States happen to be color coded as well.

I'm thinking of designing a decent Jammer. Any tips? Set parental controls to skip "FOX News Channel"? Or would that violate Free Speech guidelines?