Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

LARPing and Violent Extremism

leb.fbi.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 230 posts

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#221

Post by mikelevins »

dmurray wrote: post #137
georgeecollins wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the top post that the title confused me. But reading the article I came away with a very different take than you. This person is trying to define the difference between LARPing and being terrorist. That may be obvious to someone who knows LARPers, but not everyone does. I really don't think that the police are going to be a problem for people in fantasy gear, cosplaying, or re-enacting a historical battl…

The article acknowledges the possibility of people LARPing in a more contemporary context. I find this plausible, too: I can imagine groups of people getting together recreationally and fantasizing about how they're going to overthrow the fascist mayor, or kill all the Jews, or whatever else. With their real guns and tactical gear, because those look cool. With a badass logo, maybe with some skulls in it. But with no…

See, for example, KAOS (Killing as an Organized Sport), also known as Killer or Assassin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin_(game)).

It’s a multiplayer game in which players LARP as assassins out to kill targets that they receive secretly at the start of the game.

The game has rules that describe how to simulate various forms of weapons and tactics (e.g. using a rolled-up sheet of paper as a dagger), and the rules are intended to help make it clear to observers that it’s just a game in which no actual crimes are intended, but it still involves people behaving in ways that could be misinterpreted.

I played it some at VCU in the late 1970s. It was fun.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#222

Post by gs17 »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #132
tap-snap-or-nap wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> citizenry has to deal with on a daily basis Sounds like a hyperbolic statement. Most citizens may be more likely to say that they do not have to deal with people who commit crime and lie to them on a daily basis unless you are in a very rough neighbourhood with very little law enforcement. People who are policing do have to deal with this daily, however there is a change that the police could potentially form some…

A colleague (non-white, of course) in a former workplace would not pull off the Interstate in certain areas of the nation because they didn't trust police. No, they were not paranoid, only regularly cautious, they were from South America.

I'm a white US native and I do the exact same. I made sure I had enough gas to get through Alabama (at exactly the speed limit) without stopping because of the stories I've heard, and those aren't even "that bad" when it comes to bad interactions with police.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#223

Post by gs17 »

mrguyorama wrote: post #210
Karunamon wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to phrase that first sentence is "assumption of innocence". And while random commentators on the internet are not obligated to honor it, law enforcement is supposed to.

>And while random commentators on the internet are not obligated to honor it, law enforcement is supposed to. This is not the standard actually applied to law enforcement in the US. You can be convicted of nothing other than resisting arrest. Resisting arrest for what ? Literally does not matter. Also if you are arrested and found innocent, you are not compensated in any way for that arrest, which was clearly wrongfu…

>Also if you are arrested and found innocent, you are not compensated in any way for that arrest, which was clearly wrongful.

Not only that, there are likely fees and fines.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#224

Post by ToValueFunfetti »

foota wrote: post #184
CamperBob2 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps, after the AI singularity, it will become trendy for us all to LARP our former jobs for amusement.

...bank robber?

After the 'happy ending' version of a singularity, nobody will care if you were a bank robber in your previous life.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#225

Post by pixl97 »

parineum wrote: post #179
pixl97 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Posts on a public site...Complains about privacy" What the hell you are going on about man. If you post something like "Hey, lets shoot some cops", or hell "lets start shooting ____" online you are giving up your right to privacy. Yes, the US legal system has means of taking the 'evidence' you posted online in front of a judge and getting a warrant. Via the warrant system nearly complete dismantling of your privacy…

Neither of those things would be a basis for something like a search warrant because the threat is not specific and credible. It's not a crime to say, "Hey, let's shoot some cops". It would be a crime to say, "Hey, let's hang out in front of the local police station and shoot some cops tomorrow morning. Bring your guns."

In your imaginary world. In the real world telling the difference between a non-specific and credible threat commonly takes investigation, especially when one of the parties is brought up to law enforcement multiple times.

In addition law enforcement agencies, especially the local ones, are based on the whims of elected officials. If the local populace thinks they they aren't being tough enough on crime, then especially in smaller cities, they will be replaced.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#226

Post by pseudalopex »

Y-bar wrote: post #185
pseudalopex wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article had many good points. But many claims about LARP were not universal or not clear. Some performances are private. Some LARP is solo. The article acknowledged small groups but the table did not. People in many hobbies discuss law enforcement concerns, guidance to each other if confronted by an officer, and criminal cases where the hobby is mentioned. Role players have confirmation bias like other people. So…

I did not read the article as being that black and white, rather as a set of rules of thumb. Such as if enough boxes are ticked the investigator should maybe consider that it is not a real LARPer, but rather someone who tries to hide behind a veil of LARPing.

The comment I replied to called the differences universal.

The article said LARP is always group-based. Possibly the authors intended the other claims to be rules of thumb. Certainly their intended audience included people who tend to think in black and white. And several claims I contradicted were faulty rules of thumb.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#227

Post by pseudalopex »

RelativeDelta wrote: post #136
falcolas wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always has been for the FBI. They have long treated any outspoken anti-establishment or anti-authority with suspicion and - especially when combined with a minority race - hostility. See how they treated anybody who believe socialism was good back in the cold war days. How they kept detailed files on people who spoke against the powers held by the authorities.

It is because they are tasked with the preservation of the United States as a political entity. Anything or group that threatens the power of the state becomes their target - those targets evolve with time.

Socialism did not threaten the preservation of the United States as a political entity. Or the power of the state. It threatened specific interests.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#228

Post by zeruch »

crazygringo wrote: post #24

I was definitely confused by this article at first, thinking it was some silly guide for law enforcement which can't tell the difference between criminals and LARPers...?? But no -- it's actually about terrorists and criminals trying to claim in court that their criminal planning wasn't that at all, but just LARPing: > For example, after Kaleb Franks was arrested in October 2020 for plotting to abduct Michigan Govern…

I arrived at the same conclusion, but I had to re-read it to be sure, because it doesnt exactly flow that well, particularly at the first third or so.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#229

Post by RelativeDelta »

pseudalopex wrote: post #227
RelativeDelta wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is because they are tasked with the preservation of the United States as a political entity. Anything or group that threatens the power of the state becomes their target - those targets evolve with time.

Socialism did not threaten the preservation of the United States as a political entity. Or the power of the state. It threatened specific interests.

From the perspective of the executive branch it very much did. Arguably still does, depending on your political persuasion.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#230

Post by pseudalopex »

RelativeDelta wrote: post #229
pseudalopex wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Socialism did not threaten the preservation of the United States as a political entity. Or the power of the state. It threatened specific interests.

From the perspective of the executive branch it very much did. Arguably still does, depending on your political persuasion.

Anti socialists claim socialism gives the state too much power. Not too little. Inarguably mixed economies are dominant and stable. Inarguably almost all countries with any history of self described socialist government persist. And American governments have an established history of acting on less than existential interests.
Post reply on HN