YouTube prankster says he had no idea he was scaring man who shot him
YouTube prankster says he had no idea he was scaring man who shot him
A Northern Virginia jury has heard testimony from a YouTube prankster who was shot earlier this year by one of his targets. Tanner Cook survived the shot to the chest he received in April at Dulles Town Center in Loudoun County, west of the nation’s capital. Alan Colie, a delivery driver who was the...
A YouTube prankster who was shot by one his targets told jurors Tuesday he had no inkling he had scared or angered the man who fired on him as the prank was recorded.
Tanner Cook, whose “Classified Goons” channel on YouTube has more than 55,000 subscribers, testified nonchalantly about the shooting at start of the trial for 31-year-old Alan Colie, who's charged with aggravated malicious wounding and two firearms counts.
The April 2 shooting at the food court in Dulles Town Center, about 45 minutes west of Washington, D.C., set off a panic as shoppers fled what they feared to be a mass shooting.
Jurors also saw video of the shooting, recorded by Cook's associates. The two interacted for less than 30 seconds. Video shows Cook approaching Colie, a DoorDash driver, as he picked up an order. The 6-foot-5 (1.95-meter-tall) Cook looms over Colie while holding a cellphone about 6 inches (15 centimeters) from Colie's face. The phone broadcasts the phrase “Hey dips—-, quit thinking about my twinkle” multiple times through a Google Translate app.
On the video, Colie says “stop” three different times and tries to back away from Cook, who continues to advance. Colie tries to knock the phone away from his face before pulling out a gun and shooting Cook in the lower left chest.
Cook, 21, testified Tuesday that he tries to confuse the targets of his pranks for the amusement of his online audience. He said he doesn't seek to elicit fear or anger, but acknowledged his targets often react that way.
Asked why he didn't stop the prank despite Colie's repeated requests, Cook said he “almost did” but not because he sensed fear or anger from Colie. He said Colie simply wasn't exhibiting the type of reaction Cook was looking for.
“There was no reaction,” Cook said.
In opening statements, prosecutors urged jurors to set aside the off-putting nature of Cook's pranks.
“It was stupid. It was silly. And you may even think it was offensive,” prosecutor Pamela Jones said. “But that's all it was — a cellphone in the ear that got Tanner shot.”
Defense attorney Tabatha Blake said her client didn't have the benefit of knowing he was a prank victim when he was confronted with Cook's confusing behavior.
She said the prosecution's account of the incident “diminishes how unsettling they were to Mr. Alan Colie at the time they occurred.”
In the video, before the encounter with Colie, Cook and his friends can be heard workshopping the phrase they want to play on the phone. One of the friends urges that it be “short, weird and awkward.”
Cook's “Classified Goons” channel is replete with repellent stunts, like pretending to vomit on Uber drivers and following unsuspecting customers through department stores. At a preliminary hearing, sheriff's deputies testified that they were well aware of Cook and have received calls about previous stunts. Cook acknowledged during cross-examination Tuesday that mall security had tossed him out the day prior to the shooting as he tried to record pranks and that he was trying to avoid security the day he targeted Colie.
Jury selection took an entire day Monday, largely because of publicity the case received in the area. At least one juror said during the selection process that she herself had been a victim of one of Cook's videos.
Cook said he continues to make the videos and earns $2,000 or $3,000 a month. His subscriber base increased from 39,000 before the shooting to 55,000 after.
Asked why he didn’t stop the prank despite Colie’s repeated requests, Cook said he “almost did” but not because he sensed fear or anger from Colie. He said Colie simply wasn’t exhibiting the type of reaction Cook was looking for.
He wasn't giving me material for my viewers, so I kept annoying him until he shot me! Why is this my fault?!
Not annoying, threatening. Advancing despite being told to stop repeatedly is a threat.
What a douche bag
Love how this comment suits both actors in this little play.
If you'd read the article you'd know the shooter was extremely justified.
I hope Colie goes free and I hope Cook gets sued for everything he has. I don't know what you'd sue him for, but find something before he gets someone actually killed.
Pain and emotional suffering is always available. If he pressed charges then all of his legal fees as well. The lost wages from being locked up... etc.
Fuck all that. Attitudes like that are why Americans think they can just blast away. You won't see my pistol until I'm certain killing you is my very last resort. And if I pull it, it's because I mean to use it.
Did this idiot think his life was in danger from an annoying man with a cell phone, in the middle of a fucking food court?! No. He used his gun as a "get off of me" tool. He's damned lucky Cook survived.
EDIT: I seriously hope some of you people do not conceal carry. The comments here are terrifying and completely ignorant of case law, attitudes comprised only of feels.
He could very well think that. One friend of mine gets a fraid for his saftey if protest is in the area. I have scared the shit out of people by just walking near them.
Now in the era of mass shooting would i be afraid that some ahole came up to like would i think this is a prelude to getting shot. I might honestly think that
What is in the water in Virginia? The video should have killed this case dead. Continuing to advance after being commanded to stop is literally a text book self defense case. Especially when you add in the delivery driver job (one of the most dangerous jobs in the US for violent robbery and car jacking) and the specific intent to disorient and confuse.
That's tailor made to elicit a fight or flight response in any reasonable person.
(Before anyone asks for statistics, delivery drivers make up 1/5th of US work place fatalities according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Yeah I do believe in a duty to retreat but if I saw someone workshopping ways to confuse me with a group of people and refusing my demands to stop harassing me, while they advanced in a bizarre fashion I’d be looking for a clear path to retreat and reaching for my knife. That behavior is unpredictable, invasive, and demonstrates refusal to respect pearly stated boundaries. I’m not one of those paranoid people who doesn’t go anywhere without a gun or anything but there’s no way I’d feel safe in that scenario. I wouldn’t even consider that YouTube prankster is a job some people have, I’d be much more afraid he’s going for my purse or worse.
And as for the lack of fear, yeah every self defense lesson I’ve had has taught to show no fear nor aggression, you firmly demand the aggressor to back away while looking for an out by which to flee.
Yeah I've seen people talk about that like the driver somehow pre-meditated the shoot. But it's actually just a sign of good training on thinking through the adrenaline.
These prank channels should be completely demonetized to remove the incentive of doing stupid shit like this in the first place.
No shit curse first 10 seconds get demonetized. Terrorize some one and you can earn 3k a month. YouTube should remove his channel and if they don't get fucking sue to for allowing the content.
Fucking shooter a hero and stood his ground prankster should apologize and be greatful he isn't dead.
Because as any train gun owner knows your not supposed to pull your gun unless it shoot to kill.
While I agree the YouTube kid kind of got what was coming to him, the shooter isn't a straight up hero.
As annoying as this kid was it doesn't sound like he ever touched the guy. I would completely understand the shooter shoving, punching, or even using mace/taser on the YouTube guy, but jumping straight to shooting someone over that is just a bit unhinged behavior, at least in my opinion.
I am not against CCW or self defense or anything, but the shooter definitely went overboard, and I wouldn't be surprised if he is found guilty in the court case.
Sounds like a good case of “fuck around and find out” to me. Acting aggressively and being a douche just to get views on YouTube is a good way to get shot. Especially when the shooter specifically asked him to stop several times. I really do not like douche nozzles like this guy.
That's one way to improve content quality on youtube.
Eh, at least pranksters are willing to risk something.
Too much watered-down content on youtube that just exists to suck up time without ever hurting anyone's feelings.
The prankster evidently has some fans here on lemmy, if this thread is any indication. Bummer. I was hoping lemmy wouldn't attract people that insufferably stupid.
Do I think he deserved to be shot? No. Do I understand it? Absolutely.
I was hoping lemmy wouldn’t attract people that insufferably stupid.
I mean, most the people here are refugees from reddit so you shouldn't expect much intelligence.
I'm already seeing a shit ton of stupid reddit-humor and fantasy-land explanations.
I fucking HATE "pranksters. He shouldve shit him to death.
He shouldve shit him to death.
I don't think I'd wish anyone to be shit to death. That sounds awful.
Cholera has entered the chat
Except pranksters, those can rot in hell.
Not even Putin?
What a giant piece of shit.
Would this have even made trial in a state with "Stand Your Ground" laws?
Only in america is it legal and normal to attempt to murder someone for :checks notes: holding your phone near them.
Let me guess, they're telling me about footage without showing me the footage.
Modern "journalism", everyone.
Spamming the same article around is cool, but is this really news?
The voting ratio seems to indicate that yes, this is in fact considered a relevant news item by the community but you can and should downvote it if you disagree. Now that we've cleared that up, do you have anything to contribute to the discussion or are you just here to whine because I posted an article in two relevant communities?
Both people were way out of line. The shooter more than the harasser.
Why do I feel more sympathy for the shooter then? Let me explain myself. I don't condone his actions, but here's the thing.. You have no idea what a stranger is going through in their life. No idea what trauma lies in their past. Going up to strangers and trying to provoke them could yield wildly different responses from person to person, and in the world we live in that could easily involve anger. Some people are barely holding it together and all they need is a jarring incident like this to make them snap. The shooter didn't provoke this situation. Yes he reacted poorly, but the entire thing would have been avoided if the brain dead YouTuber wasn't going around trying to elicit a response for clicks.
Because in America, shooting someone is more socially acceptable than being an annoying twat.
Know what my conceal carry instructor told us? If you shoot somebody, you better have made the calculation that spending your life in a concrete and steel box is the better outcome, because that might just be the case.
There was no reason for the person to be shot. Disgusting.
You’re an asshole.
The person who shot did it directly, without actually showing what was he carrying. Just showing the gun would have had a better effect with no injuries and no arrest, and that already is going over the top.
You are an asshole for defending getting hurt for this. I want to assume you would not be so eager to go against the kid if it was your family member.