They Came To Chew Bubble Gum And Kill Pokemon Players

[Formaldehyde]

And neither one appears to be a Muslim!

Boston Police Arrest Two Pokémon Players After Apparent Gun Threat Against World Championships

Two men who drove from Iowa to Boston for the Pokémon World Championships were arrested Friday after seemingly threatening violence over social media against attendees of the event, according to the Boston Police Department.

Kevin Norton, 18, and James Stumbo, 27, were arrested on several firearm-related charges. The official Pokémon site lists Kevin Norton and a James Stumbo, both from the U.S., as invitees in the “masters division” of the world championships of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Private security at the Hynes Convention Center, where the Championships were taking place, were also aware of the threats and stopped the two men when they attempted to enter on Thursday. Police detectives seized their car and upon delivery of a search warrant on Friday found within a 12 gauge shotgun, an AR-15 rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. They then arrested Norton and Stumbo that afternoon in Saugus, Massachusetts. The pair will be arraigned in Boston on Monday. The police released the above photo of the weapons confiscated from the car.

Although the extent of Norton and Stumbo’s threats is unclear, we discovered a post Stumbo had made on a Facebook group featuring an image of the guns seen in the Boston PD photo:

The rest of Stumbo’s posts in the Facebook group appear to be normal messages about playing Pokémon.

Stumbo claimed to police that the social media posting was taken out of context, according to the police report as cited by The Daily Beast.

Pokémon card game expert Josh “Squeaky” Marking, who has interviewed Stumbo in the past, told Kotaku he’d known the Pokemon player to a fairly reserved guy. “Every time I did an interview with him he always seemed like a chill person but he is also the type to be sarcastic and joke around.” He described Stumbo as “a self proclaimed gun enthusiast” and believed it was possible this was all a big joke. He said he hadn’t realized Stumbo and Norton were found to have guns with them in Boston until being shown a photo by Kotaku.

Said The Pokémon Company International in a statement: “Prior to the event this weekend, our community of players made us aware of a security issue. We gathered information and gave it as soon as possible to the authorities at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center who acted swiftly and spearheaded communication with the Boston Police Department. Due to quick action, the potential threat was resolved. The Pokémon Company International takes the safety of our fans seriously and will continue to ensure proper security measures are a priority.”

Does this mean all Pokemon players should arm themselves immediately?

Should anybody be surprised after South Park warned us about this dire threat?


Link to video.

 

[Gucumatz]

I heard they posted these pictures to the pokemon facebook group, which they were a part of. Apparently they also made stupid jokes about the Columbine massacre just beneath this picture. Obviously people in the group were offended and they contacted the authorities to watch out for these 2 guys. These two also weren't the only ones that cops had to interfere with/remove according to some people I know who went to this convention. There didn't seem to be any real intent according to the people I know who knew about this [people just knew them as two NRA nuts] - but who knows when it comes to things like prize money

 

[Kyriakos]

If i had to bet i would surely bet on people who go to pokemon championships being uber-hipsters, so easily a sarcastic joke would scare the picachu out of them. So this likely was a non-issue blown to this level by hipsteria.

(if anything, the only real issue could be with laws about people with gun permits moving to another state with their guns for a brief time, not sure about laws on that).

 

[danjuno]

No James, AR-15 is not a Pokemon.

 

[Senethro]

If i had to bet i would surely bet on people who go to pokemon championships being uber-hipsters, so easily a sarcastic joke would scare the picachu out of them. So this likely was a non-issue blown to this level by hipsteria.

(if anything, the only real issue could be with laws about people with gun permits moving to another state with their guns for a brief time, not sure about laws on that).

It was a dumb "joke" to make. You can't blame supposed hipsters for everything. I can't fault people for finding "maybe we're going to kill you " not funny.

 

[Kyriakos]

I agree that a better joke would involve a rocket or a pun with Jesse

 

[Evie]

The fact that they dragged guns illegally to the tournament rather hints that maaaaaybe it wasn't just a dumb joke.

 

[bhavv]

I'm not a terrorist,but I'll just wrap myself with explosives, and try get onto a plane with no intentions of pushing the detoante button.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The fact that they dragged guns illegally to the tournament rather hints that maaaaaybe it wasn't just a dumb joke.

Indeed. Not to mention all the ammo.

But if they were just looking for their 15 minutes of internet infamy, they certainly accomplished their purpose. I hope they feel it was worth the prison time and ruining much of their prospects to be employed in the future.

 

[Evie]

Yeah. I help run one of the big Pokémon fansites, and I made it clear that I didn't want the name or other identifying information (beyond their being arrested and what changes) revealed in the news article, but they're everywhere else so it's like a drop in the ocean.

 

[Kyriakos]

^Maybe another poster is a lawyer on the defence team of the two arrested?

 

[Bugfatty300]

Does this mean all Pokemon players should arm themselves immediately?

Not if they're going to hold their events in cities like Boston, Massachusetts. You can't even touch a gun without getting special permission from the Boston police.

 

[Narz]

Obviously it was a cry for help. You don't say "Hey dudes, look at my guns, here's where I'm going" when you're actually gonna do something.

If only they had friends they could turn to, maybe little creatures they could summon by throwing a ball.

 

[Kyriakos]

Sub-machine gun, i call you!