ESPN Website Commenter Arrested After Threat

Eric Yee allegedly said he would kill kids in post about sneakers
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2012 6:41 PM CDT
ESPN Website Commenter Arrested After Threat
The sneakers that set off the comments.   (The LeBron X Nike Plus. (http://nikeinc.com/news/lebron-james-debuts-the-lebron-x))

This time, an Internet commenter accused of taking things too far is in legal trouble. Police in California say 21-year-old Yale dropout Eric Yee wrote that he wouldn't mind killing kids who buy LeBron's pricey new sneakers. He allegedly made the comment on ESPN.com, which had posted a story about the shoes. Moderators called the cops, who tracked down Lee and charged him with possessing an illegal firearm, reports AP. It's not clear whether he'll face specific charges on the threat.

The exact comment isn't available, but police paraphrased it and said Yee wrote that he "was watching children and wouldn't mind murdering them." He also brought up the Aurora massacre. An ESPN spokesman tells LA Weekly that the paraphrase is accurate. Yee's lawyer says everyone is taking things way too seriously, but it doesn't help that his client's neighborhood overlooks two schools. The $1 million bail "is probably a little overreaction to a dumbass posting stuff on a message board," writes Barry Petchesky at Deadspin. "But perhaps this is the best and only way to punish comment section stupidity." (More Eric Yee stories.)

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