Tombstone1881
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Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
TAMPA, Fla. - It started on Facebook, as many political arguments do these days.
A Florida man responded to a friend's post about President Donald Trump. His response wasn't about Trump, it was about felon voting rights. And that's when the squabble between the two fortysomething men exploded into a flurry of private messages and took an ugly turn.
The argument escalated into threats and taunts of fighting, police said, and ended in a shooting that left one of the men wounded.
The victim has been released from the hospital, but it underscores how passionate social media interactions can have real-world consequences.
Tampa Police say 44-year-old Brian Sebring faces felony charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed gun. Sebring told the Tampa Bay Times he "just snapped and let primal rage take over" when he left work early on Monday, went home to get his gun and headed to the home of 46-year-old Alex Stephens.
According to Sebring, a registered Democrat, he responded to post on Facebook by a felon who said he wanted to share his political opinions even though he'd lost his right to vote.
In Florida, as many as 1.5 million former prisoners aren't allowed to vote due to a ban in the state constitution. But the state's voters will decide in November whether to alter the current ban, which is also the subject on an ongoing federal lawsuit.
If 60 percent of voters approve the constitutional amendment, most convicted felons no longer in prison would have their rights automatically restored. Many Democratic politicians are in favor of revising the state's ban, while top Republicans such as Gov. Rick Scott have defended the current system, saying ex-prisoners should have to wait and prove they deserve to have their rights restored.
Sebring told the newspaper that he wrote on the Facebook threat that if someone wants to voice an opinion, "don't do criminal activity, don't get caught, be a productive member of society."
It quickly escalated when Stephens, who has a felony records and served stints in prison for robbery and cocaine possession, took the argument to Sebring's Messenger account. Sebring says they both threatened each other, and Stephens threatened to harm his wife and son.
Stephens sent Sebring his address and told him to "come on over" if he wanted to fight, and to beep the horn when he showed up, Sebring said.
Sebring and Stephens had never met, though they live in the same neighborhood.
He said he parked outside Stephens' house and honked the horn. Stephens came out carrying what Sebring said looked like a knife. Sebring fired. Then he drove home. He was almost there when he saw a police officer and told him what he'd just done.
Stephens was released from the hospital, where he was treated for gunshot wounds to the thigh and buttocks. He didn't respond to the Times' request for an interview.
"I'm not a bad guy," Sebring told the newspaper, "but I mean, this guy threatened to hurt my family, and I went off the deep end." Sebring said he's probably going to see a therapist now because it scares him that "I could lose my temper like that and do something so stupid."
Sebring was arrested and has been released on a $9,500 bond.
Now in addition to legal troubles, Sebring said he's the target of social media trolling.
"I ruined my life over this," Sebring said. "Now my mother is too afraid to leave the house, my sons are afraid to walk to school or church, all because of some keyboard gangsters."
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Why is it that not one of the Republican officeholders objecting to Biden's victory have objected to their own wins on the same day on the same ballots using the same election systems??!
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8/11/2018, 1:18 pm
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Yobbo
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
This rather indicates why those who believe there should be rational gun regulations do so.
If there are any people who think this is how to act.....
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8/12/2018, 2:02 am
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Philer
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
quote:
"I'm not a bad guy," Sebring told the newspaper, "but I mean, this guy threatened to hurt my family, and I went off the deep end." Sebring said he's probably going to see a therapist now because it scares him that "I could lose my temper like that and do something so stupid."
You don't have to be an extremely bad guy to do something stupid like what he did but violence is not something truly alien to your personality. The only other thing that may be required is believing that bullshit about losing control of yourself and doing something violent that isn't in your nature to do. The problem is that in reality it is in your nature to do and you have demonstrated that it is.
Violent people don't become violent because they "snap" or "lose their temper." They become violent because they want to become violent. It suits them at the time. Afterwards they attempt to use the excuse "I lost my temper" and couldn't help it or "I snapped" and couldn't help it.
If you're going to be violent own it. Don't try to use the "I snapped" excuse. You're responsible for the violence and should not try to weasel out of that responsibility.
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8/12/2018, 2:54 pm
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Geezess
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
"He said he parked outside Stephens' house and honked the horn. Stephens came out carrying what Sebring said looked like a knife. Sebring fired."
So he had the right to do so under FL's stand your ground law ... if it is the same law for everyone, even dumb assed Dems, that is.
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8/12/2018, 7:20 pm
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katie5445
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
quote:
Philer wrote:
quote:
"I'm not a bad guy," Sebring told the newspaper, "but I mean, this guy threatened to hurt my family, and I went off the deep end." Sebring said he's probably going to see a therapist now because it scares him that "I could lose my temper like that and do something so stupid."
You don't have to be an extremely bad guy to do something stupid like what he did but violence is not something truly alien to your personality. The only other thing that may be required is believing that bullshit about losing control of yourself and doing something violent that isn't in your nature to do. The problem is that in reality it is in your nature to do and you have demonstrated that it is.
Violent people don't become violent because they "snap" or "lose their temper." They become violent because they want to become violent. It suits them at the time. Afterwards they attempt to use the excuse "I lost my temper" and couldn't help it or "I snapped" and couldn't help it.
If you're going to be violent own it. Don't try to use the "I snapped" excuse. You're responsible for the violence and should not try to weasel out of that responsibility.
That is quite simplified. Anger is not just an emotion it is a chemical reaction of adrenaline and cortisol in preparation for fight or flight and that is why when angry your heart rate, B/P and respirations increase. You sweat and your body temp goes up. If expressed appropriately anger is positive and useful and anyone actually can "snap."
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8/13/2018, 3:56 am
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Philer
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
quote:
katie5445 wrote:
quote:
Philer wrote:
quote:
"I'm not a bad guy," Sebring told the newspaper, "but I mean, this guy threatened to hurt my family, and I went off the deep end." Sebring said he's probably going to see a therapist now because it scares him that "I could lose my temper like that and do something so stupid."
You don't have to be an extremely bad guy to do something stupid like what he did but violence is not something truly alien to your personality. The only other thing that may be required is believing that bullshit about losing control of yourself and doing something violent that isn't in your nature to do. The problem is that in reality it is in your nature to do and you have demonstrated that it is.
Violent people don't become violent because they "snap" or "lose their temper." They become violent because they want to become violent. It suits them at the time. Afterwards they attempt to use the excuse "I lost my temper" and couldn't help it or "I snapped" and couldn't help it.
If you're going to be violent own it. Don't try to use the "I snapped" excuse. You're responsible for the violence and should not try to weasel out of that responsibility.
That is quite simplified. Anger is not just an emotion it is a chemical reaction of adrenaline and cortisol in preparation for fight or flight and that is why when angry your heart rate, B/P and respirations increase. You sweat and your body temp goes up. If expressed appropriately anger is positive and useful and anyone actually can "snap."
What people mistake for "snapping" is acting on a sudden and intense desire to be violent. They may believe that they are under a compulsion to become violent but that's not the same thing as actually being compelled to be violent or losing control of themselves. They are still acting based on both a desire to be violent and what they believe at the time of the incident.
Afterwards when they have had time to think about what they did it may seem like they acted out of character and were not in control of their behaviour but in reality none of that is true. That's when the phony excuse of "snapping" becomes very attractive and easy for them to trot out.
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8/13/2018, 2:12 pm
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katie5445
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
I don't think in the term "they" it's abstract-general, people are individuals and what may be completely true what you describe for one person may not be true for another
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8/14/2018, 3:51 am
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Philer
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
quote:
katie5445 wrote:
I don't think in the term "they" it's abstract-general, people are individuals and what may be completely true what you describe for one person may not be true for another
I intended to make a general point about human nature. People are individuals but that isn't relevant to what I'm talking about which is basic human psychology. Human beings don't "snap," lose control of themselves and do things which they don't want to do. They do what they want to do even when they are extremely angry about something and they have some sort of notion that they should do it even when that includes becoming violent.
The problem that some people have in recognizing that is that they also have false beliefs about their own violent behaviour and other peoples' violent behaviour, especially when they want to excuse it. They want to believe that somehow it wasn't exactly them doing it or their responsibility but the nature of the situation that caused it in some way or the other person who was responsible for what they did.
People are responsible for their own violent behaviour. The only remaining question is whether it was justified because it was an act of self-defense.
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8/14/2018, 1:43 pm
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katie5445
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Re: Facebook argument leads to shooting in Tampa, Florida
I guess you should explain "basic human psychology" whether it is your basics or science basics.
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8/16/2018, 4:32 am
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