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Suicide of Ronnie McNutt: Difference between revisions
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'''Ronnie | The '''Suicide of Ronnie McNutt''' incident took place on the Facebook livestream, broadcasted at 9pm on August 31. The live-stream depicts a 33-year-old war veteran, Ronnie McNutt (May 23, 1987–August 31, 2020), playing his favorite game, until he shoots himself in the face with a single-shot rifle and soon dies of a self-inflicted wound. Like [[1444|Gleb Korablyov's suicide live-stream]], it has spread across many social media sites, such as [[YouTube]], Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and many more. This has caused many controversies, including trolls setting up account impersonations of Ronnie, being used for fraudulent scams, or being used as a bait-and-switch to lure people. | ||
==Content== | |||
This live-stream features 33-year-old Ronnie McNutt playing his favorite game (offscreen). After a while, he gets a phone call from a person he knows (either his ex-girlfriend). After that, he hungs up the call and <s>mindblows</s> misfires himself with a hunting rifle (confirmed by his friend in an interview), blowing his brains out with blood splatters on the screen. The full video would stay on his corpse for a few minutes, until officers arrived to his home after someone alerted the department, only seen in the full video. | |||
==Background== | |||
Ronnie had recently broken up with his girlfriend<ref name="Rolling Stone">Dickson, E. (2020, September 9). [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/facebook-tiktok-livestream-suicide-1056959/ "Why Did Facebook Keep a Man's Livestreamed Suicide Up for Hours?"]. [[wikipedia:Rolling Stone|Rolling Stone]].</ref> on the night of August 31, his final day of suicide.<ref name="BBC">Wakefield, J. (2020, September 20). [https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54176205 "Friend Challenges Facebook Over Ronnie McNutt Suicide Video"]. [[wikipedia:BBC News|BBC News]].</ref> Ronnie himself also tried drinking some beer that night.<ref name="BBC" /> He sent his final message on Facebook at 7:32 p.m., stating: "''Someone in your life needs to hear that they matter" and "that they are loved. That they have a future. Be the one to tell them. TobyMac #SpeakLife''", referring to [[wikipedia:Toby McKeehan|Toby McKeehan]]'s song "Speak Life". His suicide happened on his live-stream on [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]]<ref name="Rolling Stone" /><ref name="nypost">Steinbuch, Y. (2020, September 9). [https://nypost.com/2020/09/09/ronnie-mcnutt-shared-heartbreaking-message-before-suicide/ "Ronnie McNutt Shared Heartbreaking Message Before Suicide"]. New York Post.</ref><ref name="Mirror">Kitching, C. (2020, September 11). [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/ronnie-mcnutt-tragic-story-man-22665676 "Tragic Story Of Ronnie McNutt Who Killed Himself On Facebook Live Stream"]. Mirror.</ref> broadcasted at 9 p.m. local time.<ref name="Mirror" /> In the live stream taking place at his home in New Albany, Mississippi, Ronnie appeared very drunk and depressed.<ref name="mirror">Kitching, C. (2020, September 9). [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/ronnie-mcnutt-man-who-live-22654249 "Man Who Live-streamed His Own Suicide Left Tragic Last Post On Facebook"]. ''Mirror.co.uk''.</ref> There were over 200 viewers<ref name="BBC" /> who advised him to get help<ref name="Mirror" />, which Ronnie ignored. Minutes before committing suicide, Ronnie receives a phone call from a person he knows, whether it be his ex-girlfriend or his mother. At 10:30 p.m.<ref name="Forbes">McEvoy, J. (2020, September 9). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/09/09/friend-of-ronnie-mcnutt-whose-livestreamed-suicide-went-viral-says-facebook-couldve-stopped-it/ "Friend Of Ronnie McNutt, Whose Livestreamed Suicide Went Viral, Says Facebook Could’ve Stopped It"]. [[wikipedia:Forbes|Forbes]].</ref> Ronnie pointed the rifle to his head and misfired, blowing off his face completely. New Albany Police Department was shortly alerted by his friends<ref name="Rolling Stone" /> after he threatened to or after he kill himself during the stream, which they didn't arrived to his home until his death. Facebook stated that this "''completed broadcast was on the platform for 2 hours and 41 minutes.''"<ref name="heavy">Warnock, C. (2020, September 8). [https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/ronnie-mcnutt-facebook-video/ "Ronnie McNutt’s Friend Speaks Out About Facebook Suicide Video"]. Heavy.</ref> | |||
Ronnie | Ronnie's friends, including his close one, Josh Steen,<ref name="Forbes" /> tried to report the live-stream to Facebook before he killed himself.<ref name="mirror" /><ref name="heavy" /><ref name="TechCrunch">Coldewey, D. (2020, September 14). [https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/13/graphic-video-of-suicide-spreads-from-facebook-to-tiktok-to-youtube-as-platforms-fail-moderation-test/ "Graphic Video Of Suicide Spreads From Facebook To TikTok To YouTube As Platforms Fail Moderation Test"]. [[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]].</ref> At 11:51 pm, Facebook later dismissed one of the reports because it did not violate its guidelines.<ref name="Rolling Stone" /> The video was not taken down by the platform until eight hours later. However, it was too late for the video to be taken down that it was shortly re-uploaded to many platforms, such as [[wikipedia:YouTube|YouTube]], [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]] and [[wikipedia:TikTok|TikTok]]. TikTok was also criticized for having the suicide appear on the "For You" feed.<ref name="news">Gramenz, J. (2020, September 10). [https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/tiktok-facebook-suicide-video-cant-be-stopped-by-laws-expert-warns/news-story/1f301f625ad4f3aa1085c415e25fa4a2 "Why TikTok Suicide Video Horror Will Happen Again"]. ''News.com.au''.</ref><ref name="mirror" /><ref name="nypost2">Steinbuch, Y. (2020, September 8). [https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/army-veteran-kills-himself-in-facebook-livestream/ "Army Veteran Ronnie McNutt Commits Suicide In Facebook Livestream"]. [[wikipedia:New York Post|New York Post]].</ref><ref name="Forbes" /> Media outlets also stated that some re-uploads of the suicide were also disguised as clips of cute animals.<ref name="news" /><ref name="Rolling Stone" /><ref name="Forbes" /> Steen blamed Facebook for failing to remove the video late. Facebook responds that they were "''reviewing how we could have taken down the livestream faster.''"<ref name="TechCrunch" /> | ||
In the comments of the live-stream, Ronnie's close friend Josh Steen found most of them as "harassment" and reported them to Facebook. Facebook, still suffering from failure, had dismissed it for not being an account holder. Similarly, trolls were also setting up accounts to impersonate Ronnie on platforms.<ref name="BBC" /><ref name="nypost" /><ref name="mirror" /> Ronnie's mother, Elaine McNutt, also stated that there were many false GoFnudPages about Ronnie Mcnutt appearing, and none of them "are legitimate!".<ref>Warnock, C. (2020, September 7). [https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/ronnie-mcnutt-death-live-stream/ "Ronnie McNutt: Man Dies By Suicide On Facebook Live Stream]. Heavy.com.</ref> | |||
== | |||
Josh Steen created the Twitter hashtag #ReformForRonnie,<ref name="Rolling Stone" /> to which people could post to "take action against those who violate their policies."<ref>https://www.wdam.com/2020/09/09/criticism-lobbed-social-media-companies-after-suicide-video-mississippi-man-goes-viral/</ref><ref>[https://twitter.com/hashtag/ReformForRonnie #ReformForRonnie Hashtag]</ref> | |||
==Ronnie McNutt== | |||
[[File:Ronnie Mcnutt and Joshua Steen.png|thumb|200px|Ronnie McNutt (left) and Joshua Steen (right) at an event in Alabama.]] | |||
Ronald Merle "Ronnie" McNutt was born on May 23, 1987 in [[wikipedia:Mississippi, United States|Mississippi, United States]]. He was one of five children born to Mr. Cecil Ronald McNutt and Elaine Rooker McNutt. Ronnie McNutt was a member of the Celebration Church in Tupelo and also enjoyed or was involved in performing theater plays. He was an Iraq War veteran who served in the United States Army Reserve and was employed as a worker at a Toyota plant in Blue Springs, New Albany.<ref>https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/215119078/ronald-merle-mcnutt</ref><ref name="nypost2" />Ronnie was also a member of the Comicons club and wrote some comic book reviews on websites. According to his close friend, Joshua Steen, he was later diagnosed with PTSD shortly after his military service.<ref name="nypost2" /> | |||
During the early 2000s, Ronnie McNutt met Joshua Steen at a community theater production of Footloose, which was located in the city of Missisipi, while they were in high school.<ref name="Rolling Stone" /> Ronnie McNutt joined JustUs Geeks, a podcast by Josh Steen, with the intention of connecting "''with the millions of geeks and pop culture nerds all across the globe.''" He started writing some reviews for the official website in 2014. During the live stream, Steen also tried calling Ronnie with two phone numbers that he could easily recognize, only for Ronnie to decline the call on the stream.<ref>Steinbuch, Y. (2020, September 8). [https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/ronnie-mcnutts-friend-facebook-couldve-stopped-suicide-livestream/ "Ronnie McNutt's Friend: Facebook Could've Stopped Suicide Livestream"]. [[wikipedia:New York Post|New York Post]].</ref> Some medias said that the gun that he used to shoot himself with was a shotgun, but Steen stated to the media that it was a single-shot rifle.<ref name="Mirror" /> | |||
On October 11, 2020, a 1-hour podcast titled "Ronnie McNutt Revisited: An Interview with Josh Steen" was uploaded to YouTube on The Misery Machine's channel, which features Joshua Steen explaining details about Ronnie McNutt.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl8vni3R0Pc "Ronnie McNutt Revisited: An Interview with Josh Steen"] October 12, 2020 - via [[YouTube]].</ref> | |||
He was predeceased by his father, they were buried in the same cemetery.<ref name="Mirror" /> | |||
==References== | |||
<references /> | |||
==See Also== | |||
*[[Flappy Bird]] - A popular [[Scratch]] copy of the mobile app with the same name, but it was hacked to display the [[shock video]] when the player dies. | |||
==Links== | |||
<u>NOTE</u>: The following [[shock site|shock video]] contains [[graphic content]]! | <u>NOTE</u>: The following [[shock site|shock video]] contains [[graphic content]]! | ||
*reddit.com/r/NSFL_/comments/jr25e8/man_shoots_himself_in_the_head_with_a_shot_gun/ | *reddit.com/r/NSFL_/comments/jr25e8/man_shoots_himself_in_the_head_with_a_shot_gun/ | ||
