Suicide of Ronnie McNutt: Difference between revisions

The '''Suicide of Ronnie McNutt''' incident took place on a live stream on Facebook, broadcasted at 9 P.M. on August 31st, 2020. The live stream depicted a 33-year-old war veteran, Ronnie Merle McNutt (May 23rd, 1987 – August 31st, 2020), playing his favorite game, until he shot himself in the face with a single-shot rifle and died of a self-inflicted wound while hundreds of viewers were watching. Like [[1444|other]] live-streams, the footage has spread across many social media networks and forums such as [[YouTube]], Facebook, [[Twitter]], Discord, [[TikTok]], [[4chan]], and many more. This incident caused many controversies, such as internet trolls setting up account impersonations of Ronnie, likely to provoke reactions or seek attention, being used for fraudulent scams or as a bait-and-switch to lure viewers, and computer calls being interrupted by users displaying the video. The video circulated on many websites for its shock value.

The livestream depicts a 33-year-old war veteran Ronnie McNutt playing his favorite game offscreen while heavily intoxicated and angry. He begins ranting about his job and coworkers while viewers are frantically trying to message him. After a while, he gets a phone call from someone he knows (most likely his ex-girlfriend). After that, he hangs up the call and says "Hey guys! I guess that's it," and misfires himself with a hunting rifle under the chin, blowing his face completely off while his blood splatters on the camera and his brain tissues fall to the floor, while the 2019 [[Wikipedia:Samsung|Samsung]] ringtone [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQUF9M7horo Over the Horizon] is playing in the background. The full video would stay captured on his corpse bleeding both internally and externally on the chair, until officers arrived at his home too late after someone alerted the department, only seen in the entire video.

Ronnie's friends, including his close one, Josh Steen,<ref name="Forbes" /> reported the live stream to Facebook before Ronnie 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, the video had already been uploaded to many platforms, such as Discord, [[Reddit]], [[wikipedia:YouTube|YouTube]], [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]], and [[wikipedia:TikTok|TikTok]]. TikTok was also criticized for having the suicide appear on many users' "For You" pages.<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" /> Ronnie's close friend Josh Steen blamed Facebook for failing to remove the video earlier. Facebook responded stating they were "reviewing how we could have taken down the live stream faster."<ref name="TechCrunch" />

Steen reported most comments on the live stream as "harassment" to Facebook. Facebook however claimed they dismissed his reports because he was not an account holder. To rub more salt into the wound, 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 GoFundMe pages 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>

One month later, TikTok released a public statement saying, "Our systems have been automatically detecting and flagging these clips for violating our policies against content that displays, praises, glorifies, or promotes suicide. We appreciate our community members who've reported content and warned others against watching, engaging or sharing such videos on any platform, out of respect for the person and their family." Facebook, likewise, publicly stated, "We removed the original video from Facebook last month, on the day it was streamed, and have used automation technology to remove copies and uploads since that time. Our thoughts remain with Ronnie's family and friends during this difficult time."

During the early 2000s, Ronnie McNutt met Joshua Steen at a community theatre production of Footloose, located in the city of Mississippi, 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 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 media 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" />

*web.archive.org/web/20210824071325/files.catbox.moe/310ldj.mp4