Privacy

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I'm starting to believe the "McDonalds" identification might be a slight of hand to protect privacy invasions? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by wowwoweowza@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I’m timid about this and might be late to a party where others already had this idea, so please, no haters.

I can’t get over how facile and stupid the identification of LM was at a McDoballs. This is someone who fell off the entire grid for three months??

Just asking… but couldn’t an organization trying to conceal its reach and inevitability track a fella… and then… force an identification?

I do not have any idea about details… it’s broad strokes. Could it be? How many other privacy lovers heard about these three months completely off the grid somehow and also wondered… how?

Please pardon if this isn’t the appropriate place but the real theme is privacy. What if the watchers are always watching even when a person might believe they have made themself completely digitally invisible?

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[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 24 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I personally don't think he did it. He could easily be a grifter trying to take credit for a very popular act. There's no shortage of those. All you'd need to do:

Walk into a public place with a bag of somewhat incriminating items, but nothing that's linked to the actual crime scene.
Arouse enough suspicion to get the cops called on you. Being a white guy with black hair and a hoodie is not enough for someone to call the cops on you, I have no idea why people believe that was enough for a McD's employee to call the cops.
Claim credit for the shooting to the cops.
Bonus points - Have a social media history praising similar actions.

The altoona cops then forwarded this to the NYPD, who were desperate to pin this on someone, after they messed up and let the shooter slip through their fingers. Out of the all the tips, this was the best one they'd gotten so far, so they're running with it now.

This also explains why Luigi's taking credit for some, but not all of the claims the police made (especially about the money he was supposedly carrying).

[–] wowwoweowza@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

So… someone who happens to look like the the person captured on the videos has the wherewithal to craft the manifesto and fabricate the 3D printed gun parts, and also wants to… do this so that he can become famous or gum up the machinery of justice? Seriously, I’m not tracking.

[–] wowwoweowza@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

And get the death penalty? What?

[–] Scirocco@lemm.ee 9 points 3 days ago

My sincerest wish is that he waits until most of the way through a trial before providing an incontrovertible alibi.

Whether he is playing role as a body double for some someone else, or just a grifter, I hope it happens.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

He couldn't possibly know they'd go for that.
Grifters don't always think things like this through.
A surprising # of people would probably willingly take the death penalty to get 15 minutes of fame, especially for an action as popular as this was.

[–] wowwoweowza@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I’m pretty cynical and I’m nowhere near this cynical.

Is your interest in this “the guy in custody is an imposter” theory is because we want so much for the actual act-doer to still be out there? I confess… I like that world. But a “hero” arising to assume the shooter’s identity feels even more fantastical than my original musing that covert agencies are trying to hide their existence by having a wage slave take credit for calling this in.