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Jesus. I’m really impressed that the person who legitimately owned the domain was able to regain control of the gun and stop the attacker.
by ddelt 7y ago
Jesus. I’m really impressed that the person who legitimately owned the domain was able to regain control of the gun and stop the attacker.
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoThe guy was not bright. Someone orders you at gunpoint to transfer your domain name... you do it. Less risk of dying and the ICANN dispute resolution is going to be really straightforward.
- Invictus0 7y agoThe article says he was pistol whipped multiple times even though he was complying with the gunman. He saw an opportunity and took it, and it's totally unfair to criticize his actions in such a high pressure situation from the comfort of your keyboard.
- fortran77 7y agoRelevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc77--BjFYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc77--BjFYQ
- 52-6F-62 7y agoI've never faced a gun, so take my words with a grain of salt here: I thought the old ...advice... was if the attacker has a gun, you charge—if they attacker has a knife, you run. I'm sure that carries some qualifiers, though... It's a pretty wild story for being about a website domain name.
- kls 7y agoI have been fired on twice (I live in FL it comes with the territory of being a Florida Man) TLDR; in a 10ftx10ft room I want a knife. Yes a gun is not a reactionary weapon you have to pull the trigger, it takes time to process that the victim has now moved to being the attacker and usually if you are within arms reach it is too late for the original attacker to react and pull off the shot before he has lost at least total control of the gun. This is why cops maintain distance when they have someone at gunpoint. Conversely a knife is a reactionary weapon if you jump at me and I flinch you get cut. Not a whole lot of ways to disarm a knife unless the attacker is actively attacking with it, thus exposing his arm. This is why 9 times out of 10 in a fight between a person with a gun and a person with a knife, at striking distance, the person with the gun will fair far worse than the person with the knife. The person with the gun has to reorient and shoot again, the person with the knife just has to flail. Knife also leave more damaging wounds when used as a penetrating weapon and have more chance of hitting vitals or an artery. Here is a great training video of how effective a knife is against someone armed with a gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbnSTW7Ar44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbnSTW7Ar44
- aidenn0 7y agoThe advice is generally fine though it neglects the option of compliance. Some random person trying to rob you might be perfectly happy taking your wallet/car/whatever and running away. If they wanted to shoot you they could just do that first and take what they want anyways.
- kenneth 7y agoHave been mugged at gun point in CA, didn't resist and gave them what they wanted. I no longer live in the the awful US, so I don't have to worry about these things anymore. Despite what the media say, Hong Kong is far safer!
- XCabbage 7y agoAs the self-defence crowd like to say, "compliance does not guarantee safety". The attacker in this case: * Was not just threatening the victim, but physically attacking him even as he complied with the attacker's instructions. * Was committing a serious felony for which he would be facing a long long prison sentence even if he left the victim alive (as demonstrated here!), meaning the rational self-interested course of action would be to execute the victim after getting what he wanted, to stop him from identifying the attacker. Whether or not I'd have the courage and presence of mind to do it myself in the victim's place, resisting in this case seems to me like exactly the correct thing to have done, and I suspect it saved the victim's life.
- dsunshine 7y agoApparently, Hopkins became increasingly violent when asked for a mailing address and email for the new domain owner. He pistol-whipped the victim, tased him then cocked the pistol. Given that victim was going to end up knowing who was robbing him, he likely assumed he'd be killed after the transfer.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- koenigdavidmj 7y agoIs this your advice to rape victims too?
- TomMarius 7y agoI wonder, do you really think rape and domain transfer with a clear dispute process are comparable?
- coldtea 7y agoNo, the parent just wanted to use the word "rape" out of context to feel more righteous compared to the grandparent.
- EliRivers 7y agoOh, is the ICANN dispute resolution after a rape also really straightforward and effective?
- dang 7y agoPlease don't post flamebait to HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- fortran77 7y agoNot sure. If you think the only outcome afterward is you dying, then you fight. It like if someone orders you to get into a car at gunpoint, you run.
- LordKano 7y agoThat's advice that'll get people killed. This isn't a junkie wanting your wallet. This is someone forcibly entering your home with weapons and assaulting you. You have to assume that once you have given up the thing he wants, you remaining alive isn't high on his list of priorities. The victim lived. He did the right thing.
- itronitron 7y agothe guy being held at gunpoint knew that it would take 3 business days for the domain to transfer and didn't want to risk being held at gunpoint (or not) for that long
- walterkrankheit 7y agoI was also shocked. If only the Department of Justice could do, uh, justice to the story with some decent writing... this was way more engrossing than I thought it would be.
- close04 7y ago> The victim shot Hopkins multiple times in the chest. I'm also impressed by the fact that the victim shot the attacker several times in the chest yet the attacker survived.
- wizeman 7y agoI think the story implies that the attacker didn't survive, since it doesn't say anything about him being sentenced. It was the attacker's cousin (who enlisted him to to perform the attack) that was sentenced. Edit: a comment below mentions that the attacker indeed survived and was sentenced to 20 years: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/cedar-rapids-man-sentenced-to-20-years-for-pistol-whipping-shooting-man-in-extortion-attempt-to-gain-ownership-of-internet-domain-20180613 https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/cedar-... It's weird that the Department of Justice's article doesn't mention that...
- t34543 7y agoThis is a PR article and not intended to be news. This is an ad for: > This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Rebelgecko 7y agothere's a longer writeup here: https://onezero.medium.com/the-influencer-and-the-hit-man-6c3905efd3c3 https://onezero.medium.com/the-influencer-and-the-hit-man-6c...
- scoutt 7y agoPerhaps he was stuck in an infinite reCAPTCHA loop and in that situation I think everybody would prefer to fight over the gun.
- devenblake 7y agoHell, in a reCAPTCHA loop even getting shot in the head doesn't seem like a bad idea.
- cevn 7y agoPour one out for everyone who's had to include reCAPTCHA. I had to do it many times in a row. I was sure that I was a robot by the end.
- 0xdeadbeefbabe 7y agoYour human sounding colloquialisms don't fool us btw.