Mark Meechan (aka "Count Dankula") found guilty of hate crime for joke Nazi video
This is one of the most ridiculous stories I have seen.
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A man who taught his girlfriend's pet pug to give Nazi salutes and then posted the footage on YouTube, has been found guilty of a hate crime.
Mark Meechan, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, will be sentenced in April after a Scottish court found him guilty of communicating a "grossly offensive" video.
The 30-year-old taught his girlfriend's pug to react to the words "gas the Jews", which he repeated 23 times in the short video that he uploaded to his YouTube channel last year.
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Meechan told Airdrie Sheriff Court that he made the video to annoy his girlfriend Suzanne Kelly, 29, and denied any wrongdoing.
He said he had lost eight jobs since posting the video, adding that he only intended it to be seen by seven of his friends, who follow his YouTube channel, Count Dankula.
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Sheriff O'Carroll said: "He said he chose 'gas the jews' as it was the most offensive phrase associated with the Nazi's that he could think of. It was the centrepiece of the joke. He said it was so extreme that it added to the comedy."
Meechan "knew what he was doing" he said, adding: "It is self-evident that the material is antisemitic."
He did not believe Meechan's defence that the video was made as a private joke to annoy his girlfriend and he pointed out that he had "not taken any steps to prevent the video being shared publicly".
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In closing statements, Meechan's defence lawyer Ross Brown said: "The purpose of the video was to annoy his girlfriend. There was no evidence to demonstrate that he intended, by communicating the material, to cause fear or alarm."
He added that Meechan had only intended for the eight subscribers to his YouTube channel - all of which are friends who "share his sense of humour" - to see the video.
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Mr Brown said there was no evidence of a complainer in the case, adding Police Scotland was not contacted by anyone who found the video "grossly offensive or menacing."
The video is so clearly a joke that this verdict absolutely insane. Meechan makes it clear that it's a joke, it's clear that the comedy is in how over the top and ridiculous it is to make a cute dog do these things.
It's scary that government can restrict free speech like this. It's amazing that somebody's right not to be offended outweighs somebody else's freedom of speech. No question the video is in poor taste, but that's the point.
Laws should always bend towards more freedom of speech rather than less. Canada has some problematic laws in that regard and our culture seems to be moving a bit further towards this kind of thing.
It is one of those rare areas where the slippery slope argument is likely valid.
Freedom of speech is a blanket right, but I really don't know if a precedent should be set based on a bad and offensive joke.
Running this person through the courts is wasteful stupid and destructive. His life is pretty much ruined now and he's possibly going to go to jail for a bad joke.
to me that's stupid.
Lesson one, no movie that you make is ever going to be private the chances of it getting out to the public is more then likely.
If you make a film at a party of you smashing your junk into your unconcious buddies face, its going to get out.
Fact is that his jobs are gone, he's been humiliated in a public forum, that should be punishment enough.
I guess society is going to go towards the speech used in Demolition man, so i hope everyone has a joy joy interlude, and I hope you know how to use the sea shells.
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I'll repost the same argument made all over the internet today:
If this is illegal, how long is it until Monty Python is indited?
One of the curious things about Nazis in entertainment is that people today are far more sensitive about the topic than the people who actually fought the Nazis. Popular British and American entertainment in the 60s was full of comedians mocking Nazis. Dressing as them, giving mocking heil Hitlers, making fun of their accents, painting them as ridiculous buffoons. Monty Python, Laugh-In, Allo Allo, Hogan's Heroes.
The people watching those shows, along with many of the creators (several of the cast members of Hogan's Heroes were actually Holocaust survivors) had put their lives at risk fighting Nazis in Europe. Watched their homes and cities turned to rubble by German bombers. Had families killed in the occupation and holocaust. And yet they loved to laugh at Nazis and poke fun of them, while today it's taboo. Weird.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
Last edited by CliffFletcher; 03-20-2018 at 10:23 PM.
One of the curious things about Nazis in entertainment is that people today are far more sensitive about the topic than the people who actually fought the Nazis. Popular British and American entertainment in the 60s was full of comedians mocking Nazis. Dressing as them, giving mocking heil Hitlers, making fun of their accents, painting them as ridiculous buffoons. Monty Python, Laugh-In, Allo Allo, Hogan's Heroes - several of the latter's cast members were actually Holocaust survivors.
The people watching those shows (and many of the creators) had put their lives at risk fighting Nazis in Europe. Watched their homes and cities turned to rubble by German bombers. Had families killed in the occupation and holocaust. And yet they loved to laugh at Nazis and poke fun of them, while today it's taboo. Weird.
What? I don't think that's weird at all.
If you were the one that went through something, then you can be the one to mock it or make fun of it. But the minute somebody else does, it's a completely different dynamic, isn't it? It's a completely different context, isn't it?
It makes sense that society has gone a bit more sensitive about it, because nobody in younger generations knew what it was like- so who the hell are they to make fun of the criminals that commenced humanity's worst suffering episode in history?
Politics has become so bloody ridiculous these days that people have lost track of the atrocities that have happened in the past. Nothing in your current North American life is in the same ballpark as the things that happened in 1900's Europe.
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If you were the one that went through something, then you can be the one to mock it or make fun of it. But the minute somebody else does, it's a completely different dynamic, isn't it? It's a completely different context, isn't it?
It makes sense that society has gone a bit more sensitive about it, because nobody in younger generations knew what it was like- so who the hell are they to make fun of the criminals that commenced humanity's worst suffering episode in history?
That would make a lot of sense. But it seems like the younger generations are more concerned about patting themselves on the back for making a stink about things like this, rather than actually having empathy about another group.
It seems more "I care enough to find this offensive" than "oh what about those poor people".
I thought the video was more about a cute dog than anything.
An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered.
Politics has become so bloody ridiculous these days that people have lost track of the atrocities that have happened in the past. Nothing in your current North American life is in the same ballpark as the things that happened in 1900's Europe.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh if you've been following along closely to the United States political scene over the last year, it's kind of looking an awful lot like early days Nazism actually.
Moves to consolidate power, and remove any checks on power.
Moves to uproot standing government institutions.
Narcissistic, self-indulgent parades or rallies.
Attack on intellectualism.
Very aggressive on free trade, anti-diplomatic stance towards deemed enemy states like North Korea.
Attack on free press, subtle moves towards propagandism (White House press corps allowed to ask tough questions?).
Seemingly empathetic towards racist and prejudiced viewpoints, including Nazis themselves (Charlottesville).
Open discussion about deporting immigrants or "others" (DACA).
I gotta say, comparison to Nazism isn't as crazy as it was 1 year ago, that's for sure. We're closer on the spectrum, which should rightfully so concern a lot of people.
Hell that's just off the top of my head...
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^^ why would anyone waste their time and follow along with American politics? I could think of a million things I would rather do then waste my time with that.
Mark Meechan (aka "Count Dankula") found guilty of hate crime for joke Nazi video
