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Alert Fox News: Ten-year-old mugs a younger classmate for his Pokemon cards photo

Here's a weekend special for you, sure to be taken by tabloid media outlets like Fox News and warped into an anti-video game manifesto. In Redwood City, California, a ten-year-old boy recently came to school armed with an Airsoft gun (a pellet gun designed to look like the real thing). He put it to the head of a six-year-old school mate and demanded he hand over his Pokemon cards. Now he's in juvenile hall.

Not unlike the Mortal Kombat murder and the game it's named after, my first reaction in reading this story was "Does anyone play with Pokemon cards anymore?" Then my thoughts immediately turned to more adult questions like  "With all the real crime going on every day, why is this even news?" and "Why are the Pokemon cards named in the headline of the story, and not the name of the super dangerous pellet gun the kid somehow got access to?"

The witch hunt continues, my friends.  

[Via DSFanboy


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61 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Jonathan Holmes's Avatar
Jonathan Holmes at 02/09/2008 18:54
And I posted the unaltered pic used for this story in the gallery. If you can think up a funnier caption than the one I used, I'll post your pic in place of mine.

No swearing or dirty jokes allowed.
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 02/09/2008 18:54
Probably the best caption i've read.
notdryad's Avatar
notdryad at 02/09/2008 18:56
That caption is amazing. 11/10.
Video Cognito's Avatar
Video Cognito at 02/09/2008 18:59
I didn't know Pokemans cards were still big.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 02/09/2008 18:59
Your first reaction was identical to my first reaction.
lem's Avatar
lem at 02/09/2008 18:59
Pellet gun! Use a splash attack!
fyre's Avatar
fyre at 02/09/2008 19:02
Airsoft guns are not exactly "super dangerous", they could put your eye out, but I don't think they could puncture skin. Not that that makes what this kid did any better.
grrza's Avatar
grrza at 02/09/2008 19:02
Clearly Fox should be calling for a ban on card games.
Kaos Angel's Avatar
Kaos Angel at 02/09/2008 19:03
Oh... Well, my cousin plays with pokemon cards.... he's 6, though.
notdryad's Avatar
notdryad at 02/09/2008 19:06
@kaos angel

better buy him a gun so he can defend himself
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar
Jonathan Holmes at 02/09/2008 19:08
@ fyre- What's really super dangerous about Airsoft guns is that most of them look like real guns.

Wanna get shot? Flash a gun around. The only people not running away from you in complete terror will be the people shooting you.
Timdabrat's Avatar
Timdabrat at 02/09/2008 19:09
wow...when I was a kid, me and a few friends only had a quasi-black market, only stealing and ripping off cards... never threaten with a weapon that can actually do some damage...

*note: this was before I started playing video games...
Thornnn's Avatar
Thornnn at 02/09/2008 19:12
I wonder if this would work at a convenience store. And to think without FOX News reporting this I never would have thought of that.
Kaos Angel's Avatar
Kaos Angel at 02/09/2008 19:15
@notdryad

Yes I must.... or should I? I mean... that kid has over 61 ps2 games, 14 ps1 games and countless of other games I could play...

No, I luv him too much! I must buy him a gun soon!
Wookiee's Avatar
Wookiee at 02/09/2008 19:23
Correct me if I'm wrong, but unlike BB guns, airsoft pellets are plastic that aren't likely to even break the skin.
notdryad's Avatar
notdryad at 02/09/2008 19:25
@kaos angel

if you love your cousin you'll buy him a gun.
diversionmary's Avatar
diversionmary at 02/09/2008 19:25
I heard you liek mudkips
...give them to me.
ZServ's Avatar
ZServ at 02/09/2008 19:30
im surprised jonathan didnt pull the race card; the kid holding the gun in the picture is black! (probably unlike real kid)
Trowble's Avatar
Trowble at 02/09/2008 19:35
How bout:

You showed me your Pokemans... now give me them!

However, your caption is just as good. And, I didn't know Pokemon condoned violence, I thought violent bloodspilling games did.
NightDehumidifier's Avatar
NightDehumidifier at 02/09/2008 19:46
First a church fire from a kid at a game walkthrough website now a kid who steals for pokemon cards, I think this is why we need politicians to step up to protect our children.
Neonie's Avatar
Neonie at 02/09/2008 19:46
That picture and that caption are absolutly epic.

I agree with notdyrad, 11/10.
Knives's Avatar
Knives at 02/09/2008 19:49
I still have a shoe box filled with Pokemon cards from the first set that was released... back in those we old timers where man enough to use our fists, not like kids these days using their pussy guns... pathetic.
s0lesurviv0r's Avatar
s0lesurviv0r at 02/09/2008 19:49
This reminds me of the horror stories at Magic:The Gathering tourneys where people would get mugged for their binders outside. Except there would actually be a profit to be had there.
Lord_Satorious's Avatar
Lord_Satorious at 02/09/2008 19:53
I played airsoft for years. Airsoft models are _designed_ to be shot at other people, they're not "super dangerous pellet guns". As long as you wear eye protection (goggles as used in paintball), you're safe from getting badly injured. That said, I kept my models stored away until I went to the places I could shoot them. They are _very_ realistic-looking and waving one around in public could get you shot by police. Not for children, anyone younger than 18 years old probably shouldn't have them. Then again, teenagers tend to ruin everything that's fun for everyone else by being stupid.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 02/09/2008 20:19
Wow...the idea of a ten-year-old thinking to do this just for some damn Pokémon cards is bad enough, but putting a gun to a six-year-old’s head? Jesus. I wonder what kind of parents this kid has.
BlackDove's Avatar
BlackDove at 02/09/2008 20:24
Fuck Yeah, Seaking.
kristiancee's Avatar
kristiancee at 02/09/2008 20:32
Fox News posts shit like this because they won't be happy until we're all following the american christo-fascist state that fundies jerk off thinking about is a reality.
Coonskin05's Avatar
Coonskin05 at 02/09/2008 20:36
Holmes, you don't have to use this, but what about "Your pokemons, let you give them to me"
Spartacus's Avatar
Spartacus at 02/09/2008 20:54
Airsoft guns are not actually that dangerous. You might bleed if shot in the head from point blank.

Still, though, completely messed up kid.
Fading Star's Avatar
Fading Star at 02/09/2008 21:10
This is sad :(.
taumpytears's Avatar
taumpytears at 02/09/2008 21:12
Did he get any good cards?
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 02/09/2008 21:21
I could have sworn the Pokemon TCG was nearly dead by now.
slapme7times's Avatar
slapme7times at 02/09/2008 21:24
I always knew those poke'mon were the debil. Jebus sabe us.
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar
Jonathan Holmes at 02/09/2008 21:34
Remind me to always give you guys the option to change my caption for me.

All your suggestions have been totally lulz-y. But I ate a big meatloaf and am now too tired to try and edit the pic.

Next time though, for rizzle.

Oh and...

@ ZServ, that was a pic I found on the internets of a random gun toting kid. I don't know the races of the actual kids from this post, but I assume they are white. Actually, if race isn't mentioned in a news story, I always just assume everyone involved is white.

White = default race.
Kalmah's Avatar
Kalmah at 02/09/2008 21:34
I blame violent videogames. The kid probably has a copy of Mortal Kombat, or Grand Theft Auto at home. Without any logic or reason, I conclude that violent videogames were the cause of this child's juvenile actions.

BTW, good caption. Keep it the way it is.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 02/09/2008 21:41
Yeah, kids haven't been stealing each other's stuff at school for fucking years or anything. I realize the pellet gun to the head ups the ante a little bit, but this isn't all that exceptional, generally speaking.
ZServ's Avatar
ZServ at 02/09/2008 21:53
@Jonathan - I know, just funny coincidence.
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 02/09/2008 22:13
Origim's Avatar
Origim at 02/09/2008 22:40
I don't really care if anyone wants to rant against Fox but this isnt their story as of yet. It's from the local CW channel in the bay area. I've been hit with an airsoft and they arent that painful. Still the idiot kid shouldn't be mugging other kids with one.
Pacman's Avatar
Pacman at 02/09/2008 22:46
That's not a water gun attack at all!

Anyway, this shit is ridiculous. Gogo stupid people.
Sirapak's Avatar
Sirapak at 02/09/2008 23:10
Did this kid have Bulbasar? I still need that pokemon card.
Lynx's Avatar
Lynx at 02/09/2008 23:33
Similar shit used to happen in my middle school, where kids would get jumped or beat up for their PokeMon cards (usually in the school yard. I had mine stolen from me on the bus ride home from school. Me and my friend were minding our business comparing holograms, when this fucktard came over with some of his butt-buddies and snatched them from us. I only managed to get a few of them back. Man, was I fucking pissed. I've also had my GBC (with Red Version) stolen from me during a gym class, when the lockers were being replaced, so we couldn't use them. I left my GBC in my bookbag on the bleachers, and when I came back it was missing. I think I know who took it, but to this day I can't be sure.
The only good thing was that I wasn't "threatened" in either of these heists.
Now I'm a soph in college, and I've learned from my mistakes; don't trust anyone, and keep everything within close contact (pockets are friends).
Lynx's Avatar
Lynx at 02/09/2008 23:35
I realized just now that I forgot to close my parenthesis in my previous post. Fucking parenthesis.
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 02/09/2008 23:43
nobody wants to take responsibility these days...

a kid steals using an illegal gun and the one to blame are videogames!

because:
- parents should not be aware when their kids have guns, its bad for the kids privacy to ransack his room in search of illegal weapons!
- parents should also not teach their kids that it is wrong to steal, why else do they send them off to school?
- parents should not teach anything to their kid, they pay good money to get them to school and the school is the 'teaching' institution, so parents can relax, place their kids in front of the TV and get drunk!
- of course the parents can't be blamed, they have nothing to do with the kid! they have entrusted the education of their kid to the TV and the schools, they can't help it if those 2 blow it and their kids becomes a criminal!

FFS, if my (future) kid would steal I'd punish him a lot worse then justice ever could... And I loathe people who don't take responsibility for the actions of their kids, the person that raises them is responsible for them so people should learn to fucking take that responsibility if they want to breed so badly...
Ratcliff's Avatar
Ratcliff at 02/10/2008 00:13
"Come on kid gimme your Charizard!"
Ratcliff's Avatar
Ratcliff at 02/10/2008 00:13
"Come on kid gimme your Charizard!"
Ratcliff's Avatar
Ratcliff at 02/10/2008 00:13
"Come on kid gimme your Charizard!"
Barcode's Avatar
Barcode at 02/10/2008 00:39
The kid deserves a massive sign that reads "FAIL".
CRaZyTooTHJiM's Avatar
CRaZyTooTHJiM at 02/10/2008 02:21
Doodz I only mug 2nd graders for YU-GI-OH cards. God! pokemon is sOOOOoooo 90's
Atlas's Avatar
Atlas at 02/10/2008 03:06
Those cards better have been holographic!
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