GenCon and "the Attack"?

[pming]

Hiya!

I'm a bit surprised that nobody has posted anything about what happened yesterday at GenCon regarding Jeremy ("The Quartering" on YouTube) and the assault on him. Mostly I'm curious to hear from anyone there about the 'feeling' and what the general scuttlebutt is. To my knowledge GenCon is actively shutting down anyone who asks about it and insta-banning anyone who asks "What happened?". So far, no comment from GenCon. Quite the opposite when that writer/designer guy (who's name eludes me) had one to many pints and was being aggressive to a woman (or was it women?), there was a whole news-post thing on the front page here and pretty much every other RPG site/forum.

So...is anyone currently at GenCon, and if so, what's the skinny? I have watched Jeremy's vid's of the aftermath and follow ups, and a couple other YT vids of some others talking about it and what they think. Mostly I'm wondering what the "feeling" everyone is getting from the GenCon staff about it. From what it sounds like, to me at least, it sounds like a "brush it under the rug and hope it goes away" sort of thing. And a few GenCon goers are saying they don't feel safe now or that they'll "never go to a GenCon" (a bit over the top if you ask me; one incident does not make it 'rampant' or anything of the sort).

Anyone?

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Umbran]

Just because there will be curious folks - a popular YouTube game critic allegedly got assaulted at a bar near GenCon.

I don't expect the con will have much to say on the matter - if nothing else, there's potential for legal action, and anything the Convention says may entangle them in it.

 

[Ancalagon]

From a quick read on the internet, there seems to be a fair bit of "lo, see the violent hypocrisy of the radical left! SJW silencing critics with violence" etc etc.

I don't know what happened, but the event seems to be milked. (Just to be clear, punches are almost never justifiable)

 

[Abstruse]

Because there's nothing to report as there's no story. I checked with the local paper and the Indianapolis Police Department and there are no records of any police investigation or even a call to the police made concerning an assault anywhere remotely resembling the location, time, or any other details. And I mean nothing. I did get to read about several fatal car accidents searching the police blotter, which was not fun.

Further, there's been no reports of vandalism to match the claim of a "broken window" at any location in downtown Indianapolis, there's been no reports on citizen safe neighborhood reports, and there is absolutely nothing to verify the claims of Hambly other than his own Twitter and YouTube accounts. I've also spoken to several people who were in the area at the time of the attack and none of them witnessed anything approaching a disturbance of any kind.

Hambly, it should be noted, has been banned from multiple conventions - including Gen Con - and has a lifetime ban from the DCI for continued harassment campaigns against multiple individuals.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Ahh...Ok. I see where this is going. I was mostly after any info from people at the con.

I have no reason to believe Jeremy is lying about the incident. He has gotten the police involved...they didn't have anything 'posted' right away but as of this afternoon there has been a complaint lodged. Now it's up to the police to do their investigation. I guess it's basically a "Lets give it some time" thing right now. I'm sure things will start to come to light as things progress. The most damning thing I could see is that the accused attacker ("Matt") immediately deleted posts and put all his twitter and social media into "lockdown" mode...but not after a few people got screen shots of some of the things he had been saying/posting.

The whole thing is still ongoing, so I guess it's best to probably wait until GenCon and the police investigation get over.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[hawkeyefan]

Whatever may have happened was outside GenCon, so expecting them to involve themselves by commenting seems odd. And from what I’ve seen, “silencing people” amounts to removing posters from chats who are posting about the attack rather than about whatever event the chat is devoted to.

I’m not at Gen Con, but I have a buddy who’s there, and he was entirely unaware of any of this. I expect that’s largely the case for most attendees.

 

[Umbran]

Because there's nothing to report as there's no story. I checked with the local paper and the Indianapolis Police Department and there are no records of any police investigation or even a call to the police made concerning an assault anywhere remotely resembling the location, time, or any other details. And I mean nothing.

The IndyStar does not agree with you.

I won't quote them here, but the article above refers to a police report, and a meeting between the police and Hambly at a hotel.

 

[Abstruse]

The IndyStar does not agree with you.

I won't quote them here, but the article above refers to a police report, and a meeting between the police and Hambly at a hotel.

No it doesn't. Here's the quote from the article:

In his video, Hambly says that a police officer took an initial statement.

IMPD told IndyStar Thursday afternoon they were unfamiliar with Hambly making a report at that time.

In fact, the entire article focuses on the fact that there's zero evidence to back up any of Hambly's claims, there's many contradictions to his story, and that the person identified as his "attacker" has suffered far more harassment and harm than Hambly has.

So we have:

No reports from the police until two hours after the fact even though Hambly says he filed a report immediately in the video (that he made before contacting the police).

Claims that the restaurant refused to give him the "surveillance footage" when there's no cameras outside the restaurant.

A claim that a window was broken during the "attack" when there was no attack.

And a news story that focuses almost entirely on the internet "outrage" over an attack there's no evidence actually occurred with a shady GoFundMe attached (this is the second one of these Hambly's run as well, the first being a lawsuit after his lifetime ban from the DCI).

So in short...an online troll who makes a living being an online troll acted like an online troll and forgets that things like "police records" are public documents and can be requested by anyone, and most reporters - even ones who only cover something as trivial as tabletop roleplaying games - knows how to make those requests.

 

[dragoner]

There was no attack at GenCon (I'm at GenCon and live in Indiana), supposedly a fight broke out at a bar three and a half blocks away after hours. Which means GenCon has no liability, and should avoid getting involved. Indiana views this as a misdemeanor such as disorderly conduct which usually is a day in jail and $70 fine IF police have to come and break up the fight. Plus, if you aren't in the hospital bleeding, Indiana police are unlikely to pursue or file assault charges. Indy likes GenCon, so trying to drag GenCon into it will be frowned upon.

 

[Umbran]

No it doesn't. Here's the quote from the article:

You missed some crucial bits there. The article says:

"IMPD told IndyStar Thursday afternoon they were unfamiliar with Hambly making a report at that time."

(emphasis mine)

It also says:

"Shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, hours after the video was posted, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to a "delayed assault" by meeting Hambly at a Downtown hotel."

Emphasis again is mine. Of course, if the IMPD didn't speak to Hambly until 8 PM, they could not have had a report that afternoon! We play games about time travel, but we don't actually *do* it! The article is raising the point that Hambly did not speak to the police immediately. He did eventually do so, after posting his video.

Now, let us all note that this supposedly happened at 1 AM, at a bar. What's the mostly likely scenario? One or more people got drunk, made some bad decisions, and got into a scuffle in which nobody seems to have been seriously injured.

From that point on, it is a matter for police or courts, not the opinions of people on messageboards.

 

[Abstruse]

Now, let us all note that this supposedly happened at 1 AM, at a bar. What's the mostly likely scenario? One or more people got drunk, made some bad decisions, and got into a scuffle.

Or that someone who has made false claims of attacks previously that were found to be false (yes, in a court of law, even in a civil suit), went to a convention he is banned from attending, targeted someone for harassment (the reason he was banned), and made up yet another false attack. Hambly recorded and posted his video, set up a GoFundMe account, and "identified" his "attacker" on Twitter before ever actually filing a police report.

Personally, I hope the Indianapolis police charge him with filing a false police report.

 

[Umbran]

Or that someone who has made false claims of attacks previously that were found to be false (yes, in a court of law, even in a civil suit), went to a convention he is banned from attending, targeted someone for harassment (the reason he was banned), and made up yet another false attack.

Okay. So, saying it friendly-like was not sufficient.


Mod Hat On:

This board WILL NOT be used as a court of public opinion against either Hambly, or his alleged attacker. We were not present. We do not know the truth. This is a matter for police and the courts, not the opinions of people on message boards who were not present for the incident.

This story has political elements to it. Some people on both sides of those politics just love to besmirch their opponents. But, EN World is generally a no-politics zone. We are not going to engage in that game here.

Is this perfectly clear to everyone? If not, please take it to PM or e-mail with me, or another member of the moderation staff. Thank you.

 

[tvknight415]

When I would go to a Con, I want to sit and have a good time playing games. At the table, it didn’t matter if the other person was a guy or girl, gay or straight, fundie Christian or free spirited Wiccan, conservative republican or liberal democrat, or anywhere in between any of these. They were a fellow gamer; there to share a love of the same games I do. We could sit back and enjoy 4-6 hours of fun, regardless of what we might think about each other’s personal lives, or whether we would associate with each other beyond the con.

The only fights I remember at cons were whether than fireball did 25 hp or 12 hp, who got the +3 sword, whether d20 saved or wrecked the game, Milwaukee or Indy, or over the benefits of taking 15 minutes extra off from gaming each day to attend to “personal hygiene.”

People were well behaved. We didn’t talk politics or religion (except maybe: did you run into the prosletyzers outside this morning?). If we wanted a beer, we enjoyed one. We didn’t get manure-faced. If there were kids at the table, we tried to watch our language and, if we wanted a bit of raunch, use a lot of double-entendres to make sure other parents didn’t have to do any explaining either. And if we were away from the table, we still treated each other with the same respect. If you didn’t want to hang with the LGBTs, or with the conservative lawyers, or the cosplayers, you just did your own thing and let them do theirs. There was plenty of room at the Safehouse or The Ram for everyone without stepping on anyone’s toes.

So, really disappointed to hear that political bravo sierra has invaded the con scene. I really hope this serves as a wake-up call to anyone on any side of any disagreement to leave it at home, and just come to the con for four days of fun gaming.

 

[Abstruse]

Okay. So, saying it friendly-like was not sufficient.


Mod Hat On:

This board WILL NOT be used as a court of public opinion against either Hambly, or his alleged attacker. We were not present. We do not know the truth. This is a matter for police and the courts, not the opinions of people on message boards who were not present for the incident.

This story has political elements to it. Some people on both sides of those politics just love to besmirch their opponents. But, EN World is generally a no-politics zone. We are not going to engage in that game here.

Is this perfectly clear to everyone? If not, please take it to PM or e-mail with me, or another member of the moderation staff. Thank you.

As a member of the EN World reporting team...


Mod Edit:

As a member of the EN World reporting team, you must still obey the rules. Do not argue with moderators in-thread, and do not ignore moderator directives. If you have a problem, again, you can take it to PM or e-mail. Do not post in this thread again.

 

[ccs]

I'm pretty sure that some being an in a bar & maybe/maybe not causing trouble while GenCons running isn't anything new or news.

 

[Bishop Odo]

I think it's kinda of funny, that Gencon is banning or suspending people from asking about this event, intimating that something outside of convention is not relevant to anyone safety. That could backfire on them, better to document what is happening with facts, badge numbers, photos and copies of Police reports, that seem to have been made, instant investigation only happen in TV. Gencon should make a statement advising everyone of there policies, but its bad business to say hey, what happens outside is on you, kids. Ignoring a "story" because you say there is no story, makes it a story. Someone with a press-pass, to the con wrote say, "constantly contradicting me with the words of a known industry serial harasser who has committed exactly this type of fraud before." That smacks of bias, and an agenda, ignoring, that if these statements of assault are false and a false police report was filed, then these actions are actionable.

 

[Riley37]

The whole thing is still ongoing, so I guess it's best to probably wait until GenCon and the police investigation get over.

I salute Paul Ming's patience, and encourage others to follow his example.

 

[Abstruse]

I think it's kinda of funny, that Gencon is banning or suspending people from asking about this event...

That would be because this is an obvious hoax perpetrated by someone who has been previously banned by the convention for exactly this sort of harassment previously and the only people "just asking questions" about the incident are other trolls following the lead of their troll leader who - and I'm going to keep repeating this:

Has performed exactly this sort of hoax before and had his case thrown out of court

Made his video about the "attack", posted it online, identified his "attacker", spearheaded a harassment campaign against that person, created a GoFundMe page, and then decided to actually contact the police and file a police report - which, I'm going to repeat again, I verified with the Indianapolis Police Department because whatever else I may be, my job is reporting.

Has a lifetime ban from the DCI for harassment, as I've previously reported on for this site.

And was banned from Gen Con in previous years for harassment.

Therefore, yes, Gen Con is going to be deleting and banning anyone going onto their forums to "just ask questions" that are obviously not just asking questions because it's a gaming convention and you can't Rules Lawyer gamers.

 

[Morrus]

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