Once inside the videogame retailer, Archer supposedly pocketed cash and electronics, but he ran into problems when he tried to inflate investigating policemen until they popped.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Steven Paul Archer of Chuckey, Tennessee, was arrested after allegedly breaking into an empty store and then tunneling into the GameStop next door.
Once inside the videogame retailer, Archer supposedly pocketed cash and electronics, but he ran into problems when he tried to inflate investigating policemen until they popped.
Once inside the videogame retailer, Archer supposedly pocketed cash and electronics, but he ran into problems when he tried to inflate investigating policemen until they popped.
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One is innocent until proven guilty. America’s laws afford us this right. However, no one on websites such as yours seems to care to validate information prior to posting it. I guess that’s one of the beauties of cyberspace, though, isn’t it? You can post whatever you want, whenever you want, under any name and personality that you want, about who ever you want…and no one ever has to answer for it. The anonymity of the internet provides single-minded and one-dimensional humans the ideal passive-aggressive means to be publishers of their own material, some of which is wrought with mere inaccuracies, while others, simply outright lies.
Several websites have ridiculed Steven Paul Archer for being a dumb criminal; some have claimed he is some obsessed gamer who ‘tunneled into Game Stop;’ while others actually characterize him as some kind of boondocks folk hero for the gamer’s world. But Archer was not, is not, and I would venture to say he never will be a gamer…especially after his recent ordeal. Police arrested Archer a few days after a thief burglarized the Game Stop in Greeneville, Tennessee. This happened two years ago. His trial was on January 8, 2013, and he was found Not Guilty. In fact, a profile of the man capable of committing this crime was actually introduced during Archer’s trial. Rather than merely creating reasonable doubt for the jury, the man profiled most likely WAS in fact the perpetrator in this operation, and is long and far gone from the mountains of East Tennessee. One man got by with a pretty sophisticated burglary, while another man, and his family, endured the dread and pain of his impending trial. Internet pages such as yours splashed this man’s name and face all over their sites, rendering him unhire-able by anyone with access to the internet. I’m certain none of you considered that aspect of it. In fact, most of you never even gave Archer a second thought after you posted his story. Something so meaningless to you did everything but tear an innocent man’s life to shreds.
I believe in our freedoms of speech and of the press. The First Amendment is great. But I also believe that we should hold ourselves responsible for what we put out there…especially when it concerns the freedom of other human beings. Although you will surely remain anonymous, and many of you will respond to this under some cyber-personality that you would give your right arm to be like in real life, you are being held accountable for your actions right here and now. Do the responsible thing. If you can post the destructive information about Steven Archer, the least you can do is try to mitigate any more damage to his reputation. Even though he was found not guilty, his life has been forever affected by the publicity surrounding his arrest, and not for the positive. Imagine what it would be like if you were arrested for a crime, knew you were innocent, and your face and story was released to the world as we know it. Sad situation. The court of public opinion is harsh enough without your irresponsible publication of inaccurate information. Do the right thing. Oh, and for the record, the “tunnel” that the burglar meandered through to reach his Game Stop destination was actually just a hole in the door. Not nearly as cool, huh?
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