The two stories are actually quite similar. Whether the restroom was already damaged (VERY likely, even if the swimmers made it worse) or not, and whether the swimmers did more damage either intentionally or because things just fell down when touched, it sounds like the same incident described from very different perspectives of self-interest.
Whether a uniformed cop held a gun to their heads and demanded money in a robbery or a uniformed security guard drew his gun and demanded payment for the damage from vandalism is really a subtle point. I’d like to see the video, but it’s easy to see how a drunken athlete could experience the Brazilian version of events and report the other version. It’s also easy to see how the classic South American robbery presented to the victim as a fine/fee could then be presented to the public under the same pretense.
We all know that no matter what actually happened, Obama’s government would side with anyone blaming Americans. Unless I see a video with the athletes doing significant damage, I will file this along with many other stories where I have no idea what really happened. However, I have no intention of visiting Brazil or any other country where a private security guard can demand money after claiming vandalism, or where a uniformed cop commits armed robbery and gets away with it. Either way, Brazil looks as bad as we already knew it was.
Exactly my position. As with the Kobe Bryant rape case, I believe both parties were presenting the story from their own perspective, and neither one was lying. They just interpreted the events in very different ways.
This business of someone pointing a gun at you and demanding money appears to an American very much like an armed robbery.
Accepting such a thing as a normal way of doing things would be a complete cultural disconnect for an American.