Posted on 11/21/2008 6:26:07 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
A 19-year-old Florida man committed suicide live on a Web cam, encouraged by those who were watching, according to reports.
Abraham K Biggs, of Broward County, took an overdose of pills while broadcasting himself on Justin.tv, a live video streaming Web site.
Biggs used the Web site to stream footage from his bedroom and told users he would be committing suicide and invited them to watch live.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I guess since he was only a teenager, he wasn’t old enough to remember Bud Dwyer, the crooked PA state official who years ago offed himself at a news conference in Harrisburg. This kid was far upstaged by Dwyer who blew his head off in front of the press with statewide TV cameras rolling.
This is the very, very beginning of stuff like this.
The people watching. Hands down.
And I don't think I would characterize them as "friends". Not even "well wishers"...
Didn’t he see the historic coins? Did he not hear of the arrival of the messiah?
No. He was a lost soul. He was crying out for attention. It appeared he cried “wolf” a few times but this time he came through. Who knows what he could have been had somone HELPED him. We need less moronos out there.
Here’s his suicide note:
http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php?t=162252
In case it is removed ...
Ask a guy who is gonna OD (again) tonight anything
To Whom It May Concern,
I am going to leave this for whoever stumbles across my bookmarks later on.
I hate myself and I hate living. I think that if someone who knows me
reads this they will know who I am. So I will leave this unsigned. I am
an a@#hole. I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never
change or never improve. I am in love with a girl and I know that I am
not good enough for her. I have come
to believe that my life has all been meaningless. I keep trying and I
keep failing. I have thought about and attempted suicide many times in
the past. I used to think of my failure as some mystical way of telling
me that I was really meant for something meaningful. The only thing I
dread, besides the pain, is the way my family will suffer. I do not want
my mother or father to think that it was anything they did that lead me
to kill myself. I never really had any plans of leaving a note. I
thought that I would not be able to describe why I want to do this and I
am right. There is no way to tell you or anyone else why I dread every
new day. My father had such high expectations for me and tried to give
me every opportunity to improve upon myself. I let him down. I think
that I am a major disappointment to him. I have a job but I?m always broke
and I am in college but barely, I show up to class but that?s about it.
I want my life to end. I am tired of f@#$ing up everything. I
am tired of people always telling me that they do not like me. I am
tired of trying to be decent. I hope that someone finds this post and I
hope that my parents know that I f@#$ed up not them. It is my fault I
screwed up my own life.
The hate that rages within me, rages not for those I love so dearly or
those who have crossed my path.
This hate rages full force towards me and only me.
I have long forgiven those who’ve hurt me, but I have not and cannot
come to terms to forgive myself for the things I have done to myself, and
the things I’ve done to hurt those in my life.
You have all touched my life in one way or another,
especially those whom I call family.
I cannot tell you how sorry I am for ending my life the way I did. I
hope that you can all find it in your heart to see it as way for me not
suffering anymore and that I am finally at rest with myself, for being at
rest with the guilt that constantly ate at me for so long.
Please forgive me all for taking my own life so early. I tried so hard
to fight against this strong battle. I have reached out for help so many
times, and yet I believe, I was turned away because of the things I did,
that it is a punishment I am willing to take, for I know that being who I am
has only brought myself and others pain.
I love you all and will forever live within the memories we created.
Forgive me.
Love always and forever,
As for my signature I will leave you with a quote so that if anyone
reads this they will know it’s me, “Can?t feel pain if your dead? Just Saying”
There is nothing “cool” about this:
http://www.livevideo.com/video/F29B145FA9F149DA8DEB6469B297D9D2/candyjunkie-vid.aspx
That could have been someone YOU cared about.
I’ve no doubt there were some jerks, but I’m sure there were people trying to help also.
According to the article, he popped a few pills then turned his back on the camera and went to bed. The people who were being aggressive were doing so on the impression it was staged, and others did apparently contact the police. Given that he could have swallowed anything, and the idea of someone committing suicide by webcam is somewhat surreal, and that if you call shenanigans on the internet 99/100 times you're right. . . it's not surprising, really. I don't know how malicious the comments were, but I'd expect some rather caustic but basically non-malevolent commentary from people who thought they were being played, just as a very human reaction.
That being said, I think mean-spirited comments are a rather evil thing in any context, whether about a troubled stranger or mortal enemy or anyone else. But I don't think this particular occurrence plunges the depths of human callousness. It's more of an example of detachment.
“Prayers for his family and for God’s mercy. “
Yes.
If somebody is standing on the edge of a building, with a crowd below, you can pretty much guarantee that the crowd will be chanting “Jump! Jump! Jump!”
Moral of the story: Crowds are stupid. They don’t give a damn about you. Make your own decisions.
That goes double for the Internet, on all counts.
One of these days it will be a Reality TV SHOW:
Welcome back now to “OFF YO’SELF!” where America’s despondent and mentally ill get to do themselves in for fun and prizes!.................
Interesting missive...
A Pastor once told me that each time one uses a first person pronoun in their speech, they are placing more distance between themselves and God. In my experience this is true. If you look at the text, “I”, “ME”, and “My” are liberally used. One might suspect that his sense of emptiness, self hatred, and despair are symptoms of his profound self distancing from his Creator
I think someone going for the glory on a webcam would come up with something more graphic.
Regardless, this is a sad sick story and I can't imagine his families pain and anger at the gawkers.
I started to make a comment to your post and had to delete it twice.
I’m a conservative and I feel sorry for you.
I believe you made a very sharp observation. I believe it is true.
“One might suspect that his sense of emptiness, self hatred, and despair are symptoms of his profound self distancing from his Creator.”
No doubt about that! He was very alone.
From the movie "Heathers".
It seems strange to me that people seem to take an aberration like this and blame an entire generation for being soul less, or take it as a sign of the apocalypse. Statistically this was bound to happen. A certain number of people kill themselves every year. Sooner or later one of them was bound to do it on line. I am surprised it has taken this long.
The fact is that someone who was watching on line called the police. That doesn't indicate moral degeneracy to me.
I am definitely not on the wrong site. Have you seen the various postings on this topic and many others, when people are injured or get laid off from their jobs?
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