Man who shot YouTuber on video at Dulles Town Center found not guilty by jury
https:// www.wusa9.com /article/news/local/virginia/jury-deliberates-youtube-prank-video-mall-shooting-alan-colie-tanner-cook/65-1bbd3f62-3895-4e03-accc-d8f7e74fc70f Man who shot YouTuber on video at Dulles Town Center found not guilty by jury
LEESBURG, Va. — After two days of testimony, the man who shot a 21-year-old YouTuber inside Dulles Town Center on video in April has been found not guilty on two charges of malicious wounding.
The jury found Alan Colie not guilty of aggravated malicious wounding or use of a firearm for aggravated malicious wounding, however, he was found guilty of firing a gun inside the mall. That guilty verdict has been set aside until a hearing to discuss it on October 19.
Colie, a DoorDash driver, was on trial for shooting Tanner Cook, the man behind the YouTube channel "Classified Goons," at the Dulles Town Center back in April. Colie admitted to shooting Cook when he took the stand Wednesday but claimed it was self-defense.
The case went viral not because there was a shooting inside a mall, but because Cook is known to make prank videos. Cook amassed 55,000 subscribers with an average income of up to $3,000 per month. He said he elicits responses to entertain viewers and called his pranks “comedy content.”
Colie faced three charges, including aggravated malicious wounding, malicious discharge of a firearm within an occupied dwelling, and use of firearm for aggravated malicious wounding. The jury had to weigh different factors including if Colie had malicious intent and had reasonable fear of imminent danger of bodily harm.
Cook was in the courtroom when jurors were shown footage of him getting shot near the stomach -- a video that has not yet been made public. Cook's mother, however, left the courtroom to avoid watching the key piece of evidence in her son's shooting.
The footage was recorded by one of Cook's friends, who was helping to record a prank video for Cook's channel. The video shows Cook holding his phone near Colie’s ear and using Google Translate to play a phrase out loud four times, while Colie backed away.
When he testified, Colie recalled how Cook and his friend approached him from behind and put the phone about 6 inches away from his face. He described feeling confused by the phrase Cook was playing. Colie told the jury the two looked “really cold and angry.” He also acknowledged carrying a gun during work as a way to protect himself after seeing reports of other delivery service drivers being robbed.
"Colie walked into the mall to do his job with no intention of interacting with Tanner Cook. None," Adam Pouilliard, Colie's defense attorney, said. "He’s sitting next to his defense attorneys right now. How’s that for a consequence?”
The Commonwealth argued that Cook was never armed, never placed hands on Colie and never posed a threat. They stressed that just because Cook may not seem like a saint or his occupation makes him appear undesirable, that a conviction is warranted.
"We don’t like our personal space invaded, but that does not justify the ability to shoot someone in a public space during an interaction that lasted for only 20 seconds," Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Eden Holmes said.
The jury began deliberating around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Shortly after 3:30 p.m., the jury came back saying they were divided and couldn’t come to a resolution. The judge instructed them to continue deliberating and later returned with the not-guilty verdict.
WUSA9 caught up with the Cook family following the verdict. When we asked Tanner Cook how he felt about the outcome, he said it is all up to God.
"I really don't care, I mean it is what it is," he said. "It's God's plan at the end of the day."
His mother, Marla Elam, said the family respects the jury and that the Cook family is just thankful Tanner is alive.
"Nothing else matters right now," she said.
Here's the video by NBC Washington, apologies that it's served by Discord
Far be it from me to defend YouTube "prank" creators, but for all people talk about "responsible gun ownership", this person was clearly not responsible and should be forever prohibited from owning a gun. If you were in no way touched or threatened, how the fuck can you justify discharging your firearm in a public place?
29If you were in no way touched or threatened, how the fuck can you justify discharging your firearm in a public place?
U fukken wot M8? He shoved a phone into the guy's face that repeated the phrase, “Hey dipshit, quit thinking about my twinkle” and when the guy told him to stop, repeatedly and tried to push the phone away, the guy kept egging him on. That's a threat at that point. If someone is making you feel like you might be in danger, that's a threat. It doesn't matter their intent, if they're making you feel threatened, then they are threatening you.
He was carrying a gun because he'd read about delivery drivers getting robbed, and even if that wasn't why he was carrying a gun, I'd still be on his side. Someone who's planning to jump you isn't going to be nice and spell it out for you. Combine that with an insane rise in anti-lgbt violence and a phone shoved in your face playing, "quit thinking about my twinkle" and I'd 100% believe that I might be about to get killed by some neo-nazi bigot because they've decided I'm gay and need to be "taught a lesson". And yeah it was in public, but considering neo-nazis in the US have been holding public demonstrations recently, the last thing I'd want to do is bet on them not having the balls to murder me in public.
Is that what was going through his head before he shot the guy? No idea, but sorry, the US has gone completely fucking nuts and there are too many assholes with murderous intent to be willing to roll the dice when someone gets in my face and won't fuck off. They had plenty of chances to disengage and decided not to. If they'd stopped when he said, "stop" then I'd be a lot more sympathetic; but they didn't. They kept pushing.
41If they'd stopped when he said, "stop" then I'd be a lot more sympathetic
The prank guy got what he was looking for... but there is a problem: they were not out in the desert, they were inside a mall full of other people. You shouldn't go "pew-pew" when every shot you miss can hit an innocent bystander.
Heck, even a shot that you don't miss, can go all the way through and hit someone totally innocent on the other side.
13If someone is making you feel like you might be in danger, that’s a threat. It doesn’t matter their intent
That's a risible argument. The standard is what a "reasonable person" considers dangerous.
Whether an action is criminal can't be based on each individual's personal opinion of their own behavior. The perpetrator believing that they are right does not make it legal.
4
I first heard this trial while I was still on reddit and I was sickened by the comments there. Most people seemed to feel that the shooting was fully justified and that they'd wish the shot had been fatal. A site that claimed to be progressive was openly arguing for escalation and killing. Just because the person is a shitty prankster.
Of course, I don't know the full details of the case, but I find it so difficult to sympathize with the shooter here. They had options, but instead chose to pick the deadly last resort. They could have run or even pulled out the gun as a deterrent if they were really desperate, but instead jumped to lethal measures.
15even pulled out the gun as a deterrent
Afaik that's actually illegal. You don't brandish a firearm unless you're ready to shoot someone. Additionally, I'd highly recommend looking more into the case. The short of it is that their "prank" was shoving a phone into his face that played, "hey dipshit, stop thinking about my twinkle" repeatedly. He told them to stop repeatedly and tried to push the phone away, but they continued to push it into his face.
Furthermore, keep in mind that the US is going fucking insane. We have public demonstrations by neo-nazis. The KKK's membership is increasing and klansmen have been seen waving their membership cards at pride parades. Now, I don't really know what was going through the shooter's head, but personally? Personally I wouldn't roll the dice and bet that someone who's shoved a phone into my face saying, "stop thinking about my twinkle" and won't back off when I tell them to isn't about to murder me because they think I'm gay.
21If the report is accurate, there's absolutely no way a reasonable person could see that level of force as justifiable. You walk the fuck away, you go to security, or if none of that works, you call the cops. Imagine thinking that possibly taking someone's life is a reasonable response to them waving a phone in your face and making pretty soft insults.
7
Comments about this case are always wild, you can tell what commenters are American from the argument always being the same gist of "People in America are crazy bro! I wouldn't risk NOT shooting either". This country is so fucked we have fast food delivery drivers carrying pistols on them for safety and unloading on some obnoxious asshole blaring stupid bullshit in their ear, and people will hear that and think "Honestly a very fair and measured response IMO". Worse part is those comments aren't even entirely wrong! We are NOT doing okay over here y'all lmao
If only incidents like this put a stop to all the annoying "pranks" on YouTube and the people that make bank off them. How many more moronic pranksters have to be seriously hurt before they realize they should stop, or at the very least stage the videos with some friends or some people you pay on Craigslist? It's not like the 12 year olds watching are gonna be able to tell the difference anyways.
10
In what fucking world does that level of harassment justify possibly taking a life? Yes, fuck these shitty YouTube/TikTok prank content creators, but if someone is harassing you like this you call security, or you call the cops. No reasonable human being should think that level of force is justified for that offense. I say this as a lifelong gun owner and someone who sat on a jury and voted to acquit someone who fatally shot another person in self-defense.
There's plenty of situations where deadly force is reasonable. This one isn't it, chief, and it's a real bad hill to die on for gun owners.
29In what fucking world does that level of harassment justify possibly taking a life?
America, that's where.
Here it seems normal to many to end an argument with a bullet, but I'm with you. It's absurd. The shooter should have removed themselves from the situation and reported it.
22So, I am absolutely not defending the shooting itself, but everything I have read about this is that he definitely tried to remove himself from the situation but the "prankster" followed him and continued to harass him.
And to make things worse, the so called prankster had already been kicked out of the mall the day before and came back and was specifically trying to avoid security.
So yea, shooting was almost certainly an overreaction, but I do then wonder how exactly you are supposed to deal with something like this when this asshole won't listen and won't let you leave.
26
The entire thread on reddit was shocking. The vast, overwhelming majority of people said it was good. Tremendous respect for being the exception
7Just to be clear, the YouTuber didn't die.
6The intention of the person with the gun was to kill him. Full stop. Do not point your firearm at anything you do not wish to destroy.
4
Makes me wonder if he got off because of the specific charges that were levied. Is there not some sort of 'negligent use of force' charge that can be used when someone retaliates with unnecessary force?
2
I'm glad he got off on the first two charges, but his lawyer argues that the third charge, "shooting into an occupied dwelling" shouldn't be applicable since it was deemed self defence. The judge will be hearing arguments for this next month.^[https://newsio.com/2023/09/29/alan-colie-man-who-shot-youtube-prankster-at-virginia-shopping-centre-acquitted/]
Also, dude's now spent 6 months in jail, only to be found not guilty of at least 2/3rds of the charges. Is there any compensation he'll get for those missing months of his life? He's already been punished, and yet he's still presumed innocent.
24his lawyer argues that the third charge, "use of firearm for aggravated malicious wounding" shouldn't be applicable
It says he's been found "not guilty" of that one. The charge he's been found guilty of is "malicious discharge of a firearm within an occupied dwelling", which... well, he did.
It's like the laws against shooting bottles in your suburban home backyard: without the right precautions, those bullets can travel a long way, and what goes up ultimately comes down. There have been cases of stray bullets hitting someone totally unsuspecting a block or a few away.
3My understanding is that the reason why it's odd is because they found him not guilty on the other two charges on the grounds of self-defense. If I understand correctly, "self-defense" justifies discharging a firearm, regardless of who, what, when, where, why or how. If the jury rules self-defense in one instance, it should logically be applied to all charges related to that instance. Soooo... why were only two charges "self-defense"?
14He's clearly guilty of discharging, but it may not be found malicious, given the other verdicts.
4
It's too bad someone had to get shot, but on balance I think this was a good outcome. There has to be the potential for serious consequences for being annoying and disrespectful of people's personal space, especially if it's for creating content.
16What happened to a good ol’ fashioned ass whooping?
6It's heavily discouraged by society, but also, the YouTuber was 6'5". That's a pretty big deterrent to an attack.
5We stopped doing it because we know better now.
3That's work.
2
I wish he would have just broken his nose.
7Same, it'd make the whole thing way more clean cut
2
Here's a short summary of the linked article
Alan Colie was found not guilty of malicious wounding charges for shooting YouTube prankster Tanner Cook inside Dulles Town Center mall in April. Colie admitted to shooting Cook but claimed self-defense, saying Cook approached him from behind and played a phrase in his ear multiple times using Google Translate. Security footage showed Cook holding his phone near Colie's ear for around 20 seconds before Colie backed away and fired his gun. The jury acquitted Colie on the malicious wounding charges but found him guilty of discharging a firearm in the mall, a verdict that was later set aside. While the prosecution argued Cook never threatened Colie, the jury sided with Colie's self-defense claim.
Notably, the case gained attention as Cook filmed prank videos for his YouTube channel at the time of the shooting.
This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.
3Disappointed in the hospital bed photo.
1