Man Arrested for ESPN Comments About Murdering Kids

A man who allegedly posted comments about murdering kids on ESPN.com was arrested in Los Angeles County Tuesday and remains in police custody on $1 million bail, the Associated Press reports.

Eric Yee, a 21-year-old former Yale University student, posted that he was watching children and not opposed to the idea of killing them, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials say. He was arrested after ESPN flagged the posts, which were made in the comments section of an article about Nike’s new LeBron James signature sneakers. Fans and media have speculated that the sneakers’ high price tag — $270 per pair — could lead to kids killing one another over the shoes.

Police found several guns at the home Yee shared with his parents in Santa Clarita, Calif. He was arrested for investigation of making terrorist threats, the AP reports, and bail was set so high because of the found weapons and his home’s location near two schools.

While a raft of headlines around the web mentioning ESPN and threats against children clearly aren’t what thesports media giant considers a desirable situation, the episode actually makes ESPN look good. How? Public proof that it moderates the thousands upon thousands of comments its site receives each day.

“We closely monitor the message boards and anytime we get a threat, we’re alerting law enforcement officials,” ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys told the AP.

Yee was arrested after employees at ESPN’s Connecticut headquarters alerted law enforcement officials there, who then tracked the ESPN.com comments to Yee and located where he posted them from. Los Angeles County officers then arrested him after conducting surveillance on his parents’ house and obtaining a search warrant.

Do you think online comments such as Yee’s should be grounds for arrest? Give us your take below.