Ryan Lochte vs Rio

Starting to get sick of all the Lochte bashing I'm seeing. Before you make your mind up on Ryan, I want you to think about a few things.

Who are the real liars?
The swimmer's themselves are being branded as liars by every media outlet on the planet it seems, but are they? Lochte provided an exaggeration of events that happened, but all in all the important facts are: he and his team mates were told to get out of their cab, guns were pointed at them, they were made to get on the ground and weren't allowed to leave until the "security guards" were given money. I'm sorry, but in Australia where I live, that's robbery. In the united states, that too is robbery. Apparently it's not in Rio though because I haven't seen or heard about anyone going after the assailants.

The video footage released shows that the swimmers were escorted out of the cab into a different area, and were made to get on the ground in front of the two "security guards". Originally the police chief told us that no guns were drawn. Pretty soon after that he informed us that 1 gun was drawn, but now he's telling us both guards drew their guns but did not menacingly point them at the swimmers. Today I just saw an article about how an eye witness said "no guns were drawn". Apparently the police force didn't contact him to tell him that their story had changed.

The video footage that has been released to the public is also edited. You can see the jump in time as parts of the video are skipped. You don't see Ryan vandalising the inside of a toilet as claimed by the Brazilians, all you see is what I mentioned in the last paragraph.

As for the "fellow swimmers admitting they lied". The only person who told us this is the Rio police chief, who as I've outlined has a habit of reporting false information to the media. Upon arriving back in the US, Bentz told media that he did not lie about the robbery and provided his version of events, which directly goes against what the police chief has stated about Bentz's supposed "confession". He also believes critical scenes and angles from the footage have been intentionally left out because it would hurt the case against the Americans.

So first the police chief lied about the weapons being used, and the number of weapons multiple times. Then he lied about the Americans damaging a restroom. Finally he said the crime reported didn't occur, even though they have video footage of two security guards forcing them to get on the ground and not letting them leave until they had been paid.

Jimmy Fegan was indicted on this "evidence" and wasn't allowed to leave the country unless he paid a $10,800US "donation". Jack Conger and Bentz were pulled off a plane as they were going home and had their passports revoked and were told they weren't going anywhere unless they talked to the police, even though they weren't under arrest.

I for one, am not buying it. This is what happens when the country who's PR is on the line and is already having a negative shadow cast on them for the safety of athletes and the duty of care provided is allowed to investigate a crime that threatens to worsen all the things I just mentioned.
There's a lot more to this story than what's being reported and provided by the Rio police department. Perhaps if instead of writing opinion pieces and biased articles, if these reporters had put the same amount of time and effort into reporting the FACTS then we might actually know what happened. At the very least, shouldn't they be held accountable for the lies they've already told? We certainly seem to be trying to hold Ryan accountable...

 

Dudes a straight wigger, couldnt care less if he was robbed. I also believe he's a media whore. Just another attention seeking fuck boy.

 

Agree, but he wasn't robbed, he made it seem like he was
Okay so what I know from the stories/media is that him and his friends were in a gas station, broke something, and tried to leave without paying. So the manager took out his weapon and held them up until they paid up
That's not being robbed, Lochte just made it seem like he was so he wouldn't have to take responsibility for doing stupid shit

 

As for what you think about Lochte personally, that is irrelevant and only creates room for bias.

Robbed
verb
past tense: robbed; past participle: robbed
take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force.

Even if you think you have some civil right to that money, there are civil ways of getting that money back. If I owed you $20 and went to your house with a firearm and demanded the money then I'd be thrown in jail fairly quickly.

As for the damage to the gas station. We were told they vandalised a rest room and broke the door. But there was never any video footage released of them vandalising a rest room. All we ever see is what looks like the 4 of them pissing in an alley.

 

Wasn't there a translator that eventually told them they were paying for the damages they caused? So at that point shouldn't it be obvious that the money was for the damage they caused and not because they were just getting robbed? So after knowing he paid for the damages he still decided to say he was robbed. Even if he thought he was getting robbed at the start it looks pretty clear that he knew it wasn't a robbery at the point where he left.

 

They pissed in an alley and Ryan tore down a poster. The "damages" hardly equal the amount that was paid. The police haven't got any evidence that suggests that any vandalism was done to a bathroom, and photos of the bathroom from the following day show that there wasn't a broken mirror or soap dispenser as indicated in the report. So again, I ask, why aren't the police or the security guards being held to the same standard as Ryan for lying?

Besides that fact, pointing a gun at somebody and demanding money is at the very least, extortion, if not robbery. As I said in my previous post, there are civil ways of getting paid for damages caused.

 

@ 1:39 the smashed out mirror frame is taken out of the bathroom by employee literally right after the swimmers walk out... Is it that unimaginable that the employees may have replaced the damages before the next day?

 

That's a sign, not the mirror. That's also not the bathroom. Pictures of the bathroom have been posted since, the mirror is not damaged and the soap dispenser was not destroyed, contrary to what the police have claimed as fact. As they say in this video, "the released video is edited in parts".

Edit:
Did Rio cops embellish their story like Ryan Lochte?
Watch the video here.

 

I don't need to watch the video. I know Brazil is corrupt so I don't doubt the police doing something sketchy. Which is why you can't assume your culture on them (unless you are from Brazil). This situation is probably very common in Brazil. Maybe it was a poster. I just find it weird that in Ryan's interview with Matt Lauer he doesn't really try to defend himself any longer.

 

I'm not defending Lochte's actions in anyway shape or form. I'm just expressing my point which is that instead of crucifying Lochte any longer with "Ryan Lochte is what the rest of the world hates about America" articles, we should be holding the Rio police department accountable for their own lies and cover ups in this matter.

 

Hold accountable? Most people already know Brazil is corrupt

 

Most, but not all. There's plenty of people out there taking this police department on face value and assuming all the information they released to the media is 100% factual. It was hard enough finding legitimate information regarding the case 3-4 days ago because the "facts" the media were reporting were the ones given to them by the Rio police department.

 

As someone outside of Brazil you are upset but I guarantee you they don't give two shits about it in Rio. Really it has nothing to do with the US. Their country, their sanctions. Would you go to North Korea and snap a bunch of photos and claim it is unfair when they arrest you because you are used to doing it freely in your home country? They don't care. When you enter a country you should understand their culture. When you enter Brazil you should already understand that there is a lot of corruption. Where there is poverty, crime is normality.

 

They might not give two shits about it in Brazil, but the fact that the rest of the world is continuing to go after Lochte and not reporting about the things we've discussed here is definitely a problem and one that can and should be changed.