'Kindness of America' snapper shot himself in 'act of self-promotion'

The hitchhiking photographer who captured the hearts of a nation after being shot while researching "The Kindness of America", has admitted administering the lead supplement himself and making the rest of the tale up. Authorities in Montana are considering whether to charge Ray Dolin over the whole sorry saga. Dolin was found …

[Don Jefe]

Makes More Sense

If some drunk redneck had decided to shoot a 'dirty hitchiking hippy' he would have made real sure he was dead. Not just shot him once and driven away. This is 'merika damnit!

[Alan W. Rateliff, II]

Re: Makes More Sense

You forgot the part about hiding the body. I'm really interested that no one seems to have come out against the blatant profiling which occurred resulting the in detainment of an innocent man.

Paris, also not hiding the body.

[Figgus]

Re: Makes More Sense

I think this makes all the anti-gun nutters from the other thread look just a tad silly, especially the ones who tried to point out that the driver of the pickup truck was a legal gun owner in response to my comment about legal gun owners not being the problem....

Hilarious!

[Andrew Moore]

Re: Makes More Sense

whether it was an idiot shooting themselves or an idiot in a truck shooting someone, there is a constant: A gun was used to administer the bullet. As they saying goes "Guns don't kill people; idiots with guns kill people."

[Anomynous Coward]

GLC

Guns don't kill people; rappers do, I seen it in a documentary on BBC 2.

[Annihilator]

Re: GLC

One, two, your face, my shoe....

[Jeebus]

Re: Makes More Sense

Well said, shame the pro-gun nutcases will never see reality for what it is.

A nutter out for self promotion at the expense of themselves, also a summing up of American culture. No matter how you spin this it is a sad indictment for the once proud crumbling empire.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Makes More Sense

I'm sure mother Britain is proud of the successes of all her children, including the ones who turned their back on her (and even the ones that she kicked out for stealing, who then turn up unannounced and crash indefinitely).

[asdf]

Re: Makes More Sense

bah withdrew it to avoid the massive downvote from across the pond. Still I guess it takes one crumbled empire to recognize one crumbling.

[Alan W. Rateliff, II]

Re: Makes More Sense

Outliers do not represent an entire nation. Attention whores are universal and we don't have a monopoly on them.

Paris, monopolistic...

[Trokair 1]

Re: Makes More Sense

I love how when you don't have something, everyone else who does is a "nutter". You're just mad because you can't own firearms and we get all the fun. Eat it limey.

[mhoulden]

Re: Makes More Sense

Maybe, but guns certainly help.

[Captain DaFt]

Re: Makes More Sense

Here's a thought; try googling "self inflicted stab wounds".

You don't need a gun to be a self destructive idiot, you just need to be an idiot.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Figgus

That would be me, and to be honest I find it even more hilarious that my comment seems to have frustrated you so much that you can't seem to forget about it. Even though I only pointed out the obvious, namely that the truck driver wasn't charged with the illegal possession of a gun. Despite these new developments that statement still holds true, maybe even more than before ;-)

[Allan George Dyer]

Re: Makes More Sense

Did you miss that the truck driver might still be on a drunk driving charge? If you're stupid enough to drink and drive, should you really have a firearm?

[Figgus]

Re: Makes More Sense

Correct. And you also aren't allowed to have a firearm if you have been drinking in most states. (Both are stupid things to do.)

[Anomynous Coward]

Shot to fame

As they ended up making an arrest is he even guilty of wasting police time?

Wonder who will play him in the film version of this story.

[Dave 126]

If I were Danielson, I'd be tempted to administer Dolin another shot in the arm for the trouble he's caused him. After all, if Dolin gets shot again, the police aren't going to put too much into investigating it. Pillock.

[Crisp]

Double Jeopardy

I don't think it works the way you think it does.

[Anonymous Coward]

I blame his agent

"The sales forecasts look low. They're gonna need a shot in the arm."

[theblackhand]

I look forward to...

...the chapter entitled "How my selfish self-promotion tarnished the kindness of America".

Assuming the book ever gets written.

[Code Monkey]

"Assuming the book ever gets written"

Hopefully this plum shot himself in his writing arm.

[Arctic fox]

"Only in America"

Sorry, that was impossible to resist. -:)

[Anonymous Coward]

Wasting police time; conspiracy to pervert the course of justice; private complaints in all directions from the innocent guy arrested, etc. etc.

Wins that day's award for "neediest man".

Reward withdrawn and forgotten within 12 hours.

Hope he is pleased with himself.

[GotThumbs]

Why the delay in filing charges? Come on people. Smarten Up!

"Authorities in Montana are considering whether to charge Ray Dolin over the whole sorry saga."

Why is this even a question? More and more people are filing fictitious stories to create and profit off of these false police reports.

This is as simple as it can be.... ANYONE filing a false police report should have charges filed against them and they should have to pay back the money expended due to their lies. How serious are they in deterring this kind of BS? If your punishment is a slap on the wrist, then why be surprised when the frequency of this increases.

Time to stop being an impotent society and follow through on the expectations for all citizens.

If not, this country is surely headed for an even steeper decline than it has already achieved.

[Pete 2]

Re: Why the delay in filing charges? Come on people. Smarten Up!

Maybe the cops over there are weighing up the advantages to themselves of showing justice to be swift and robust against the disadvantage to all mankind of the resulting book: The Kindness of Prison

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Why the delay in filing charges? Come on people. Smarten Up!

And in an act of desparate self promotion he could sit on a broomstick, and claim a stranger told him to pick the soap up.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Why the delay in filing charges? Come on people. Smarten Up!

If he didn't file a complaint, he simply said he had been shot then it's not his fault the police went in a tire screaming chase across the county.

It's like posting an essay on the internet saying Iraq might have WMD and then finding that somebody took it seriously and started a war.

[Eddy Ito]

@Yet Another Anonymous coward

Actually in most places there is a requirement for reports and investigations when bullet holes start appearing in people. Hospitals and doctors are required by law to report any gun shot wound and I would assume police are required to investigate regardless of whether this git filed a complaint. Let's be honest, someone says "I got shot and he went that way (pointing with the other arm)" and the po po are supposed to shrug it off if he says "Just sayin', I'm not complaining".

The least he should be charged with is whatever local reckless or negligence statute the state has and I hope he gets a big fat bill for any medical or emergency attention he received since it was clearly an elective procedure.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Yet Another Anonymous coward

Eddy I think you go this real problem.

Being arrested is one thing but having no insurance to cover those hospital bills will bankrupt the prat. I'm certain the US Insurers will insist that as he intended to shoot/injure himself they are not going to pay the bills.

[JDB]

Re: Why the delay in filing charges? Come on people. Smarten Up!

I'm from this area - the cops/courts are probably just too busy to want to deal with this stupid crap. The place is experiencing a huge oil boom right now and small towns of 5-15,000 have nearly doubled in size in the last two years with very little increase in the number of law enforcement - they just can't keep up. A very sizable percentage of the oil field workers are, to be polite, not the "upper crust" of society, so the number of assaults, drunken drivers, burglaries, and even murders have overwhelmed the local authorities. With much more serious stuff to deal with I'm sure that some idiot who shot himself in the arm is the last thing they want to busy themselves with. As far as the guy who was arrested - they stopped him because he matched the description the "victim" gave, arrested him, got a search warrant for his truck, then cleared him of the charges* after their search - sounds like good police work to me (*cleared him of the assault charge, he also happened to be drunk when they pulled him over). I agree he should have charges filed against him, there's just no rush to do it when there are more pressing issues for the local authorities.

[Charles Manning]

Give thelegal system time

They're still laughing too hard to write up charges.

They know who their guy is and he is no danger to anyone else. Let them take their time to write up the correct charges.

Likely this bloke will claim insanity or such, so they need to get the charges written up in a way that they stick.

[Peter Murphy]

WWSVD?

What Would Sam Vimes (supercop of the Discworld) Do?

In this situation, he'd probably charge Ray Dolin under Ankh-Morpork's Being Bloody Stupid Act of 1583.

[Anonymous Coward]

folks, this works :(

I really wish there was some sort of fellow worldwide, informal ultra-super-injunction, to bury any shred of information on this cretin, for ever. Sadly, the opposite will happen. Homo oh so fucking Sapiens will click on the story all over the world (see this thread), will shake their heads (see the reflection), will talk about it over beer (not me, but the rest of you) and yes, his stunt will have bought him 26 sec on prime tv talk show, and a book contract, never mind the book will be pulped shortly after. Overall - it works :(

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: folks, this works :(

"not me, but the rest of you"

Yep, your so special, being able to ignore this story and not comment on it at all - idiot.

[Toastan Buttar]

Re: folks, this works :(

I think he was being a self-righteous teetotaler (or self-righteous non-beer-drinker) rather than a self-righteous non-commentard.

He's a knobhead whatever, given any of the above options.

[Destroy All Monsters]

America Strong!

As someone said earlier

"A nation with a fixation on weapons, for reasons they can never, ever justify [120 million people do not go hunting], usually an unhealthy fixation on god as well."

Looks like the unhealthy fixation on self-promotion is stronger still

[Jeebus]

Re: America Strong!

It's still true, a frightening obsession with weapons and god, coupled with hating a man of a different colour and a surname that sounds terroristy and you've got the makings of a theocracy.

It's a horrific indictment of American culture no matter how you look at it, a lunatic out for PR going to ridiculous lengths for his 15 minutes and a gun toting drunk driver redneck. America comes out poorly no matter the spin.

[laird cummings]

Re: America Strong!

Actually D.A. M., you've got it ENTIRELY wrong.

The weapons are NOT for hunting. They're very specifically for keeping tyrants afraid. Especially those in our own government.

Hunting is a fringe benefit.

Now, of course, all the various discredited arguments will appear about how it's never been used*, never will be used**, can never work***, etc. etc.

Also, I will be heavily down-voted heavily by people whom really do not / do not wish to understand.

*Except in places like the Whiskey Rebelion, Matawan. Wounded Knee, Colorado Coal Strike, Branch Davidians, etc. etc.

**See above as a small sampling.

***In each case, despite officially being on the 'losing' side, clear changes in Government and social policy were implemented immediately afterwards.

[veti]

Re: America Strong!

Yes, American governments quake at the thought of their armed electors. Heaven help them if they should try to bypass the constitutional protections against, for instance, punishment without due process, or unreasonable search and seizure! No president would dare!

If "clear changes in government and social policy" are the aim, here's a thought: try campaigning. Try marching. Try petitioning. Heck, as a last resort you could even try voting.

[laird cummings]

Re: America Strong!

"If "clear changes in government and social policy" are the aim, here's a thought: try campaigning. Try marching. Try petitioning. Heck, as a last resort you could even try voting."

Never said it was foolproof. Never said it was the only way.

But there are times when an armed and focused group of citizens is the only appropriate answer.

Sadly, apathy is ever more becoming the way of the land, and with it, eventually, this answer will cease to be availalbe when needed.

[W.O.Frobozz]

Sad

From the Kardashian idiots, to Richard Heene and now this fool. It appears that nothing in culture can be a "success" anymore unless it's some reality show-esque spectacle.

[Mike Flugennock]

Re: Sad

From the Kardashian idiots, to Richard Heene and now this fool. It appears that nothing in culture can be a "success" anymore unless it's some reality show-esque spectacle.

Seriously, man... I'm not even surprised by this shit anymore.

This also puts me in mind of an infamous New York Times reporter, Jayson Blair, whose journalism career -- beginning as editor of the student newspaper at the University Of Maryland, and later at the Times -- was basically one great binge of fabrication and plagiarism, reporting quotes that were never said and events that never happened, clamiing to report from places he was never in, you name it. The really sad thing, though, is that this clown is a "life coach" now. Christ.

What's even sadder is that this jerk Dolin will also likely wind up all over every talk show in the country, and end up getting a book deal anyway (like Jayson Blair, the fabricator at the NY Times,).

Makes me wonder if I'm just a stupid chump for maintaining a sense of conscience, honesty and integrity in my life and work. Oh, if only I were a cheating, lying, media-whoring loser, I'd be rich now. I'd be a goddamn' star.

[disgruntled yank]

Re: Sad

a. I have no idea who Richard Heene is, and I don't feel like wasting the bandwidth to Google him.

b. In life and in logic there is quite a gap between "some x are y" and "all y are x"

[Mike Flugennock]

Re: Sad

OK, well... here's a little bit on Richard Heene and the infamous "Balloon Boy" hoax:

The balloon boy hoax occurred on October 15, 2009 in Fort Collins, Colorado, when Richard and Mayumi Heene allowed a gas balloon filled with helium to float away into the atmosphere, and then claimed that their six-year-old son Falcon was inside it. At the time, it was reported by the mass media that the boy was apparently traveling at altitudes reaching 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in a homemade balloon colored and shaped to resemble a silver flying saucer-type of UFO. The event attracted worldwide attention. Falcon was nicknamed "Balloon Boy" by some in the media.

After more than an hour-long flight that covered more than 50 miles (80 km) across three counties, the balloon landed about 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Denver International Airport. Authorities closed down the Denver airport and sent several National Guard helicopters and local police in pursuit. After the balloon landed and the boy was found not to be inside, authorities began a manhunt of the entire area, raising fears that he had fallen from the balloon; it was reported that an object had detached from the balloon and fallen to the ground. Later that afternoon the boy was reported to have been hiding in his house's attic the entire time.

Suspicions soon arose that the incident was a hoax and publicity stunt engineered by the boy's parents Richard and Mayumi Heene, particularly following the Heenes' interview with Wolf Blitzer on Larry King Live that evening. In response to a question about why he was hiding, Falcon said to his father, "You guys said that, um, we did this for the show."...

[Tony Paulazzo]

>"A nation with a fixation on weapons, for reasons they can never, ever justify [120 million people do not go hunting], usually an unhealthy fixation on god as well."<

>http://www.eoffshore.com/real-reason-for-gun-ownership<

>The real reason for gun ownership is to protect the individual from the State...

...Anyone who refuses to surrender his or her weapons would become an Enemy Of The State, much the same as any armed citizen is right now in the Soviet Union, or Communist China, or Socialist Nicaragua, or Fascist El Salvador, or Monarchist Great Britain.<

As a non gun owning citizen of Britain whose government is obviously lusting after the Chinese form of crowd control (as well as camera's in every bedroom, no right to demonstrate, Hollywood mandated laws), I'm beginning to see the appeal of citizens being armed.

[Anonymous Coward]

I am a non-gun owning Brit, and I would love to be a gun owning Brit, but all you can own are rifles (which have to have a very specific purpose) and shotguns(which are restricted to two cartridge magazines!)

I personally think pistols should be allowed still, there is no reason licensed owners of hand guns are a risk. If someone wants to hurt another person, there are many easier ways than going through the expensive process of buying guns.

I would happily submit to a psychiatric evaluation to be allowed to own hand guns.. I had always planned on joining a gun club and shooting pistols when I was older, I even had hopes of going for the Olympics, but once they banned them, that was it, no chance!

[b166er]

What a bell-end

[Anomynous Coward]

"What a bell-end"

No sure who you are talking about but upvoted anyway.

[It wasnt me]

Indeed.

It's like shooting fish in a barrel round here :-)

[I ain't Spartacus]

Hmmmm. This gives me an idea...

Shot In Da Arm PR is born. My new company.

We will pop a cap in your arsem, and boost your celebrity profile. For just £1,000 you can guarantee yourself hundreds of newspaper column inches, and all-important photo opportunities from your hospital bed.

By the way, I can't shoot straight. Heads, arms, they all look the same to me...

Should be able to bump off Jordan, Peter Andre and bevvies of other z-list celebrities, and reality TV stars before they notice what I'm up to.

No jury would convict, surely?

[Jediben]

Re: Hmmmm. This gives me an idea...

That was one of the best Sopranos episodes ever!

[Anonymous Coward]

@Spartacus

(I know you aint him ;))

Just make them sign a waver so you can prove they knew their rights to receive a bullet 'somewhere' in their body somewhere, as long as it came from Shot In Da Arm PR.

The best part; should the whole thing do come before a jury you can simply charge the next of kin extra for costs made to cover the whole event around yourself. And once all that is done its /you/ who can write a book about it.

At that time maybe you'd be interested in hiring my upcoming company: "Shot In Tha Arm NPR". You only need to sign a small waver and we'll all be clear ;-)

[g e]

The one that got away

From Darwin.

*This* time....

[Anonymous Coward]

Usual suspects

Good thing that a usual suspect was at hand. Turns out he is not needed any longer, but it's nice to see that the police has a Plan B for all eventualities.

[LinkOfHyrule]

He should get a job at...

...News International or the Daily Mail, he seems well qualified. And the being drunk bit will mean he really fits in with his co-workers.

[Anonymous Coward]

>"under the influence when he was arrested"

If I was about to shoot myself in the arm, for whatever reason, I think I'd probably drink half a bottle of vodka in five minutes beforehand too.

[JDB]

Re: >"under the influence when he was arrested"

it wasn't him that was drunk, it was the guy they originally arrested for shooting him.

[ukgnome]

What a twunt!

[PaulWizard]

What have ukuleles got to do with it?? http://www.twukulele.com/ :)

[Zombie Womble]

Anyone found guilty of filing false charges should be sentenced to the same punishment they tried to foist upon some poor innocent sod with some extra on top for being a lying little shite.

[John A Blackley]

Local law?

"Sadly for Danielson.............he was still facing a possible charge of being under the influence when he was arrested."

Is there a state law in Montana that prohibits one from being under the influence at the time of arrest?

I'm not aware that, in any other state, being under the influence is actually against the law.

[JDB]

Re: Local law?

it is when they pull you over while you're driving to *make* the arrest.

[John A Blackley]

Re: Local law?

My question has more to do with El Reg's writing than what the man was doing at the time of the arrest.

[kain preacher]

Re: Local law?

Public intoxication is illegal every were in the US.

[TRT]

Ha ha ha!

Shot himself in the foot with that one!

Or not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, ha

Brilliant! World class trolling!

[Dana W]

see?

Not to say I told you so, but well, yes I told you so. It just wasn't very Montana. I'm a freak and I've driven through Montana lots of times, no problems. They are actually pretty tolerant all things considered.

I can just hear it now.

"Dammit! America has to have lots gun violence so I can show off it's horrible bigotry! Oh no, nobody is being mean to me, how will my book ever sell? I know! I'll shoot myself!"

What a jackass......

[Fred Flintstone]

So..

.. he mis"lead" people?

The bulletproof one, thanks.

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess he did a good job of enforcing the point that we are mostly filled with self-ish arrogant idiots.

[Keep Refrigerated]

Gun-nut

So person with a gun did not shoot other person, but person with a gun did shoot himself, intentionally, for publicity.... and this restores America's reputation how?

If that's not a stronger case for gun control I don't know what is. They make Americans wear seatbelts don't they?

[Dana W]

Re: Gun-nut

People do stupid, self destructive things with cars too! Better ban them right away. Its a clear case for "car control" see how stupid that sounds? But since you drive I doubt you support "car control"

My state requires rigid testing and background checks. We are NOT the problem.

Bans don't work. Whats the most recent piece of attempted slug-nutty UK banning? Oh yes, pointed cooking knives. For people who don't realize all you need is a piece of steel, a flame, and a flat rock, and maybe some packing tape to make a very effective knife,

Anyone who took metalshop in school can make a machine pistol. All bans do is make criminals out of honest people and give organized crime a new market.

[IglooDude]

Re: Gun-nut

My state requires no testing, and a "NICS" felony background check (to purchase) and no testing, $10, and a felony background check to get a carry-concealed permit. We are not the problem either. Vermont (next door) is the same for purchase, and requires no testing, no fees, no background checks, and no permit at all for carrying concealed. And they aren't a problem either. Meanwhile states with much stricter controls (including in some counties psychological screenings for concealed-carry permit applicants, if they issue them at all) to our immediate south and west ARE the problem. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

[Keep Refrigerated]

Re: Gun-nut

Umm... First, how do you know if I drive?

Last time I checked cars are regulated pretty heavily.... are you telling me that you live in a state where there is no upper speed limit, there is no road markings, no traffic lights, no stop signs, no requirement to use signals etc...? Last I checked it's impossible to run someone over and claim you were defending your car's right to be in that public place. Cars can alternate their speeds (easier to dodge), bullets can't; it's very easy to shoot yourself, yet it's a trifle difficult to run over yourself completely (and successfully kill yourself).... I guess what I'm basically saying is your analogy is a fail.

Of course, regulation doesn't stop the idiots but the whole point of having laws and regulation is that it makes it easier to catch and prosecute the idiots - not stop them. I'm against thought crime as much as the next commentard.

Anyway, I'm only arguing that Americans need gun-control - in Switzerland every citizen over the age of 16 has a government provisioned (and regulated) gun and an army uniform at home... there is almost no gun-crime. It's clearly a cultural issue confined to theocracies.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Dana W Re: Gun-nut

Who downvoted you I wonder?

You state the obvious, anyone with a bit of skill can make a gun, all it takes is access to a few metalworking tools and a few chemicals, I obviously won't mention what is needed here.

I would not think most could build a machine pistol though, that would take more skill than the average person who took metalwork would have...

But as for banning pointed knives, how stupid do the MP's have to be to even consider that? what do I need to make a pointed knife? a non-pointed knife & a file... OOOOOOhhhh high tech....

[ici.chacal]

So, erm...

If this guy shot himself, I assume it would have been point blank, so therefore would he not have been covered in gunshot residue with powder burns all over his arm and torso..? I'm no expert in GSW forensics, but I imagine it would have looked obvious that the shot was point blank, wouldn't it..? (Perhaps some 'all-American' firearms experts can enlighten me...)

I wonder what he used too; bet it was a poxy .22 or something (wouldn't have been a .50AE, lol)

[Dana W]

Re: So, erm...

I'd bet on a .22, after all he wanted to make publicity, not commit suicide after all. :)

[Bucky 2]

HPD

Well, depending on how the Sandusky case goes, maybe he can just claim "Histrionic Personality Disorder," and sell ANOTHER book--meanwhile absolving himself completely from any harm he might have caused other people. Like getting a completely innocent man imprisoned falsely.

[TeeCee]

Re: HPD

"Histrionic Personality Disorder,"

There's a medical term for "Fuckwit"? Who knew?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck!

Is there nothing people won't do in that country for their moment of fame????????

[Local Group]

Re: Fuck!

No, there is nothing Americans won't do. Do you have a problem with that?

[Anonymous Coward]

Look

at all the attention the guy has got.

I am SO doing this tomorrow!

[Anonymous Coward]

Christ, what an Asshole

title says it.

[Anonymous Coward]

his mistake was

Know one lives in Montana I've lived in building with a larger population. Should have picked Washinting DC. This made it easy for the cops to figure out he was FOS. But he can now go on a recovery and repentment bender do the chat shows and put out a book about why I felt the need to shoot myself, and found Jesus.

[Anonymous Coward]

Shoot my self in the arm and blame someone else....

They have a new god based cult for this....

Arseholes Anonymous.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dolin pls

Gooby no shooted me.