$500,000 Donation Frees Jailed League of Legends Player

Justin Carter, who’s spent five months in jail for making “terroristic threats” on Facebook, is out on bail thanks to an anonymous $500,000 donation.

Justin Carter, for those who haven’t followed the story, was arrested and jailed in February after writing on Facebook, “I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still-beating hearts.” The message was part of an exchange with a fellow League of Legends player who had called him crazy, but Carter ended up in jail after authorities got wind of it. Because his family couldn’t afford his $500,000 bail, he’s been there ever since, held in solitary confinement and under suicide watch after reportedly being assaulted multiple times by other inmates.

His mother launched a petition on Change.org in June calling for his release and an overhaul of the laws defining terrorist threats that is now up to over 122,000 signatures, and has also been trying to raise $50,000 via donations in order to get a bail bond company to sign for his release. And as of today, that bail has been granted and he is free, but in a rather unexpected fashion: according to Carter’s attorney, an “anonymous Good Samaritan” put up the full $500,000 to bail him out.

It’s a surprising turn of events, but not the end of the road: Carter has a court hearing scheduled for July 16 and faces serious prison time if he’s found guilty at trial.

Source: MSNBC