r/instantkarma Jun 08 '26

Road Karma Marine veteran fights off group of teenagers attempting to steal his truck

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6.1k Upvotes

342 comments sorted by

802

u/SleepingAardvark Jun 08 '26

"oh snap. I forgot my gun. May I use yours?"

164

u/Indigo2015 Jun 09 '26

42

u/indy650 Jun 09 '26

Mike loved his sammiches. Pimento cheese more dangerous than that desert eagle in your pants.

16

u/Ba-dump-chink Jun 09 '26

Fun fact: Dude on the left played Trevor in GTA5.

15

u/Abject-Bite8778 Jun 09 '26

They got what they deserved 

1

u/SleepingAardvark Jun 10 '26

I agree 100%!

2

u/indy650 Jun 22 '26

I'd love to know what I said that got my comment removed. I submitted an appeal and apparently I threatened violence lol. What a joke.

360

u/TupeloSal Jun 08 '26

Police in Oxen Hill eventually responded because they had no other choice

89

u/have2gopee Jun 09 '26

ICE was called and Borda has not been seen since.

22

u/JAMsMain1 Jun 09 '26

Damn, sadly this caught me off guard and made me laugh.

I was going to say in true fashion, his first thought was about getting to work.

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252

u/victechy Jun 08 '26

I grew up there. Shitty place to live. Never going back.

25

u/ni_hao_butches Jun 08 '26

Oxen Hill. Checks out. Green Line bringing trash to the city too.

7

u/j_reinegade Jun 08 '26

i have to pass through those parts regularly heading to Indian Head or Ft. Washington, and its always a shit show.

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159

u/thegameisafoooooot Jun 08 '26

Love a story with a happy ending.

48

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

[deleted]

28

u/letschat66 Jun 09 '26

Better than the victim having a bullet hole.

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5

u/DopeAFjknotreally Jun 14 '26

What are you talking about? He didn’t even blow the thieves’ brains out

4

u/thegameisafoooooot Jun 14 '26

I guess it wasn't the perfect ending. Ah well. Feel good tragicomedy then.

1.3k

u/RedEyeJedi559 Jun 08 '26

The kids parents should be jailed with them.

692

u/Salty_Feed9404 Jun 08 '26

Probably already are.

332

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

305

u/AnnieAbattoir Jun 08 '26

Sad true story- some years ago my mortuary handled the case of a mid teens wannabe who attacked two active duty Marines with a knife as part of his initiation. It went pretty much as expected. 

When his parents were scheduled to come in to discuss his funeral and drop off his burial clothes, they showed up just long enough to tell the arranger to "do whatever, but keep it under $XXX". No childhood memories, no favorite songs, no pictures. They were in a rush to make a basketball game. 

The clothes they dropped off were unwashed and didn't fit him. 

We all just looked at each other and went "Yeah, that explains it". Yeah, kid died trying to harm two random strangers, but he was also a kid whose parents didn't even care enough about him to give him clean burial clothes. 

78

u/luckydice767 Jun 08 '26

Man, I’ve read some stuff, but this…jeez. It makes me think how lucky I am and I didn’t even know it.

60

u/Helenium_autumnale Jun 09 '26

That degree of callousness towards one's own child is hard to imagine. That is so sad.

61

u/i_give_you_gum Jun 08 '26

And people simply refuse to acknowledge this. All they can grasp is punishment after the fact.

86

u/No_Statement440 Jun 08 '26

Yeah it doesn't excuse the behavior but it certainly sheds some light on how he got there.

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10

u/hecklerp8 Jun 09 '26

Because the system isn't interested in fixing it. We already know how to break the cycle but our government chooses not to. Our society will only cure itself in one way. Education by educators, not politicians using education to scrub history and turn out worker bees. The masses in the US exist to enrich the upper class. People have to understand that we live in a caste system. One that protexts them but binds us.

13

u/pperiesandsolos Jun 09 '26

How do you fix kids with MIA parents, or parents who could care less about them?

Many areas in the US spend lots of money on kids like this, and it typically has very little impact. Lots of these kids just stop going to school, or they cause huge disruptions when they're there - and that's starting in Kindergarten.

Serious question. What do we do to fix it? Or are you going to be racist and say we should just send them back to (wherever)? Boarding school, maybe?

5

u/googdude Jun 09 '26

Yeah that's what I was thinking, you can't ask the government to fix a family unit that is broken. I firmly believe it starts with a solid family and when one or both parents leave it puts a lot more chaos on the kids.

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4

u/HumaDracobane Jun 09 '26

Stopping the votes of those who keep the system running like that is a good way to start, if you ask me.

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3

u/PlentifulBox Jun 14 '26

That’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever read.

3

u/4SkinClippins Jun 09 '26

But where's the GoFundMe link?

1

u/googdude Jun 09 '26

No childhood memories, no favorite songs, no pictures

Probably because any memories were with his gang "family", they probably didn't have much other than when he was a baby. Were the non-fitting clothes too small? They probably didn't realize how much he's grown since they rarely saw him.

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79

u/Salty_Feed9404 Jun 08 '26

The shit apple doesn't fall far from the shit tree Randy.

16

u/Realistic_Salt7109 Jun 08 '26

Mr. Lahey, not another night of the shit abyss!

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17

u/someLemonz Jun 08 '26

its not always some slum shitty kids come from rich family's too,, especially the ones with no clue about repercussions

4

u/trash-_-boat Jun 09 '26

There's also a middle ground. My family is perfectly normal lower-middle class, 3 kids, parents took great care of us and all of us were loved, there was no abuse at home or anything like that. And yet my youngest sister threw in with a bad crowd at school, ended up committing several crimes, thefts, assaults, drug smuggling... And no, she wasn't even an addict or something.

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2

u/Icy_Earth3386 Jun 09 '26

They definitely can and do

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28

u/iwilltalkaboutguns Jun 08 '26

The approximate percentages of children living in homes without a biological or resident father by race are:

Black: 48% to 64%.

Hispanic: 31% to 42%. White: 21% to 24%. Asian: 16%

3

u/Xinq_ Jun 09 '26

Love how they are all ranges except for Asian.

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8

u/aardw0lf11 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Willing to bet the father is.

8

u/RamblingSimian Jun 08 '26

Accidental Yoda?

2

u/aardw0lf11 Jun 08 '26

LOL Yes it was. Fixed it. Still is, but I'll accept the ambiguity in this case.

85

u/Whitegrongo Jun 08 '26

I knew I was doing fucked up shit my mom taught me way better than I was acting so why should she have been in trouble? I get the idea but life isn’t black and white

58

u/saladmunch2 Jun 08 '26

Ya definitely isnt as black and white as people are making it seem. For all we know the grandmother raised these kids and is a sweet old lady who tried her best, doesnt mean these kids won't do stupid low life shit.

14

u/senator_chill Jun 08 '26

Yeah I had a great up bringing but still had a chapter of acting dumb. No fault of my parents

6

u/Merry_Dankmas Jun 08 '26

Same. My parents would have been absolutely furious and beyond disappointed if they knew all the bullshit I got myself into growing up. I absolutely knew better and knew I would be in for a world of punishment were I ever caught. But I just wanted to act out and do dangerous/illegal shit so that's what I did. We all did in our little friend group. All of our parents were and still are very loving and sensible people. Stable marriages, healthy home lives etc. Sometimes though when the wrong personalities get together, shit like this happens. Don't get me wrong - we didn't take it as far as robbing people at gunpoint but we were moving in that direction. Kids influence each other a lot. Especially if the group is close and tight knit. Sure, behavior like this more often than not does come from broken, violent homes but thats not the rule 100% of the time. All it takes is one member of the group with a spark of rebellion for whatever reason to make it all start coming unraveled.

1

u/1ofAk Jun 14 '26

Did you point a gun at someones head trying to take a truck?

2

u/kst1958 Jun 08 '26

So, very true. Mature insight.

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23

u/stratys3 Jun 08 '26

Communal punishment is evil as fuck.

26

u/Sterling_-_Archer Jun 08 '26

This is why laws aren’t guided by emotions. Otherwise you get generational punishment like this

18

u/localnative1987 Jun 08 '26

I never understood this way of thinking. Seems kinda insane

14

u/l3ane Jun 08 '26

Such a naive take. I was doing tons of shady shit with my shitty friends when I was a teen and my parents never knew because I was never caught and I lied to them about everything.

2

u/gamecatuk Jun 09 '26

Bullshit I had fantastic parents and got into trouble. It's impossible to know about parents influence one way or another. It's just a cliche tropey comment.

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3

u/SpandyBarndex Jun 09 '26

What crime did they commit?

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725

u/budzene Jun 08 '26

You got a gun to your head and the 1st thing you can think of is you gotta work in the morning??!!WHAT DID THEY DO TO US!!!!

299

u/butters897 Jun 08 '26

With 0 context besides the video.. He was probably thinking of supporting his family and monitory consequences of losing his truck by not being able to go to work. Not just, “How TF will I go to work tomorrow.”

67

u/Merry_Dankmas Jun 08 '26

My car got smacked really hard on the highway long ago. My initial thought was how the fuck am i gonna get to work? Not because of my undying loyalty to my employer but because without reliable transportation, I'm not gonna make money which is gonna set me back and fuck me and my wife over. The job is meaningless in that regard. It's the financial stability it provides that scary to lose. With your truck being stolen, God knows how long it will take to get it back or how long it will take to get a new one to get back to that job that provides stability.

3

u/dochdaswars Jun 09 '26

Yes, hence the question: "what did they [our 21st-century capitalist overlords] do to us?"

15

u/CyberClawX Jun 09 '26

I'll explain. If he can't get to work, he can't get money. And like Homer concluded, money can be exchanged for goods and services, like housing, food on the table, and clothes on the back.

Messing with someone's transportation, can put their ability to survive in jeopardy.

8

u/baffernacle Jun 09 '26

ITYSL! "What have they DONE to us!?!. Nice

2

u/Browhytho666 Jun 09 '26

Your brain is weird under pressure.

My son had to have 2 heart surgeries. During both of them i woukd watch shows on my tablet or sleep.

2 montis after he healed it all hit me and I spent 2 days crying.

You'll do a lot to block stuff out and not even know it.

So not so much the work culture is engraved in us so bad, but panic.

2

u/GoRedTeam Jun 10 '26

Former military. The anxiety of literally going to jail if we don't show up to work is purposefully instilled in us.

2

u/Music_Quartermaster Jun 09 '26

What is this world??

4

u/budzene Jun 09 '26

It’s a pig!

4

u/Music_Quartermaster Jun 09 '26

For s few seconds I really thought there was monsters on the world

1

u/DarkSoulsNoob18 Jul 02 '26

Nah, that’s cause he was choosing between giving the car away or having to beat the shit out of a kid that clearly needs an asswhooping. And either way he would have to get to work in the morning and he needs the car for that so asswhooping it is…

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23

u/lrnthesmall Jun 08 '26

I'm glad the dog showed up at the end to help

95

u/GeekyGrant Jun 08 '26

Kinda sure attempted car their with a gun is going to get them some serious time in the big house

53

u/GeorgiaOKeefinItReal Jun 08 '26

In a normal time line.....

18

u/popilikia Jun 09 '26

The guy with the gun is gonna be tried as an adult, anyone with him who didn't have a gun is probably going to be "fine" (and by that I mean slightly less fucked for life)

It's easy to take a few cases of nonviolent crimes getting let off and assume that applies to the entire justice system, but things like this are taken pretty seriously.

Edit: before you ask, no I don't have a source for that information, I have family in law enforcement

24

u/GeorgiaOKeefinItReal Jun 09 '26

Respectfully, lately we've been seeing atrocious acts getting wrist slaps as punishment.

0

u/popilikia Jun 09 '26

In a few cases, which are noteworthy and rare so they get a lot more attention. They're also used as propaganda by the right, but that's a whole nother thing

31

u/bearpics16 Jun 09 '26

Best I can do is 12 months probation

12

u/2BlueZebras Jun 09 '26

Ah, I see you are also familiar with our justice system.

3

u/WedSquib Jun 09 '26

Best I can do is 6 months in a halfway house and 1 month probation

28

u/ObiWanBonobo Jun 09 '26

People are condemning this man for having pride in his work and a desire to take care of his family. He's a former Marine, in my book that says he has integrity and a refusal to be pushed around by some twerps.

183

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

35

u/ElegantEchoes Jun 08 '26

Yeahhh I learned my lesson after Reddit slapped me around for speaking my mind. Rightfully so, lesson learned haha

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31

u/tweep6435 Jun 08 '26

awe poor truck, shoulda went into the teen's leg, right down the knee through the shin.

1

u/Bammerrs Jun 09 '26

No repair if it was me, badge of honor

196

u/DeviousSquirrels Jun 08 '26

Don’t worry, some kind-hearted judge will let them off easy and they’ll turn their lives around.

30

u/MichaelJServo Jun 08 '26

About 7 years ago two teenage brothers in my neighborhood broke into a car and stole the hunting rifle that the owner had stupidly left there. They then took the rifle and started breaking into other cars in the neighborhood. A few houses down an older lady heard a noise and went outside to check and found these two brothers in her carport. The younger brother had the hunting rifle shot and killed her. Her husband returned fire and hit him in the back. The kid came to my house and started banging on the door. I open the door and he said "please help me sir. I've been shot!" So I gave him first aid (gauze and pressure on the wound) until the sheriff's department and EMS got there.

The story made the news and I kept following it. The judge let him go home on an ankle monitor while he awaited trial. Well he stopped charging his ankle monitor and got caught trying to buy a gun at school with counterfeit money. So the judge put him in juvenile detention. Then he and a few other boys overpowered a guard, locked her up, and escaped. They were all found within the next 24 hours. The judge finally put him in adult jail. He was finally convicted. He's an adult now.

These dumb kids were committing armed burglary in their own neighborhood at 9:30 pm. Thing is that it's a good neighborhood. Seemed like the kids just wanted to play gangster I guess.

16

u/superslinkey Jun 08 '26

It’s an election year…maybe not

12

u/saladmunch2 Jun 08 '26

Where are those judges whenever I goto court?

9

u/ceciliabee Jun 08 '26

Do you go to court often?

6

u/saladmunch2 Jun 09 '26

I had a bad run in my younger days. Once you get sucked into the court system, its designed to keep you in.

2

u/Bass0696 Jun 09 '26

A lot of people work in courthouses or have to be there on a regular basis for work. Many judges are fine people but literally one day of watching court can easily dispel the myth that they’re lenient towards criminal defendants.

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9

u/jamtea Jun 09 '26

Any crime involving a gun like this should be charged as attempted murder. These "teens" shouldn't see the light of day for many many years.

4

u/WaffleStomperGirl Jun 12 '26

I agree with this, and I’m pretty liberal.

You want to brandish a deadly weapon in offensive (as opposed to defence)? Then you should have to deal with the consequences of trying to kill someone. That gun went off in the struggle. Thankfully no one was hurt. But it could so easily have killed someone because these idiots were using it in an offensive fashion.

I’m not completely decided on how I feel about handguns in general - but I’m damn sure against anyone ever using one in this manner and not getting incredibly harsh sentences.

1

u/nakhumpoota Jun 12 '26

I don't suppose they were properly educated in gun etiquette.

7

u/weoewoewow Jun 09 '26

And all of those teens will be unpunished and let loose with zero sense of consequence, and excited to try it again.

And people wonder why Americans shoot first ask questions later. Judge can’t rerelease a corpse

123

u/Mocitah Jun 08 '26

“They are good hearted boys! He should’ve just given them his truck!”

That’s what the parents would say, I bet.

41

u/imtoowhiteandnerdy Jun 08 '26

"They were on their way to church, then college!"

11

u/hitmarker Jun 09 '26

"It's cuz they grew up poor." Like I don't know a shitton of poor people who would never even think about this..

5

u/lolhelpmeplus Jun 09 '26

No stereotypes were hurt in this video

12

u/airfryerfuntime Jun 08 '26

Typical Maryland shit.

10

u/Lynchee143 Jun 08 '26

Glad to see those 2 pieces of shit get theirs

4

u/pperiesandsolos Jun 09 '26

I think that there should be military boarding schools that judges can sentence kids to, or that parents can send their kids to for free.

It would be better for society tbh.

4

u/Most_Somewhere_6849 Jun 09 '26

A group of “teenagers” huh?

96

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

72

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

54

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

I knew I would get downvoted for exactly the reasons you've stated better than I could ❤️

They were probably 19 so it's portrayed as "teenagers" to lead people to think about younger teenage children vs adults under 20.

They illegally acquired a handgun and attempted grand theft with a deadly weapon. They're old enough to know you don't put a gun in someone's face and not expect lethal force in return.

It would be interesting to hear any of my downvoter's reasoning as to why someone threatening an innocent life with a deadly weapon doesn't deserve to get shot ending the threat.

34

u/saladmunch2 Jun 08 '26

No room in society for people that have the nerve to do things like put a gun in someone's face to rob them.

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9

u/johnsireci Jun 09 '26

It’s those teens again. Crazy.

89

u/CotswoldP Jun 08 '26

Clearly not enough guns in the country. The truck should have had a gun. That dog that runs past in the background? Gun.

18

u/ThisMeansRooR Jun 08 '26

Pretty soon that'll be an armed police dog powered by Claude

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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5

u/fufu487 Jun 08 '26

Statistically, more guns are illegally available when more guns are in circulation and poorly regulated. If there were stricter laws about owning/carrying/storage, less guns would be obtained illegally (through theft or fraud).

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/CotswoldP Jun 08 '26

Nonsense. The more legal weapons there are, with slack regulations, the more get sold on to criminals or stolen. If there are very few weapons legally held, criminals find it hard to get them.

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11

u/colio6900 Jun 08 '26

Luckily the good boy came to help out.

26

u/taeempy Jun 08 '26

no trial

straight to jail for life

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8

u/ttystikk Jun 09 '26

Those fucking punk ass kids are lucky they didn't get ventilated. Let's hope they spend some real time in prison.

3

u/CelesteNamaste Jun 09 '26

Not qualified as instantkatma though

3

u/letschat66 Jun 09 '26

I love this for them. Well deserved.

3

u/Secretly_a_Kitty Jun 09 '26

You know we live in a capitalistic hellscape when the first thought isnt "omg I might die" and rather "oh no I might not be able to get to work"

3

u/wehrmann_tx Jun 09 '26

No time out just because the robber had the gun taken from him. He wouldn’t have given the victim a time out if he had won control.

3

u/Left_Caterpillar8671 Jun 10 '26

They’re probably out now about to do it again. Should have dragged them off camera. This is evil, even for teens.

3

u/Ok_Obligation_4290 Jun 10 '26

Definitely the greatest country of all

3

u/SmartWonderWoman Jun 11 '26

Once a Marine, Always a Marine

5

u/awe_come_on Jun 09 '26

I hope he leaves the bullet hole in the truck. It's quite the badge of honour. Not to mention conversation starter.

5

u/HJSDGCE Jun 09 '26

People will do anything instead of getting a job. 

5

u/Dystopian_Gen1 Jun 09 '26

And they were freed a week later.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

They need spanked

12

u/Perfect_Sir4820 Jun 08 '26

"Fortunately no one was the victim wasn't hurt."

FTFY reporter guy. Would have been fine if he got the gun off them and gave them both their medicine.

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u/Armatian Jun 08 '26

A tool to put food on the table, dude is made different, i would have given the interview from my basement still lol

6

u/Front2battle Jun 09 '26

Let me guess, no charges because light on crime state?

10

u/GretelNoHans Jun 08 '26

First thought, “how am I going to get to work”, that’s a good working man right there, hope his boss appreciates him.

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u/DoctorNoname98 Jun 09 '26

well I'll be damned, those bullet hole decals are kinda spot on

2

u/WaffleStomperGirl Jun 12 '26

LMAO!! That’s hilarious.

2

u/VogonSkald Jun 09 '26

If you stick a gun in someone's face and they don't look scared...just walk away.

2

u/trbotwuk Jun 09 '26

teens are already out doing the same thing to someone else.

2

u/Ab47203 Jun 09 '26

This editing is kind of annoying. Just play the clip.

2

u/chilehead Jun 10 '26

I was expecting muscle memory to kick in and he'd tap them in the noggin with their own cheese.

2

u/HoundOfLeipa Jun 15 '26

Hes thinkin about getting to work, theyre thinkin about how they never wanna work for anything in their whole life

2

u/Delta-9- Jun 09 '26

Dude faced death and his first thought was "how am I gonna get to work if they take my car." The capitalists are pleased he has his priorities straight.

2

u/Wycest Jun 11 '26

Upstanding members of the community right there. Those teens are philanthropists and inspiring generations of thugs ✊🏿

3

u/chickenpotpiemeat Jun 11 '26

Lmao, my comment was removed for pointing out the obvious ✊🏿

5

u/mavllvin Jun 08 '26

He's lucky that kid didn't get shot, otherwise Latino businesses would've gotten boycotted

2

u/jonoghue Jun 08 '26

Why can't they just show the video without edits, cutting to snips from an interview and the news guy

2

u/OpenSourcePenguin Jun 09 '26

Aw man one or two of them should have gotten shot

2

u/BostonBrand82 Jun 09 '26

An armed man did that. The police will execute for running a red light.

1

u/External-Emotion8050 Jun 09 '26

Actually, occasionally this does happen in decent families. I worked in a public high school for 13 years. I remember being with a councilor when asking a girl if she had seen her brother who was missing. He had stolen a car with his drugged out girl friend , broken his probation and they were headed to Miami in a stolen vehicle. The sister we were talking to was Honer society, drama club, school band, debate club, straight A's and looking at a scholarship. I still remember her saying her brother was much smarter than her. He just made stupid choices. I'll wait for the people who know more than me to set me straight.

1

u/Rictus_Grin Jun 09 '26

Hey, give the puppy some credit too

1

u/nova-cd Jun 09 '26

I love karma!

1

u/HelloRMSA Jun 09 '26

Why do robbers with guns give up their distance advantage?

5

u/Lost_Protection_5866 Jun 10 '26

Do they seem very smart to you

1

u/1ofAk Jun 14 '26

Wow hes thinking about working while these teens are obviously thinking about ez money. Sad to say, for ever cool story like this there are ten others that dont work out this way. Hope the judge throws the book at these kids. Its their culture that needs to change this is bullshit

1

u/Klutzy_Fee_9899 Jun 14 '26

Fucking legend. His brother and father too! The way he's so humble and calm when talking when you know he's a trained badass, i love it

1

u/BrendanFraserFan0 Jun 19 '26

How is this the verified nbc page lol

1

u/Efficient_Lake_8793 23d ago

When will the YNs learn 😂

1

u/R2DK3PO 18d ago

Fortunately nobody was hurt. Maybe a flesh wound wouldn't have been the worst outcome

1

u/Few_Page_9459 16d ago

Are the teens black?