# YOUR unOFFICIAL Ryan Lochte phony/not phony Olympic robbery thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153 "2016-08-18T05:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/81 "2016-08-20T11:39:04Z")
Gunnar Bentz’s statement: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/19/us/us-gunnar-bentz-statement/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/19/us/us-gunnar-bentz-statement/index.html) Basically puts any douchebaggery - starting things by pulling down a sign, then after having to sit on the curb, stood up and argued loudly with police - on Lochte. His statement seems credible. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/82 "2016-08-20T14:58:04Z")
Heh. Picture it: at the height of the Cold War, visiting Soviet athletes claim they were robbed at gunpoint by – Americans pretending to be the police? Or by Americans who in fact _were_ the police, brandishing badges and weapons to extort money? And then imagine the rest of the story comes out days later: _no, Russian thugs were smashing stuff and pissing on things and defaming the Shining City On A Hill._ Jeah. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/83 "2016-08-20T23:40:44Z")
So when does his porno come out?? Hard to earn money. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/84 "2016-08-21T06:28:45Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m loving how folks automatically believed Lochte’s story because it involved furriners dressed as police officers in a country perceived to be “corrupt third world”. But every day, people accuse American police officers of less severe crimes, and it’s always, “Let’s wait for all the facts to roll in!” Even when all the facts do roll in, the victim is blamed for their role in the situation. > > But so many people (including myself) automatically gave Lochte et al. the benefit of the doubt because “Why would they lie about something like that?” > > My hypothesis? He lied because he knew the gas station would likely have survelliance cameras and that the video footage would be in circulation very soon. So he fabricated a “we wuz robbed” story to get control of the situation. And because he’s an idiot, he couldn’t keep the lie straight or make the basic details be in line with what actually happened. And his teammates, being considerably younger than him, wrongly assumed that he knew what he was doing…never thinking that the lie would grow legs the way it did. > > Tragedy, all around. Moral of the story, kids: Don’t hang out with douchebags. And yet Brazil basically robbed an American swimmer of $11,000. Where was the trial? Brazil can just shake you down by threatening to throw you in one of their hellhole jails? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/85 "2016-08-21T12:47:05Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m loving how folks automatically believed Lochte’s story because it involved furriners dressed as police officers in a country perceived to be “corrupt third world”. But every day, people accuse American police officers of less severe crimes, and it’s always, “Let’s wait for all the facts to roll in!” Even when all the facts do roll in, the victim is blamed for their role in the situation. I’ve posted about this before, but I think there is a huge gap on perception of the police in America by most whites and by many minorities. Most whites live in a world where the police are reasonably fair to them, and that many not necessarily be the case for others. Here in Asia, I am very aware that if I were to get into a he said / she said dispute with a native, that the system would not be colorblind. It’s much easier for Americans to accept that the system has failed in another country, rather than question how it handles all of its own citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/86 "2016-08-21T13:28:42Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > And yet Brazil basically robbed an American swimmer of $11,000. Where was the trial? Brazil can just shake you down by threatening to throw you in one of their hellhole jails? I agree that the fair thing to do was to detain him in one of their “hellhole jails” (I know nothing about Brazilian jails, and they have no obligation to make them more confortable for foreigners than their own people). That would have been a whole more expensive than $11,000. The athletes received legal assistance from the IOC and the US embassy. Why do you think they would agree to a “shakedown”? Those brown third-worlders can do no right. Good there’s people like you willing to come out in defense of those poor, helpless boys. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/87 "2016-08-21T14:27:03Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > I agree that the fair thing to do was to detain him in one of their “hellhole jails” (I know nothing about Brazilian jails, and they have no obligation to make them more confortable for foreigners than their own people). That would have been a whole more expensive than $11,000. > > The athletes received legal assistance from the IOC and the US embassy. Why do you think they would agree to a “shakedown”? > > Those brown third-worlders can do no right. Good there’s people like you willing to come out in defense of those poor, helpless boys. I wonder if Octopus also believes foreigners in the US should be above the law. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/88 "2016-08-21T14:32:55Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > The thing about this that bugs me is, if these guys were making up the whole story, why in the world would they include the detail about the cops and badges? If all they wanted to do was cover up their own behavior that night, wouldn’t it be vastly simpler to say masked or unidentifiable gunmen robbed them? Then, the police shrug and say, “Shit happens, we’ll probably never find them” and nobody investigates further. The Olympians get their sympathy and everyone goes home. But with this story, police are basically forced to be involved in a serious way. > > Granted, we’re talking about young drunk people, but it really just doesn’t sound like a smart cover story if it was made up. Unless these are closet SJWs who are trying to bring world attention on the Brazilian police. Like all the fake hate crimes that they keep manufacturing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/89 "2016-08-21T15:32:35Z")
Yeah, like this one — [http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/20/us/olympia-interracial-couple-stabbing-trnd/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/20/us/olympia-interracial-couple-stabbing-trnd/index.html) — it can’t be true because there is no racism or hate crime in this country. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/90 "2016-08-21T18:35:31Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > My wife loves the idea that he originally just told his mom the truth: _some guy with a gun flashed a badge, but he totally wasn’t a cop, and he robbed me; and we didn’t report it to the police, because we were afraid we’d get in trouble._ > > Because – well, that’s all technically correct, isn’t it? I mean, if a security guard uses the threat of force to take your property from you as restitution, then, sure, justice was done by someone who isn’t a cop but does have a badge and a gun; and you of course don’t go to the police, because that guard was fining you on his own initiative for your variousness sundry achievements in wrongdoing. > > Reminds me of the bit in 30 ROCK where Liz’s ex-boyfriend mentions that his cousin _“broke his ankle running from some black guys that pulled a gun on him.”_ > > “Now, why is it important to tell me that the muggers were black?” > “They weren’t muggers; they were cops.” > “So why don’t you just say he was running from some cops?” > “I dunno. I mean, you’re a racist for assuming that they _weren’t_ cops.” Ryan of course appeared on 30 Rock as a dim bulb. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/91 "2016-08-21T19:45:13Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Close to it; close enough for me. Flat-out arrest them or fine them through a court for what they did and I have no issue with it. But the way I’m reading it looks more like basic extortion than anything else. I agree with this. It looks like a third world shakedown. The security at this place would have every right to detain them until the police arrive and the justice system can work from there. Pointing guns at them and demanding money on the spot=robbery. The media is making Lochte out to be the villian, and the Brazilian authorities are trying to show how the athletes were guilty. Let the white owners of a convenience store in Mississippi hold a bunch of black kids at gunpoint demanding money when he claims they damaged his store and see how well that works. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/92 "2016-08-21T19:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=CNN Article] After attending an event with several swimmers from different nations, I left in a taxicab along with U.S. swimmers Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and Ryan Lochte around 6 a.m. [/QUOTE] 6am? Must have been one of those 4:30a.m. prayer services that international swimmers have each Olympics. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/93 "2016-08-22T01:36:02Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I agree with this. It looks like a third world shakedown. In part but in the interest of clarity the part that ticks me off is that two were pulled from a plane and detained well after the event. And well after they probably considered it over. No question Lochte is an asshole but this event doesn’t give me very warm or fuzzy feelings about Brazil. Which is actually a change on my part; despite its problems I thought pretty well of them as a nation and Rio as a destination before this. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/94 "2016-08-22T02:11:34Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I agree with this. It looks like a third world shakedown. The security at this place would have every right to detain them until the police arrive and the justice system can work from there. Pointing guns at them and demanding money on the spot=robbery. > > The media is making Lochte out to be the villian, and the Brazilian authorities are trying to show how the athletes were guilty. Let the white owners of a convenience store in Mississippi hold a bunch of black kids at gunpoint demanding money when he claims they damaged his store and see how well that works. I don’t see anything wrong with “cover the damages or I am holding you here until the police comes”. I expect just that if I were to damage property anywhere. What did they expect would happen? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/95 "2016-08-22T02:23:55Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > > [@UltraVires](#): > > > > I agree with this. It looks like a third world shakedown. > > In part but in the interest of clarity the part that ticks me off is that two were pulled from a plane and detained well after the event. And well after they probably considered it over. No question Lochte is an asshole but this event doesn’t give me very warm or fuzzy feelings about Brazil. Which is actually a change on my part; despite its problems I thought pretty well of them as a nation and Rio as a destination before this. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people pulled off planes on shows like Law & Order, and Dick Wolf wouldn’t show me that if it wasn’t realistic. Seriously, though, I’m OK with the Brazilian authorities pulling them off the plane. I think they knew that if they allowed these guys to leave the country without being interviewed, the truth would never come out. Note that the Brazilian authorities knew well that the story didn’t hold water. See, for instance, [this interview](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/sports/olympics/brazilian-judge-discusses-case-involving-american-swimmers.html) with the judge in the case. Among other things, he points out that they still had their wallets, watches, cell phones and clothes after supposedly being shaken down and/or mugged. But that’s not what happens when people are mugged in Rio. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/96 "2016-08-22T02:59:30Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I wonder if Octopus also believes foreigners in the US should be above the law. Scandinavians detained in the US should demand similar protections and accommodations as they have at home. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/97 "2016-08-22T06:44:34Z")
One thing that strikes me about this thread is that people are applying U.S. legal standards to events in Brazil. For all we know (and I’m not saying it’s true), it’s illegal in Brazil to make false statements about a crime to the press. It might also be possible that a security guard is allowed to hold someone at gunpoint. It’s also possible that, in Brazil, an alleged victim of a crime is required to cooperate with a legal investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/98 "2016-08-22T12:32:28Z")
Is there any more information about the allegedly missing part of the video? I haven’t followed the story very much, if at all. I can’t see anyone involved who didn’t behave like an asshole. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/99 "2016-08-22T14:19:48Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > One thing that strikes me about this thread is that people are applying U.S. legal standards to events in Brazil. For all we know (and I’m not saying it’s true), it’s illegal in Brazil to make false statements about a crime to the press. It might also be possible that a security guard is allowed to hold someone at gunpoint. It’s also possible that, in Brazil, an alleged victim of a crime is required to cooperate with a legal investigation. Not a legal expert but a number of media accounts said the legal problem in Brazil for the swimmers was alleged false statements to the police, not to the media. And I never heard a suggestion that the swimmers’ lack of cooperation (in the police view) was a legal problem. The authorities only started talking about legal action after they alleged to have proved some of the statements given _to them_as false. Which is pretty much AFAIK how it would work in the US, or most other places. Although, just about anywhere I think police are more likely to pursue such cases legally where locally unpopular statements were also made to the media, especially ones seeming to implicate the police in wrongdoing. An armed security guard holding a suspect at gun point AFAIK would not necessarily be illegal in the US either. It would be more of a problem for the security guard(s) though if they didn’t actually hold the suspects for the police but rather let them go after they paid money at gunpoint, which seems to have happened here. Again not an expert but I doubt those guards in Brazil would be wholly in the clear legally for what they did if popular sentiment was on the side of the swimmers. Again let’s face it, this affects prosecutions in Brazil, the US, or any country someone thinks is much more advanced and less corrupt than the US. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153/100 "2016-08-22T14:29:51Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Scandinavians detained in the US should demand similar protections and accommodations as they have at home. Right? My understanding from various BLM threads on this board is that a Scandinavian would receive the standard white guy treatment so they’d be released with an apology. Had they been from an African nation doubtless they’d be shot dead as they were making their statement to police. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unofficial-ryan-lochte-phony-not-phony-olympic-robbery-thread/763153.md?page=6)