Comments on: 'Bumfight' Videos Inspired Joy-Killing

Florida Teen Tells Ed Bradley He Killed Homeless Man 'For Fun'

[proctor22]

Mcpherson denies responsibility for the influence his films have on others and for deliberately taking advantage of the disadvantaged? I guess that is the only way he can sleep at night. What a sad comment is made on our society by the people who glorify these crimes in their films and by the people who buy them. VERY sad.

[mconcerned]

...Ok, I e-mailed Circuit City, K-Mart and Martha Stewart. Netflix, I had some issues getting e-mail addresses, so I am sending a letter to them. I am also sending letters to all of the above, see their addresses below:

Netflix
P.O. Box 49021
San Jose, CA 95161

Circuit City
9950 Mayland Dr.
Richmond, VA 23233

Sears (parent company of K-Mart)
ATTN: Dept 702 SCO
3333 Beverly Rd
B6-304B
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

Martha Stewart
20 W. 43rd St.
NY, NY 10036

Please e-mail and write these companies!

Thanks!

[florida02]

I am the mother of one homeless young man whose face I have not seen for nearly 12 years. (This is not general information shared in my middle class neighborhood.) After watching your segment "Bumfights" last night I was further sickened by the ever constant threat they all face out there. Not all are on drugs,etc. Each with their own circumstance.

The Faceless belong to a parent who lives in constant fear, heartbroken, not knowing if her son/daughter is safe...muchless...alive. Now THIS??? I'm horrified for them...& my son.

I have read all of today's comments, and want to thank you all with all my heart for sharing your thoughts. God Bless you.

Yes. Legislature must be signed to deal with these so-called film-makers. These fims should be stripped from shelves. Fines to dealers who would make a buck on the backs of terror-izing humanbeings. Legislators?? Are you listening??

[mconcerned]

For those who are interested in boycotting stores that sell any of the Bumfights series, I am going online and checking different sites.

Circuit City SELLS the series
K-Mart SELLS the series
Netflix RENTS Ultimate Bumfights
Best Buy does NOT appear to sell this series
Wal-Mart does NOT appear to sell this series
Target does NOT appear to sell this series
Blockbuster does NOT appear to sell this series

I am a frequent shopper at Circuit City, and on their e-mailing list. I am going to take my name off their list and tell them that I will not purchase anything from them until they stop selling this series.

I am going to write K-Mart and Martha Stewart and explain my disgust.

I will also write Netflix.

I suggest anyone else who feels this way should do the same!

[piffal]

Dear Mr. Bradley

Thank you for your segment on "Homeless Bashing". It made me so sad...for a lot of reasons.

First of all...what did that poor man do to them? He had so little and they tought that they had the right to take all that he had left. On top of bing charged with murder they should have been charged with theft...they stole his dignity.

Second was that 4 young men have given up there youth, future, and the opertunity to give to others. All the things that truely make them men. And what is worse, I saw no remorce.

The third thing that made me cry was that a young man that has some degree of talent has distroyed the lives of others...and will continue with no remorce or sence of responsiblity or culpability for his own actions.

One man dead, four young lives distroyed and one poor man that will never understand that the answer to the question " Am I my Brothers keeper?" was "Yes, you are."

God help America

Gaye Reyes
Dignity Village (dignityvillage.org)
Portland, Oregon

[vasaava]

How would the man, if you could call him a man, or the film maker, if he could be called a film maker that produced and created the film Bum Fights, feel if a group of young men of color with cameras, baseball bats, metal pipes and gasoline%u2026opened his bedroom window and begin violently attacking him while he was sound asleep. I%u2019m sure he would wake up and cry for help? This world created by people has tragically become more and more uncivilized. This new trend on attacking the most innocent and vulnerable members of society and then getting away with it is unthinkable. Ryan Mcpherson should be tried for hate crimes and spend the rest of his life in prison. Has the physic of our country become so utterly perverted, corrupted and lost, without any sense, without any direction? Or is it this era we live in today, that we have become complacent to torture, humiliation and murder for those who are helpless and for those who are different than us? We need justice for all citizens. A homeless man, needs the same protection as a police officer.

[eainyc]

Ryan McPhearson, how do you look at yourself in the mirror? Do you pick on others that are vulnerable? Children, the elderly, the terminally ill? For your sake, I hope you don't end up in jail. Even convicted criminals are likely to be disguisted by your behavior and I suspect you will be the one victimized. Your flip, empty and uninteresting responses to Ed Bradely's questions were further evidence of how pathetic you are. Your "skits" have influenced other pathetic individuals who are now in prison. All in the name of making a dollar.

[kevans5993]

Mr. Mcpherson,

In the event that you are checking this message board, I am writing this to you and your fans. I had never heard of you before watching Ed Bradly give you a verbal spanking on 60 minuets last night, which I rather enjoyed. You need some education about the homeless. It was obvious to all the viewers that while you have exploited the homeless population for you own financial gain, you do not know that the majority of homeless people are mentally ill. Due to repeated cuts in health care, those who are mentally ill find themselves living on the street. Those who create this, watch this and praise how hilarious it is are the equivalent of those who pick on the mentally disabled kid in school. Mr. Mcpherson, I imagine you will be receiving a great deal of hate mail in the near future. I hope that you will at least consider that what you have done is morally abhorrent. You have made a terrible mistake by creating something that brutalizes other human beings. It is not funny to live on the street, eat out of trashcans and spend each day trying to survive and then experience humiliation and fear from some kid who has never struggled for anything. There are so many insulting things I would like to write to you. I will close by asking you to spend some time considering why everyone is so outraged by this. Move away from trying to defend it and consider that the very rational people outside of your audience may have good reason to feel ashamed of you.

[henniexoxo]

I am still OUTRAGED at the segment I saw last night on on bumfights. This so-called "filmmaker" should be prosecuted and put in jail for hate crimes! I cannot believe that a hate crime can be filmed and sold for a profit and there has been no legal action taken against anyone involved in the making of these DVD's. The footage of the "bum hunter" sneaking up on sleeping homeless, duct taping and beating them is appalling! It's shameful! And the ignorance of this kid to not see the direct correlation to his video and the beatings and killing of helpless individuals is shocking. The segment refers to the victims as homeless, but these are HUMAN BEINGS being hunted. My only hope now is that someone will prosecute Ryan McPherson, this is a hate crime, plain and simple!

[noeflight]

Here I sit in Afghanistan watching your show and I can't help but think the only thing that separates these kids from the people we are fighting over here is that these terrorists have a purpose.

[vendangeur]

As a filmmaker myself, I find this guy pathetic and I am ashamed for him, because he obviously has no shame. Ryan Mcpherson is a stupid kid who has no concept of humanity and no respect for the art of filmmaking. He claimed to be simply "exposing something that most people don't know exists." Well, people ALREADY know that people pushed to desparation will do crazy things. It's obvious, and it's been happening for a long long time. He didn't do anything to educate, enlighten, or inspire people, which is what most GOOD filmmakers strive to do. All he did was make a quick buck from exploiting people and creating a series of negativity. He wasn't thinking. And now, as a negative current given off from his initial irresponsibilty, a lot of damage has been done. People have been murdered. I don't think he has the guts to face that. But hopefully, one day he'll grow up. You know, if people would just stop and think, " hey, are my actions in this moment going to build up or break down and destroy? the world would be a better place.

[frankmas1]

Am I the only one that was not schocked? What type of sheltered lives do you exist in? Is this the first time you have watched 60 minutes.
WE NEED A CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF JUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES and we need it now. My website www.american-justice.us demonstrates similar hateful activity that our government encourages, supports and protects and persecutes extremely law abiding family. Our government points fingers at other nations, we really have to start looking in our back yard. Its a cesspool back there.

[ksulli2]

I find it sad that teens and young adults think it's %u201Cfun%u201D to brutally attack innocent people. But there is something very disturbing about this story. Someone is profiting off of video taping it. And more disturbing then that they are not going to jail with those committing the attacks. Has our society been reduced to the mentality of savage beast? Have parents done such a bad job raising children that we must eradicate a whole generation of them in order to bring morality back to mankind? The last time I checked mothers are still giving birth to children, not thugs, and principles and morals are a learned behavior. Unfortunately, so are negative behaviors. Should we go back to the days when gladiators would be put in an arena to fight amongst themselves to see who is the strongest? Oh yeah, we already have that. It%u2019s called Extreme Fighting. One of the most popular shows on TV today. No wonder why there is so much extreme behavior being displayed in the streets. It%u2019s on television, so why not on the streets. This is a sad time for mankind.

Keith Sullivan
Columbus, Ohio

[mrogers351]

Watching this piece would have left me even more disgusted and disillusioned if I didn't work for a phenomenal organization that treats homeless persons "like our brothers and sisters." Christ House in Washington, DC is a 24-hour medical recovery facility that has treated more than a few homeless persons who have suffered assaults. It's not enough to shake our heads or wag our fingers anymore...www.christhouse.org. Do something, for someone, somewhere and "society" improves. Peace to all of us.

[leedman]

I find it fascinating listening to adults speak to the attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, actions, and irresponsibility of youth. I'm seeing some of that here on the discussion as well. Here is the real truth:

ADULTS HAVE CREATED THE SOCIAL DOGMA THAT CREATES THE STATUS QUO BEHAVIOR OF OUR CHILDREN.

If we truly want to see change, then WE HAVE TO BE that change. We cannot yell, scream, hit, demean, belittle, and be cruel to our children. Check out our homes behind closed doors - Look at yourself after a rough day and you've been impatient and unkind with your family - Look at these schools... Kids started mirroring adults before kids could even learn to speak!!!!

You want change - BE THAT CHANGE.

www.onemancan.ca

[bjl262]

I, too, was horrified watching this segment.

Can you see a parallel between Bumfights and teenagers beating or killing homeless men; and the effect of violence in all entertainment media (movies, television, music, etc.) upon today's society?

[leedman]

I wrote a Blog article yesterday in response to an attitude that someone expressed about people who suffer. Essentially they suggest that people who go through difficulties haven't learned their lessons yet. The issue is much more complex and what that requires us to think outside the box and outside our learned pragmatic methods. As part of my response, I spent time speaking about the homeless issue - an issue that is at the of my own hit list for society's failings.

After writing this piece yesterday morning, I was surprised at the 60 Minutes spot on Bum Fighting and the senselessness of it and the concept that WE as people - around the world - are becoming more and more dehumanized. It's easy for us to lay the blame but WE are ALL at CHOICE. This is soemthing we also don't teach readily and clearly enough in our society anymore.

Here is the Blog Entry I'm referring to for those who might be interested:

http://leedman.mindsay.com/havent_you_learned_anything.mws

This article title references the philosophy that we stay stuck where we are until we learn our lessons. Not always the truth - sometimes people stay where they are until the rest of us learn OUR lesson.

My apologies for the previous one with the html characters... first time user of CBS site.

[leedman]

I wrote a Blog article yesterday in response to an attitude that someone expressed about people who suffer. Essentially they suggest that people who go through difficulties haven't learned their lessons yet. The issue is much more complex and what that requires us to think outside the box and outside our learned pragmatic methods. As part of my response, I spent time speaking about the homeless issue - an issue that is at the of my own hit list for society's failings.

After writing this piece yesterday morning, I was surprised at the 60 Minutes spot on Bum Fighting and the senselessness of it and the concept that WE as people - around the world - are becoming more and more dehumanized. It's easy for us to lay the blame but WE are ALL at CHOICE. This is soemthing we also don't teach readily and clearly enough in our society anymore.

Here is the Blog Entry I'm referring to for those who might be interested: a href="http://leedman.mindsay.com/havent_you_learned_anything.mws" target="new" Haven't You Learned Anything Yet? /a This article title references the philosophy that we stay stuck where we are until we learn our lessons. Not always the truth - sometimes people stay where they are until the rest of us learn OUR lesson.

[buck357ey]

Our nation is full of 'kids'. I believe this is our greatest problem. When should we call them 'Young Adults'? When should we call them 'ADULTS'? We keep calling everyone kids, teens, tweens (thanks to Kathie Couric), but never adults. When News people, journalist, sport casters and athorities start calling everyone over the age of 13 a 'young adult' and everyone over the age of 17 'adult'; then they may start acting like adults. Until that time they will continue acting as 'kids'.

We should be saying to these 'young adults' "Grow Up". "When are you going to act like an 'Adult'?" "Is this the actions of an 'adult'?" Instead we are calling them kids. So when they act like little children THEY excuse themselves by saying "I'm only a KID." Thinking 'My parents will clean up my mess' 'cause I'm not a responsible ADULT (and I'll never become a responsible adult).

We must start calling them nothing but adults starting at age 13 (yes thirteen), or they will never stop the stupidity of killin, beating, and hurting others.

[bodolala]

Is there any organization that works with Rufus Hannah that receives donations, or is there a way to give him a donation directly?