Sorry, but his actions didn't warrant having a gun pointed at him, and cash demanded of him.

 

My understanding is the security guard pulled the gun and told him he has to stay until police arrived. Lochte didn't want to stay and offered $50 to pay for damage and they demanded $400 which he paid.

Good info. I had not heard that.

Yes!

Brazil has managed to make me a Lochte supporter, hadn't figured on that happening.

Brazil should spend more time focusing on a proper sewage system.

I'm missing something here. I haven't been following closely.

 

Lochte was drunk, destroyed some property, and a security guard pulled a gun on him to hold him until police arrived. He offered to pay for the damages, eventually paying $400 and was released. He then embellished the story, saying that he was robbed.

 

Is any part of that untrue? How then did it blow up into something larger? Was it a result of his embellishment? With only the above information, I can't see why so many are now on his side.

TBG ... no doubt Lochte's embellishment is what drove this whole matter. What if Lochte had told the story this way:

 

We were drunk and I stupidly ripped a poster off a wall. Then out of nowhere this guy come up and points a gun in my face and demands money from me. I couldn't understand him so I didn't know what was going on. He told me I had to give him money and I just wanted to get out of there. I offerred to pay for the poster but he demanded more money and we were willing to give them whatever they asked. We are sitting there in a foreign country with an armed guy demanding money. What else should we do? We gave the guy enough money to satisfy him so we could leave. Were we robbed? Yes, I think we were robbed. A guy is pointing a gun at us demanding money. Yes, I feel like were robbed.

I watched Matt Lauer interview Lochte. I thought that there was damage to the restroom door that they tried to break open because it was locked. One additional point that Lauer brought out is that at some point, someone came up and asked the Americans if they would like him to translate for them. They accepted the offer and so apparently the communication gap between the swimmers and the security guard was narrowed. Lauer went on to push back on Lochte and said that he was not robbed or extorted by the security guard but negotiated how much he would pay for damages with the guard.

 

However, the security guard pointed a gun at them and demanded money "to cover damages." Since a gun was introduced into the equation you can no longer call this a negotiation. This is called duress. This was no negotiation. It was extortion.

 

To be sure, Lochte and the others are guilty of vandalism and should pay for damages. They are also guilty of lying and making this far worse than it needed to be.

 

But Lochte et al were also victims of a crime by the security guard. He pointed a gun at them and demanded money. Under duress, they gave him money to get out of the situation unharmed and without being arrested.

 

The old adage fits here, two wrongs don't make a right. But even so, using a firearm to extort money is the greater crime.

I don't find it odd that a security guard would use a gun.

 

Seems like I remember that the security guard was holding them until the police arrived. Lochte offered to pay for damages before the police got there. His first offer of $50 was denied. He was countered with $400 and paid it and they were released. Even if the security guard has his gun out the entire time, I don't see this as extortion.

 

Are the facts that I stated accurate? Was there more than one security guard?

Also keep in mind, our laws don't apply in Rio. So when we see a security guard pulled a gun and demanded money, that maybe normal procedures in Rio. I have no idea.

 

I blame his mom. If she didn't run to the media, no one would have even heard about it. Haha

They need the money.

I agree with the point above. Once a gun is introduced there is no negotiation taking place.

See, he's fine. He already scored an endorsement deal with ROBOCOPUSA and he is slated to be on Dancing With The Stars.