Vine Gone Horribly Wrong: Rape Viewed by Thousands

People will do anything for the vine or “the ‘gram” these days, but at what point do we collectively take a step back and decide when things have gone too far?

That point for us was this evening after we witnessed a Vine video of what appeared to be a young woman getting raped. Twitter user @Jnodagreat posted a series of short clips of a man and woman having sex on a rock — the problem is that the woman was visibly unconscious.

The other problem is that the person filming the video (and subsequently watching his friend allegedly rape someone) was more concerned about making sure viewers knew his Twitter handle rather than evaluating what really was going on. He unknowingly identified himself as a possible accomplice to rape all for the sake of shout-outs and retweets.

The video and Twitter page have both been removed, but not before thousands of users reported the video to Chicago authorities (Edit: The user has changed his Twitter name to @Vinceharperhall. His facebook can be found here).

If you’ve seen the video or have access to it and would like to report the alleged crime to Chicago Police, you can do so by calling the PD (312) 745-4290 or the Detective at  (312) 747-8380.

According to Facebook, the man responsible for filming the video goes by the name Johnathan Heater. Below is his photo:

We can’t say exactly what’s happening in the video, but anyone with eyes and a decent sense of perception can see that something very wrong is happening. It’s important to note that in Illinois and many other states if a person is intoxicated or drugged he or she is unable to give consent, therefore, engaging in a sex act with a person under the influence is considered rape.

Also, in 2003 Illinois became the first state to pass a law allowing a person to withdraw consent at any time during sexual intercourse. Therefore, even if a person is engaged in a consensual sex act, if either person says “no”  during the act any sex act thereafter becomes rape.

Let’s make sure this woman gets justice!