Michael Macartney, 50, confessed to the BBC his role in an extreme monkey torture network.

A ringleader in a global monkey torture network exposed by the BBC has been charged by US federal prosecutors.

Michael Macartney, 50, who went by the alias “Torture King”, was charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing videos.

Mr Macartney was one of three key distributors identified by the BBC Eye team during a year-long investigation into sadistic monkey torture groups.

Two women have also been charged in the UK following the investigation.

Warning: This article contains disturbing content

Mr Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison, ran several chat groups for monkey torture enthusiasts from around the world on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

  • @Ultragigagigantic@lemmy.world
    7•3 months ago

    Thousands of years ago smoke machine kicks on

    Buried deep in our DNA are these types of people, and I’ve often thought of exactly why. Back in the jungle our species was born in, we NEEDED shitters. The original battle royal called nature was a harsh mistress, and we carefully evolved these types to carry us through the dark ages.

    Sociopaths: to help manipulate the tribe into staying together

    Psychopaths: to kill to defend the tribe

    General Anxiety Disorders: to stay alert for threats to the tribe

    Depression: to keep the tribe realistic about existing on planet earth

    Personality disorders: to unlock the creativity it takes to get out of sticky situations

    Schizophrenia: to give a sense of higher purpose to the tribe through delusions of grandeur

    And so on. Plus when selecting for certain genes to keep the tribe strong, there will be unintended consequences.

    I hope yall enjoyed my very unscientific ramblings about this.

    • @nonfuinoncuro@lemm.ee
      8•3 months ago

      dna: mutates randomly

      lemmy comments: This is a grand plan to help our survival as a species! without monkey torture we wouldn’t have made it through the before times!

      nb: I did enjoy the unscientific fan fiction, please subscribe me to more evolutionary psychology facts

      • @shea
        6•3 months ago

        Evolution isn’t a plan, its the result of the RaNdOm MuTaTiOnS. Which sometimes proved useful for the survival of the being that mutated, allowing them to pass on that gene. The above comment is speculating reasons that those particular mutations might have helped them and therefore allowed them to live to breed.