A spokesperson for a Seoul prosecutors’ office told NBC News on Wednesday that Ramsey Khalid Ismael, popularly known as Johnny Somali, will face trial and is banned from leaving the country.

Summary

Ramsey Khalid Ismael, known online as Johnny Somali, faces trial in South Korea for disruptive behavior at a convenience store and is banned from leaving the country.

Somali, infamous for offensive stunts, has provoked outrage with actions like desecrating the Comfort Woman statue in Seoul and mocking historical tragedies in Japan.

South Korean authorities imposed a travel ban due to flight risk, though he remains at large.

Somali’s antics, often streamed on Rumble, have drawn widespread condemnation as part of a growing trend of “nuisance influencers” disrupting communities abroad.

  • @maplebarEnglish
    2•9 days ago

    Wasn’t Socrates also considered an asshole? Not that I’m equating these influencers to philosophers, but at the time the people considered him to be mocking their culture (religion).

    Everything we know about historical Socrates we know from his students, and I don’t think there’s a lot of evidence to suggest he was an asshole. Socrates was allegedly put to death for thought crimes against the city-state and the state’s patron gods, as voted upon by a jury of his “peers”. His philosophy was not counter to the idea of gods, nor do I think it was particularly anti-authoritarian, but clearly people didn’t like what he had to say or the questions he was asking, so they up and killed 'em.

    Personally I think that makes the Socrates the good guy and the people of Athens circa 400BC the assholes, but to each their own.

    Either way, there’s a big difference in my view between a person who is influential for their ideas, creations or achievements versus someone who is an “influencer” because of the “content” that they create for the corporate tech platform of choice…

    • @[email protected]English
      2•9 days ago

      My intent was not to actually complain too much about Socrates, but just use him as a more tolerable example. I generally agree with your opinion on who was in the wrong there, but part of my consideration was the reports that they knew he could flee and supposedly were OK with that, but he decided to stay on principle. Also the joke he made about them treating him like a hero for his punishment, probably not quite in good taste given the circumstances.

      That aside, while I do agree with your last statement, there have also always been conmen, fame seekers, and less influential but more… annoying people throughout history, especially if they had nepotism or class differences in their side.