Teen wrongfully ID’d as SoCal sea lion attacker responds on-line

A California teenager says a three-word Instagram remark turned his life the wrong way up after social media customers wrongly recognized him as the person seen brutally kicking a sea lion in a viral video — sparking loss of life threats, doxxing and a wave of on-line harassment.

Ryland Cuttitta, 18, mentioned he has no connection to the surprising July 22 assault at La Jolla Cove, which stays beneath investigation by the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a attainable violation of the federal Marine Mammal Safety Act.

“My title is Ryland Cuttitta, and I used to be not a part of the video. I used to be not even there or related to it in any manner. All of it got here from an Instagram remark,” he advised NBC San Diego.

The case stems from a disturbing viral clip that confirmed a younger man repeatedly kicking a sea lion resting on a low concrete wall at Level La Jolla earlier than chasing the frightened animal as bystanders laughed.

The footage drew widespread outrage on-line, prompted a federal investigation and condemnation from animal welfare teams, together with PETA.

However as web customers looked for the suspect’s id, Cuttitta claimed a sarcastic remark he left beneath a repost of the video was interpreted as a confession.

Cuttitta posted the phrases “clearly self-defense,” meaning to mock the attacker. As an alternative, different customers allegedly concluded he was admitting to being the particular person within the video.

His mom Susan Cuttitta mentioned she initially watched the footage with out recognizing the particular person proven.

“‘Oh my gosh’, how horrible that there’s this individual that’s abusing this animal, that was my intestine response, after which I moved on to the subsequent story as a result of I didn’t acknowledge the particular person,” she advised NBC.

That modified when her son known as to say strangers on-line had begun accusing him of finishing up the assault.

“I went, ‘What? How are you being related to it?’ Nicely, I made a remark, and I believe some people took my remark as me being the particular person within the video,” she advised the outlet.

The misunderstanding shortly spiraled, the household mentioned.

Their residence tackle was posted on-line they usually started receiving violent and obscene messages, together with loss of life threats left in voicemail messages shared with the station, in accordance with the native affiliate.

Cuttitta insisted her son was nowhere close to La Jolla when the assault occurred.

“It was not my son. He wasn’t there. He was not even 10 miles from the La Jolla incident, and I believed I simply want to guard him and my daughters. They’re minor kids,” she added.

Ryland additionally pointed to apparent variations between himself and the suspect captured on video.

“Clearly within the video you possibly can see that the child is blonde with a buzz minimize. My hair is darkish and longer than that,” he mentioned.

“It wasn’t me within the video. I’d by no means do something like that. It was a really disturbing video.”

NBC San Diego reported that the household has filed an internet report with the San Diego Police Division concerning the threats and has additionally spoken with the NOAA investigator main the animal abuse case.

The teenager mentioned he has since made his Instagram account personal in an try to cease the abuse.

“It’s simply loopy so many individuals can see one factor on social media, and simply imagine it,” he mentioned. “Nobody knew what I appeared like. I put my account on personal so I wouldn’t get harassed.”

His mom mentioned the ordeal has highlighted the hazards of on-line vigilante justice.

“He’s all the time finished the fitting factor, and he made a remark. That’s a lesson we shall be speaking about and proceed to speak about,” she mentioned. “Perhaps that is advocacy work on our half to now unfold the phrase in regards to the risks of social media.”

In the meantime, federal investigators are persevering with efforts to determine the one who truly assaulted the protected marine mammal.

The Cuttitta household hope whoever carried out the assault is discovered and held accountable, whereas clearing Ryland’s title after what they are saying was a devastating case of mistaken id.

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