CA: Walnut Creek boy set out to hunt sex offenders with his BB gun
The then-17-year-old boy was armed with two things: his BB gun and a list of local registered sex offenders, available through a public statewide database that tracks them, according to authorities.
The teen proceeded to travel around town, accosting and threatening people convicted of sex crimes, and occasionally shooting at them with the BB gun. On March 15, he was arrested on suspicion of brandishing a weapon and assault with a firearm, according to police and court records.
The alleged targeting of sex offenders is reminiscent of a more serious incident last year, in Fremont, where a 29-year-old man allegedly posed as an accountant, went to the home of a convicted child molester, and killed him, later allegedly bragging to police how good it felt to stab the victim.
In both cases, the sex offenders were targeted through Megan’s Law, a site that tracks people convicted of various sexual offenses and publicly lists their photographs and addresses.
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This 17 year old boy went out hunting for people who had already served their sentences, completed treatment, and were trying to rebuild their lives. That alone should alarm us. It shows how deeply our society has taught young people to hate, fear, and dehumanize anyone labeled a “sex offender,” regardless of the facts.
The transition back into the community is already one of the hardest journeys a person can make. It becomes nearly impossible when narrow minded people insist on demonizing them forever. We treat them as deviants rather than citizens who made a mistake, paid their debt, and are trying to live responsibly. Yes, some offenders are dangerous — but the data is clear: sex offenders have one of the lowest recidivism rates of any crime category, second only to murder. Yet we continue imposing draconian restrictions with no evidence they improve safety.
What’s worse is that we are raising a generation of haters instead of forgivers.
When I read about this teenager hunting registrants, I think of other moments in history when societies taught their children to hate. I think of children in conflict zones like Gaza being dressed in militant uniforms and handed play-weapons — their innocence replaced with rage. I think of the lynchings of Black men in America’s past, fueled by lies, fear, and parental indoctrination. In every case, hatred wasn’t born naturally. It was taught.
And now I see that same pattern repeating with sex offenders. Most people don’t even understand who is on the registry. They imagine violent predators lurking in the shadows. They don’t know the registry is filled with people convicted of non violent offenses: public nudity, consensual teen relationships, prostitution, public urination, selfies, and foolish mistakes made in youth. They don’t know that many registrants were never violent, never predatory, and never posed a threat to children.
Yet parents and communities teach their children that these people are monsters worthy of hunting, harming, or driving out. That is not protection — it is abuse. It is the creation of hatred where none needs to exist.
We should be teaching our children discernment, compassion, and truth — not fear, vengeance, and ignorance. Because once a society starts creating “acceptable targets,” once it teaches its youth that some people deserve cruelty, it loses its moral compass.
There are laws against people using information from the registry to assault these victims, and the parents and child involve should be held to the standard of the law.
Bo – probably one of the best commentaries I’ve seen regarding this issue.
I’ll add this: some people will throw a tantrum about comparing our plight with those from history which were based on race, religion, or ethnicity. The point of our speaking out is not to engender any special sympathy toward the object of the hatred, but to call out and condemn the hatred itself.
A just society condemns actions, not individuals.