Nathan Kotylak Apologises.

Nathan Kotylak is in the news again. This time making a public apology for what he did during the rioting in Vancouver. (For some strange reason the online and in printed article are different and some of the quotes used below come from the paper article I read today.)

"He told Global Television that he wasn't looking for any sympathy. But he told Global that he wanted people to know that there had already been "serious consequences" and he anticipated there would be more.

While I will give him credit for apologizing I don't know if I would call being suspended from the water polo team "serious consequences". Though he is right, there should be serious consequences coming.

His lawyer calls him a very brave young man for publicly taking responsibility for his actions.

"He is a good kid who got caught up in the moment and made some bad choices," Findlay said. "It's actually refreshing to see somebody as brave as him to step forward, accept responsibility and man up in the way that he has."

While I applaud him FINALLY taking some responsibility for his actions I do find that there is something missing. To hear his family and lawyer talk you would think Nathan did something wrong and turned himself in of his own free will. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Nathan turned himself in days after he was exposed online as being one of the rioters. Even in light of the pictures and video his father was trying to slough it off as being misleading and that he did nothing wrong. While he has NOW stepped forward they need to stop making it seem like this is something he did without being publicly ID'd ahead of time. Stop trying to spin it.

Having ranted about this I do have to say his lawyer was kind of right. Nathan is a young man who found himself in a bad situation and made some bad choices. We all make mistakes and Nathan's was a serious one. Hopefully he will be punished appropriately, learn from his mistakes, and be able to move on with his life.

Here comes another one ..... Nathan Kotylak

And another one mook from the Vancouver riot has been ID'd. Nathan Kotylak, future Olympian and World Class Mook. Nathan is 17 and was on Canada's junior water polo team. Word is he has been suspended pending a review.

According to CBC Newsworld Nathan's father said while it is him in the picture he didn't do it. Wow. That clears everything up then. His father also said;

"He added he wishes his older son had been there that night to look out for his 17-year-old and described the photo as "misleading."

He is on video and was photographed putting a rag into the police car gas tank and lighting it, as well as participating in the riot, but hey that is misleading. Nathan is innocent. Yet another parent with their head up their ass. We have already seen how your parenting has worked on Nathan. why should anyone expect his brother to act differently?

Then you have this;

A family member told The Province that the media should be cautious about feeding into the lynch-mob mentality which is occurring on Internet sites as a result of the astonishing pictures.

The person said the youth was egged on by the crowd and noted that the young man is currently under a great deal of pressure.

Poor baby, he is currently under pressure ... and who exactly created the pressure?

According to the latest reports in the news, from the father, Nathan is going to "do the right thing" and turn himself in. Do the right thing? Not being a fucking mook and rioting would have been doing the right thing. And how about "going to turn himself in"? Are we supposed to believe he would have done the right things if the photos hadn't surfaced? They make it sound like like turning himself in now, well after the fact, is some great act of nobility. While at teh same time they try to deny he did anything wrong.

To Nathan and his family I say this. I understand he is your kin and you feel you have to defend him and try to protect him, but take some fucking responsibility and quit making excuses!

I remember when I was 17 and what my father would have done if I had torched a car and rioted. I would have been turning myself in rather than facing him! Luckily, my parents raised me better than Nathan's so I never had to go through that.

There are a couple of sites I have found that are working on bringing as many of these mooks into the public light as they can. Public Shaming Eternus and Name That Criminal. Both are worth a look.