Social media giants are struggling to remove the viral suicide video of US Army vet Ronnie McNutt who live streamed his death last month. McNutt, who had served in Iraq, shot himself in the head during a Facebook Live stream in in Mississippi on August 31.
The harrowing clip of the McNutt's suicide has gone viral on social media sites including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp. Several users have shared their experience after 'accidentally' watching the footage.
McNutt Suffered from PTSD After returning from Iraq Tour
The graphic video shows a heavily bearded McNutt sitting on a desk as he answers phone call. "Yeah you want to talk to me now?" he is heard saying before disconnecting the call.
The phone rings again and McNutt answers saying, "Yeah you wanna talk to me now? Oh is that the way you are gonna be," before he hangs up again.
McNutt is then heard telling his live stream audience, "Hey guys. I guess that's it." The army vet then picks a rifle and fires one shot into his head, dying instantly. Just a few moments later, cops are seen entering his house.
Josh Steen, a friend of McNutt, said that he was suffering from PTSD after serving tours in the Iraq War.
Friends Blame Facebook For Letting the Video Go Viral
Lashing out at the social media sites for their inability to remove the graphic video, Steen said that Facebook didn't do enough to prevent McNutt's death from being streamed online or to remove offending content about McNutt's death in the days since. "Facebook could've stopped this and didn't. Facebook is directly responsible for the video being shared online and going viral," he told Heavy.
"Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social platforms could ban accounts, IPs, and stop the spread of this video. YouTube can flag you for using two seconds of a copyrighted song, but can't seem to filter out my friend ending his life. It does not make sense," Steen told the outlet.
McNutt's Fake Death Conspiracy Crops Up on Social Media
Despite McNutt video being live streamed, a conspiracy theory is claiming his death to be fake. The hoax claim started soon after a fake account was created in McNutt's name. A screenshot of the chats from the account is being shared extensively on social media. In the comments, the user has written,"I faked my own death because life f**cki*g sucks you know, i wanted to go away and i actually edited the video and made it into a live, i was talking to my mom during the live, and i feel better but i still wanna get away from this world."
The warning of the graphic video appears on the 'For You' trending page on TikTok, and says, "if you see a video of a white man with a beard at a desk pls click off the video immediately. pls don't attempt to find it out of curiosity. seriously."
"It's very gruesome and I highly suggest you stay away from TikTok for a while," wrote a user.
A friend of McNutt wrote: "Please say a prayer right now for the family of Ronnie McNutt. He just killed himself live on Facebook and I cannot unsee this. I tried but apparently it wasn't quick enough to reach him. I wasn't quick enough. Dear God, I wish I could have got to him."
