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How did the founders of Bumfights and Indecline videos get away without being charged? They literally make money from their website which shows videos of them instigating fights and doing graffiti. Not only that but they seem to go after people with disabilities and homeless, wouldn't this by itself count as a hate crime or some form of discrimination or distribution of obscene material?

According to wikipedia, Ryan McPherson now has a warrant out for his arrest but this was for something he did in 2014 in Thailand. Wikipedia seems to imply that they don't even know the real identity of some of the producers, like Ty Beeson who was on Dr.Phil before getting kicked off.

Obligatory rant: these people are the scum of the Earth.

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  • Is it the old adage: "Fighting is illegal. Fighting on camera is a sport."?
    – Ken Sharp
    Jan 19, 2016 at 16:47

1 Answer 1

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They didn't "get away with it".

According to a July 29, 2006 article in the San Diego Union Tribune:

Two producers of the infamous “Bumfights” video were jailed yesterday, more than three years after pleading guilty to staging illegal fights between homeless people.

Zachary Bubeck and Ryan McPherson were taken into custody after Superior Court Judge Charles W. Ervin reaffirmed a 180-day sentence he issued in February 2005.

Bubeck, 28, and McPherson, 23, were originally sentenced to perform community service work instead of serving jail sentences. However, they failed to do so and then lied about it, prompting Ervin to revoke their probation. Both men unsuccessfully appealed the judge's decision.

[...]

The two men pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to stage an illegal fight. In June 2003, they were ordered to perform 280 hours of community service work.

It looks like their convictions were for violation of California Penal Code Section 412.

There were other charges that didn't stick:

Previously, a judge dismissed felony charges of battery and soliciting a felony in connection with the production of the video.

And on the civil side:

Earlier this year, the four producers settled lawsuits filed by three men who appeared in the video.

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  • Guess the judge got sucked into that one about how they were actually good guys who had just made a mistake and only gave them 180 days of prison. So how can they still legally be profiting from the videos even after they found there creation was illegal?
    – TreVon
    Jan 20, 2016 at 9:41
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    @TreVon neither the government nor the producers initiated forfeiture proceedings.
    – Viktor
    Jan 20, 2016 at 13:53

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