Michael Brutsch was recently exposed by Gawker as the controversial redditor violentacrez. Though Brutsch was comfortably and anonymously known as Reddit’s “biggest troll,” the exposure and recent attention have cost him his job, and he is now worried about his financial future.
[quote type="large" align="left"] “I just hope I can hold out a month,” he wrote under his “clean” Reddit handle mbrutsch. “My wife hasn’t been able to work for over a year, and our savings will last about 3 weeks, not considering the current lack of health insurance.” [/quote]
Lucky for Brutsch, he is not without his supporters on Reddit. User IAmA_Undecided started a campaign Monday on subreddit r/circlejerkers, a group dedicated to trolling, to help Brutsch with his financial difficulties.
[quote type="large" align="left"] “I want to post a link to a paypal [sic] account at a certain time when we can gather the troops and upvote it,” the redditor stated. “I want to title it: ‘His Name Was Michael Brutsch. His Name Was Michael Brutsch. His Name Was Michael Brutsch. And We Will Buy Him A Beer.’ ” [/quote]
The campaign is also aligning itself in direct opposition to r/shitredditsays (SRS), a subreddit dedicated to exposing “bigoted, creepy, misogynistic, transphobic, unsettling, racist, homophobic” comments on the site. Frequent redditors on the thread have largely supported the Gawker article that outed violentacrez. “[T]here will be one tangible benefit to donating: the seething rage of SRS as they realize they haven’t broken [Brutsch], and that he does not stand alone,” said IAmA_Undecided.
Brutsch himself says that while he appreciates the sentiment, he doesn’t expect much out of it, telling the Daily Dot that, “I was contacted by a couple of redditors who wanted to do something,” he said, continuing, “So I told them to go ahead, but I doubt anything will come of it.”
So far, the campaign has raised $110, so while Brutsch may be seen as ungrateful for his modicum of support, he also kind of has a point once again.
What do you think of Michael Brutsch, the outed redditor known as violentacrez? Did he get what he deserved as a troll or did Gawker go too far in outing him? Sound off!
