A ringleader in a global monkey torture network exposed by the BBC has been charged by US federal prosecutors.
Michael Macartney, 50, who went by the alias “Torture King”, was charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing videos.
Mr Macartney was one of three key distributors identified by the BBC Eye team during a year-long investigation into sadistic monkey torture groups.
Two women have also been charged in the UK following the investigation.
Warning: This article contains disturbing content
Mr Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison, ran several chat groups for monkey torture enthusiasts from around the world on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
They had the same conversations during the Nuremberg trials … soldiers and low ranking officers defended themselves by saying they were just taking orders and were forced to do terrible things, so it was the leadership’s fault … high ranking officers and political leaders defended themselves by saying that they ordered people to do things but it wasn’t their fault that the orders were carried out, low ranking people always had the option to refuse, so it was the soldier’s fault.
It’s the same conversation every time … terrible things happen and everyone excuses themselves with mental gymnastics to avoid any responsibility to terrible things they helped to make possible.