Kitsune Kon Bans Youtuber ‘DesolatorMagic’ Due to Weapons Concerns
Kitsune Kon is taking place at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, WI, but at least one person who planned on attending won’t be let in the door. The convention made an announcement earlier today stating that Youtuber ‘DesolatorMagic’ has been officially banned from the event due to safety concerns.
In a video posted on July 1st where DesolatorMagic announced he was attending the con, he stated “considering the sheer volume of threats I get on Twitter and on Youtube and Reddit and everywhere else — if you so much as look at me wrong, I’m probably going to stab you. So just FYI — you might not want to freak me out. You might want to come at me within my full vision arc and kind of slowly. That said, if you do want to fight me, just announce it first. No cheap shots, or I will shoot you.” In context it’s actually really difficult to tell how serious he is, but as DesolatorMagic repeatedly mentions he carries a gun in his other videos (and also talks about having had to pull it out), it’s clear he’s serious enough.
I mean, we’re talking about a guy who claims he had to once show his firearm during a dispute while playing Pokemon Go.
(Update 7/13: In our comments (but not in the video we learned this from), DesolatorMagic says “I pulled out a gun to stop someone following me at a high rate of speed in a dark alley and attempting to attack or rob me while playing Pokemon Go.” In a video posted earlier today on Youtube, he relates this same story and says that the person “following him” was scared off when he pulled out his gun.
While I believe that DesolatorMagic believes this story to be accurate, from what we’ve researched he appears to be a resident of Appleton, WI. As someone who has spent decades living in towns of similar size and crime rates… I find it hard to believe this person was attempting to rob DesolatorMagic. It sounds like some other guy happened to be in an alley at night, DesolatorMagic pulled a gun, and the other party got understandably scared. As he and the unknown party were the only ones present, they’re the only ones who truly know what happened that night, and this interpretation is just my personal opinion)
In their announcement, Kitsune Kon staff stated:
While this Youtuber has stated he has concealed carry, what he stated on the online video made some attendees very uncomfortable.
This situation was reviewed by our board, the hotel, and the Green Bay Police Department. The end decision was to apply the ban.
Now the official stance of the Hotel (which as a convention we have agreed with and chose to follow for safety of all in attendance) is that they do not allow any weapons of any kind (concealed carry or not).
DesolatorMagic posted a fairly angry rant in response to the ban. Contrary to what DesolatorMagic claims in that video though, Kitsune Kon does have a fairly straight forward policy against real weapons clearly posted on their website. The convention’s guidelines specifically prohibit bringing “…real firearms, live steel, or projectiles of any kind” into the con space.
This policy has been on their website for years, as can easily be confirmed using Archive.org.
In fact, this is an exceptionally common policy at fandom conventions, and should surprise absolutely no one. The fact that DesolatorMagic seems shocked by it simply shows how unfamiliar with the convention scene he is. He also makes bizarre claims showing how little he understands how conventions are run, or how an event like that manages security. Though I won’t be there this year, I’ve attended Kitsune Kon in the past and know several of their staffers. In my experience, they have handled security issues responsibly and professionally.
You know, like by taking steps to preemptively ban a guy who says he’s going to bring a gun.
Update 7/13: This story originally contained a partial quote from DesolatorMagic with a direct link to its source. As the video linked has now been deleted from Youtube, we have expanded the quote to provide better context
FYI I’m in talks with my lawyer to sue you for blatantly false, misleading, and defaming statements in this article.
Have fun with that.
As I responded on Twitter, if you can point out any factual inaccuracies, we’d be more than happy to correct them.
I’m not sure what they ARE, as you literally say the things we mentioned in he two videos we linked to (which we of course made copies of), but we are here to listen.
I pulled out a gun to stop someone following me at a high rate of speed in a dark alley and attempting to attack or rob me while playing Pokemon Go. You presented a bit of a different version of events.
Those quotes were clearly jokes and not to be taken seriously, OBVIOUSLY, and also a slight mix of actual warnings to anyone who would try to assault me at Kitsune Kon to not do so, as I would not be unarmed. 100% reasonable. You’re twisting it to sound like I threatened any attendees. My lawyer agrees with both of these points.
You claim their policy on weapons was easy to find. That is provably false. Watch my next video for details or just read the upcoming court documents with an itemized complaint if I can get the law office to take the case.
I found the weapons policy in two seconds. It’s exactly where most cons put it.
And it is not clear that you’re joking in the videos, as I said above. I did link people to the full context. You can claim it’s a joke, but Kitsune Kon clearly doesn’t think it was.
Frankly, how those statements are taken are opinion, and protected speech.
I’m going to explain some basics of defamation law here for you, and any lawyer you speak to is going to back me up on this (though since I am not one myself — feel free to confirm this). If a statement is true or purely opinion, it’s not defamation regardless of the effects. I am not misrepresenting your words, nor am I making them up. I offer some opinion on them, yes — but only that.
Kitsune Kon banned you publicly. That’s news. We reported on it. If you have an issue with that, take it up with them.
Screw you, Trae Dorn! Desolator Magic is a great guy and he has good intentions he just wants to defend himself and anyone around him in case of a shooting. He doesn’t want to assault anyone, and he should not have been banned. You are twisting the story to make it sound like he’s a threat to society, when he’s really a good man and just because he’s a concealed carry owner doesn’t mean he wants to shoot anyone. hes just very vocal about being pro gun on his YouTube channel; he wasn’t “threatening to bring a gun to KitsuneKon”.
I never said “threatening” — I said he claimed he was going to bring one, which would have violated their (industry standard) policy. Don’t use quotes if you’re not actually quoting.
Okay, then don’t use quotes to make someone jokingly exaggerating in a YouTube video sound like someone with bad intentions who wants to start a fight in the convention center. I see you have expanded the quotes to provide more context, but you still have this line explaining how “In context it’s actually really difficult to tell how serious he is, but as DesolatorMagic repeatedly mentions he carries a gun in his other videos (and also talks about having had to pull it out), it’s clear he’s serious enough.” In context, it was not hard to tell if he was serious or joking at all, he was very clearly joking. And you said that the firearm policy was quite easy to find, while Desolator said it was nowhere on their website. I do believe Desolator would know where to find it if it was there, as he has a degree in web design. My best guess would be that after this incident KitsuneKon updated their policies or made them easier to find. One of the things that really bothers me about this article is that you say he lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, which I already know to be true, even though he is so concerned with his identity that he never says what part of Wisconsin he lives in, or even his first name. By publicly posting the city he lives in you are violating his privacy.
Part of *my* degree is in web design, so I’m not sure where you’re going with that — and I found it in two seconds by looking in the place most cons list their weapons policies.
I found out the city he lived in from a random Reddit thread doing background research. I am under no obligation to hide what *city* he’s in, especially when it can be found via Google search in two minutes.
And if he’s so concerned about his privacy, someone should probably make him aware that if he DOES file a lawsuit, his name and personal details (including name and home address) will become immediately available on the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access page https://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl
Not sure how to respond to that
How does adding DesolatorMagic’s possible city add to this conversation? Why was it added?
In my mind, it seems only worth mentioning to drive away business in that area which may go to DesolatorMagic. I believe writing a “local resident” or “Wisconsin resident” may have have sufficed, if even needed.
I wonder why “Safety” isn’t its own heading for conventions; if I were going to a convention without using costumes or props for myself, I wouldn’t be inclined to search there for my news about my safety any sooner than I’d expect to find a fire escape route taped under a toilet seat lid. Can you help influence the convention culture to better highlight safety concerns, if these are indeed important issues? Your degree is in web design, so adding another header to a convention news website shouldn’t be tooooo difficult for persons making the convention page, right? I do not want my safety issues lumped under Cosplay. I do not feel carrying a legal weapon with permit falls under Costumed Play nor Props.
I added his city because I’m questioning how realistic his story is as a resident of a similarly sized Wisconsin town. And “weapons policies” historically fall under cosplay rules because that’s usually the only reason anyone ever wants to bring one.
Man, people who seemingly don’t ever go to cons sure do seem to have a lot of opinions on how they’re run this week.
Still, disagree with where safety rules are placed. Bad form- presuming I don’t go to conventions. I make a reasonable request about safety for those who don’t cosplay or use props – make an analogy – and it seems okay to do business as usual. How do we welcome more people in safety– presume they are all cosplayers? This seems like a stretch or leap of faith. If safety is a top priority, I don’t think it should be lumped under any other heading. Just my $.03 (adjusted for inflation).
If you have a lawyer that would take that case you need a new lawyer. You are just going to be out money. You defame yourself every time you get on youtube.
Brandon Skyler Stone He said in one of his recent videos that his lawyer isn’t getting paid unless he wins
save the day des
LOL you can barely afford rent, and you can afford a lawyer?
PROTIP: your tax attorney isn’t a real lawyer.
Bra Va nerd and tie I applaud you for standing up to this menace. Seriously thank you he is awful
screw you
In support of Ryan Kopf’s lawsuit against Nerd & Tie. Hopefully this site burns.
Also, in support of Desolator Magic’s lawsuit and getting that guaranteed win.
Just wanted to chip in I literally have never looked for rules like this before for a con. I I looked over the website and it was in the first spot I looked. Under Programming, Cosplay and Prop rules, 3 rule in.
It’s where most cons list their weapons rules.
Can you help highlight the need for safety by suggesting – using your influence and advice based on education – to make this heading its own tab? Otherwise, by having it two+ pages deep into a website makes safety less important than any other tab that is on the home page.
If you went to Cosplay, after hitting the Programming tab, then it is, by fact, NOT the 1st place you looked.
Either amusingly or ironically, one of the ads on this page (at least right now, as I’m typing this) is for Concealed Carry permits.
I’m sorry, Trae. I really did try to watch his videos. But his voice is JUST SO ANNOYING! You can actually hear the over-self-inflated pompousness in his voice, just an octave above his virginity demanding to be finally taken. And the amplitude really does bounce off the walls of his mom’s basement.
There is definitely a reason he doesn’t show his face in the videos. Could be the acne. could be the fact that he records them in Cheetos-crumb-covered week-old tighty whiteys. Not sure. But thank goodness in either case!
See? That’s called “an opinion” Des. Not reported facts. No matter how true they are. Tell your lawyer to sharpen his pencil, and get ready to charge you enough for his summer home. But be prepared to empty your bank account for no reason, and no results in your favor.
This has to be the funniest comment section I have ever read on a news article. It’s icing on the cake that “Anonymous Desolator Magic Fan” is most likely Desolator trying mask himself as a fan. Good reporting Trae. It was an extremely short article but to the point. Two thumbs up from me.