(RepublicanDaily.org) – “[I am the] king of this demented world,” proclaimed Michael Macartney, who has been charged by federal authorities in connection to his part in a global operation that involved the distribution and sale of videos featuring the gruesome torture of animals.
Prosecutors have accused the 50-year-old native of Chesapeake, Virginia, of making money out of the production and distribution of videos that contained the “torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation” of animals. Macartney, who called himself the “Torture King” primarily used juvenile and adult monkeys in his videos, authorities said, which were produced in Indonesia. Macartney and several others – located in the U.S. and the U.K. – paid men from South East Asian country to conduct and film the horrific acts on the hapless animals.
According to authorities, Macartney possessed thousands of such videos, which were sold to anonymous customers online at prices that began at around $100. The videos featured sadistic and grisly acts performed on the monkeys, such as torture through the use of various instruments and other horrifying and cruel acts such as putting them in a blender and having them eaten alive by ants. Macartney allegedly also even took “orders,” where buyers could specify what kind of torture they wanted the monkeys to experience.
Law enforcement said that Macartney, who has a rap sheet and was a member of a motorcycle gang, led a number of online groups where these animal torture videos were sold, discussed, and distributed. Macartney, his associates, and their buyers primarily communicated through the messaging platform Telegram, where messages are encrypted.
The existence of the animal torture ring Macartney was a part of was initially discovered by U.K. news outlet the BBC, which conducted a one-year investigation into the matter. The effort resulted in the arrest and charges brought against Macartney and more than a dozen people from the U.S., the U.K., and Indonesia.
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