From the moment news stories began circulating about Ryan Lochte and his teammates being robbed in Rio, I gave a huge side-eye to the story. Not because its not plausible that four white men could be robbed at gunpoint while in a foreign country, but because the story just didn’t make a lot of sense from the get go. Ryan’s account was that he and his teammates were pulled over by men posing as police officers who pulled them over and demanded their belongings. While his teammates did as told, Billy Badass Ryan claims that he boldly told the robbers, “He refused to get down on the ground,” and when the robber put a gun to his head, he claims he scoffed, “Whatever!” before doing as he was told. It was at that moment that I called b.s. Four American athletes in a country known for having a high crime rate, and he wanted to be a hero? They don’t care about him being a so-called celebrity in Rio; real criminals wouldn’t have hesitated to put a bullet in his brain.
Days later, it has come to light that just as I suspected, Ryan and his teammates were telling a bold-faced lie about the robbery in an attempt to cover up the fact that they trashed a gas station. They paid for the damage they’d done and then came up with the story that they were the victims of a robbery. Of course, they obviously didn’t think this through, because those things called security cameras captured them at the airport with all of their belongings that, had they really been robbed, would have been taken. The IOC wasn’t buying this story either, and promptly began investigating. Ryan and friends, obviously realizing that their lies were about to catch up to them, quickly tried to flee back to the U.S. Ryan- who I feel was the ring leader of the whole thing- managed to hop on a plane and fly away to the safety of America, while his teammates were caught and held in Rio, where they eventually confessed to lying about the robbery story.
What makes me feel that Ryan- with his arrogant, cheesy grin, his shifty eyes, and his platinum silver/gray dyed hair was the orchestrator in all of this? First, he’s back home, tweeting about his hair, while his buddies are over in Rio, facing the music for what they did.
He doesn’t seem too worried or shaken up about being robbed. He had all of white America feeling sorry and ready to form a lynch mob and fly over to Rio and make whoever hurt these golden boys pay, even though the IOC initially didn’t seem to be buying the robbery story themselves. What really pisses me off about this whole situation is this. E-bigots, social media bullies, and sadly, some Black folks, have dragged Gabby Douglas ever since the Olympics began. They built her up four years ago, but have stopped at nothing to tear her down in Rio, bullying her about everything from not placing her hand over her heart while the National Anthem played during the medal ceremony, to her hair, to not being happy and smiling for her teammates. They brought that poor girl to tears, even after she apologized for whatever she’d done to offend so many people. However, these same people immediately felt sorry for Lochte and the other swimmers, sympathizing with these poor, defenseless, white boys who couldn’t defend themselves. And even after it’s been discovered that they all cried wolf, white America and even the IOC still wants to see them as the innocent victims. The IOC had this to say after it was discovered that the swimmers had fabricated the story:
See, I have a real problem with this. First of all, 32 year old Ryan is referred to as a kid just having fun. Funny thing is, Trayvon Martin was 17, yet constantly referred to as a man. Mike Brown was 18, yet he was a man. Tamir Rice was a 12 year old kid when he was shot and killed by a police officer, yet he was called a man. But Lochte, at 32, is just a kid. This is that white privilege b.s that irks my soul. There’s an obvious double standard being presented here- this group of grown white men were kids who didn’t know that fabricating a robbery story that was likely to be believed since they were in another country known for having a high rate of crime was wrong, yet these Black kids, whose lives were cut short by thugs with guns and badges, should have known better. I’m willing to bet that the U.S. won’t send it’s golden boy back over to Rio to have to be held accountable for his actions along with the rest of the swimmers. No, people on social media have already gone to Ryan’s defense, claiming that he was right to come home to safety from that God-awful diseased, crime-infested country. Conservatives have even claimed that the three remaining swimmers were somehow coerced by Brazilian officials to say that they trashed the gas station, but feel that they’re really innocent in all of this as well.
I wonder, would the same benefit of the doubt be given if the tables were turned and it was members of the U.S. basketball team that did something like this? I seriously doubt it. I’m telling you, white skin and blonde hair dyed gray can get you out of the messiest situations. While Gabby Douglas is still trying to lick the wounds inflicted on her by her own country, Lochte has moved on to trying to decide what his next hair color will be. I said from the beginning, Lochte is green with envy over the fact that Michael Phelps once again, took the spotlight during the Olympic games. He was racking up gold and silver medals white Ryan sat, unnoticed on the sidelines. He needed to get the media to pay him some attention and what better way to do that than to paint himself as both a victim of robbery and then a hero, for standing up to the nonexistent robbers. He is the worst kind of human being. His narcissism and arrogance will make him stoop to the lowest levels to ensure that he comes out on top. It’s a good thing the Olympic games are almost over, because I can honestly see him pulling some Tonya Harding type of hood stunt to knock Phelps out of the way so that he could shine. But, I digress. America loves him anyway. He can do no wrong in their eyes.
The fact that Lochte could lie with a straight face to Matt Lauer when he gave his account of the false robbery story when he appeared on the Today Show, proves what a total psycho he really is. He and the other swimmers are an embarrassment to America. Their medals should be stripped away from them and they should be forced to pick up trash off the highways like prisoners or spend a day in prison like the kids on Beyond Scared Straight or something. Make them realize that it’s not cool to go around lying all willy nilly just to take the heat off of their own wrong doing. But we all know that absolutely nothing will happen to any of them. Their skin color makes them immune to facing punishment for their actions. Lochte got what he wanted though- he got the media to focus on him and not on Michael Phelps for a little while, although if I were him, this is not the kind of publicity I would want. He is sure to be the laughing stock of the media and the rest of the world for quite a while.
J.L. SAPPHIRE 