The real story will come out today…note that Lochte’s mom was the one who reported the incident. Maybe Lochte was up to no good and lost his money but told mom he was robbed?
I don’t see why we should speculate that the athletes were up to no good at this time. I can’t even imagine being pulled off an airplane and questioned by police in another country that doesn’t have the same rights as we do.
oh calm down…by up to no good I meant enjoying some of the local stuff
I used to work for an executive training company. We often had executives from Brazil come to our facility. When asked about traumas in their lives, they often mentioned being robbed at gunpoint, even having taxi drivers killed in front of them. Their response? “That’s just Brazil.” I believe these guys were robbed and I think that they will be pressured to change their stories. I will NOT believe a recantation.
I find it frustrating that people are all ‘they did not act traumatized’. Everyone deals with things differently… just because they did not sink into a pile of crying mush does not mean they were not traumatized and this did not happen.
I don’t see any mention in the article of Ryan Lochte’s mother, unless it was in the video? He’s 32 years old.
They should not have been pulled off that plane, and it sounded on TV last night like Feigen was basically in hiding. There’s some image preserving going on here on the part of Brazil, I think.
Lochte is well known to be a partier, but again, 32 years old. Curious that he said he thought he would “get in trouble.”
Having watched a few episodes of “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?”, I can tell you he is not great at thinking on his feet or talking off the cuff.
I hope they did not make it up, but the story has undeniably changed, from the amount of robbers to the gun to the forehead thing. I have also read that Lochte said he was so drunk, he can’t remember exactly what happened.
As with all athletes who get into trouble, the old saying that nothing good comes out of being out after midnight is very true here.
I think they were all very drunk, and are worried about the reaction of the Brazilian authorities to the bad publicity. A Great Britain athlete was also robbed a day or two ago, and some ParaOlympians were robbed in broad daylight before the other Olympic athletes arrived.
They have ZERO reason to be making this up, what would they get out of that?? They get plenty of attention for their results, they didn’t need to invent something for media attention, and this isn’t good attention! I consider it possible that they were trying to buy pot, or that there could have been prostitutes involved (no one has ever accused Lochte of being a genius!), but I have no doubts something happened to them because for them, no good comes of making up something like that on their way out the door. And I think it is obnoxious that Brazil wants to quibble with the details to save face, and think they were a little out of control to be pulling people off of planes over this and preventing them from leaving the country!! That would be seriously unnerving for the athletes.
Needs a Nap, I believe Lochte’s mother was the first to say to media that he had been robbed, and that’s what started all the attention.
They are shooting themselves in the foot here, Brazil that is. With all the bad press over Zika, etc. and now this, do they think they are encouraging tourists to see their country? If anything they are sending the opposite message.
[QUOTE=Madison;8803700]
They have ZERO reason to be making this up, what would they get out of that?? They get plenty of attention for their results, they didn’t need to invent something for media attention, and this isn’t good attention! I consider it possible that they were trying to buy pot, or that there could have been prostitutes involved (no one has ever accused Lochte of being a genius!), but I have no doubts something happened to them because for them, no good comes of making up something like that on their way out the door. And I think it is obnoxious that Brazil wants to quibble with the details to save face, and think they were a little out of control to be pulling people off of planes over this and preventing them from leaving the country!! That would be seriously unnerving for the athletes.
Needs a Nap, I believe Lochte’s mother was the first to say to media that he had been robbed, and that’s what started all the attention.[/QUOTE]
I have a good friend who has spent time traveling to Rio over the last ten year, for work.
About twice a month or so.
This friend has told me on a number of occasions how crime ridden it is- they have to stay in the company car, no going out at night without escort of some type.
Open sewage drains throughout the city, and super dangerous.
So I am leaning towards Brazil trying to control the message.
Serious question - do they have the right to detain our people like that? They are not the ones who committed a crime.
Lochte is a drama llama. I’m sure something happened, but he was playing up to the media. What do you expect from a fake blonde? 
redalter, maybe lying to authorities (and getting caught in it) is the crime?
[QUOTE=Velvet;8803820]
redalter, maybe lying to authorities (and getting caught in it) is the crime?[/QUOTE]
ahh, did not realize. Makes sense.
My guess…boys were out late engaging in shenanigans and decided to tell their families/significant others that they got mugged to cover for said shenanigans. They overplayed things and then doubled-down instead of coming clean when someone did go to the authorities. Probably assuming that their status as Olympic medal winners would garner sympathy and they could hop on their flights no problem. But, of course everything spun up into this “international incident”. And now Brazilian authorities are upset and probably overreacting a bit as they are already on the defensive from all sorts of bad press - some deserved, some not deserved. Hopefully some cool heads can get involved and resolve this so that both countries don’t look like asshats.
[QUOTE=NEEDS A NAP;8803632]
They should not have been pulled off that plane, and it sounded on TV last night like Feigen was basically in hiding.[/QUOTE]
Why shouldn’t they have been pulled off the plane? If authorities want to question them more, far easier to keep them in the country than phone interviews or trying to get them back to Brazil.
In this country, it can be a crime to file a false report with LE. Brazil, no clue.
[QUOTE=Madison;8803700]
They have ZERO reason to be making this up, what would they get out of that?? [/QUOTE]
From the Portuguese side, the “boys” damaged the bathroom at the gas station and paid cash for the damage.
If there’s any truth in this, what they would get out of it is avoiding shame or embarrassment at “home” (i.e., Lochte’s mom).
This version has the ring of truth to it, more so than the one Lochte tells.
[QUOTE=Where’sMyWhite;8803842]
Why shouldn’t they have been pulled off the plane? If authorities want to question them more, far easier to keep them in the country than phone interviews or trying to get them back to Brazil.[/QUOTE]
Because the authorities had plenty of time to interview them BEFORE it got to that point, and had never told anyone not to leave. So now they escalate it to this level and I’m sure scare the crap out of them in the process, all to save face. I totally agree with Snicklefritz, the Brazilian authorities are shooting themselves in the foot and calling far more attention to the crime by handling it this way.
Making false statements to the police can be a crime, but even if the swimmers embellished, it seems like the Brazilian authorities aren’t using the best judgment in how they are handling it.
[QUOTE=Miss Anne Thrope;8803884]
From the Portuguese side, the “boys” damaged the bathroom at the gas station and paid cash for the damage.
If there’s any truth in this, what they would get out of it is avoiding shame or embarrassment at “home” (i.e., Lochte’s mom).
This version has the ring of truth to it, more so than the one Lochte tells.[/QUOTE]
Interesting, that’s the first credible alternative version I’ve heard! This all just seems to have spiraled out of control, over something that in anyone’s version of events, seems like a minor incident with what I’m guessing drunk idiots!
[QUOTE=redalter;8803815]
Serious question - do they have the right to detain our people like that? They are not the ones who committed a crime.[/QUOTE]
It’s against the law in Brazil to file a false police report (if one was filed).
The judge has a few questions, and wants to talk to them.
By the time the evidence (including athletes’ village security camera video of them coming back very early the next morning WITH wallets) was reviewed, and they asked for Lochte’s passport, he was already back in the US. The remaining 3 have an attorney, and surely the US Embassy is involved.
The police say this is what really happened…
Hmmm so in Brazil, if you allegedly damage property, you can point a gun at them until they pay up. That’s supposed to be better??
