The Guy Who Tried to Bullfight a Wild Bison at a National Park Is Going to Jail
Last month, footage of a man taunting some innocent bison at Yellowstone National Park went viral, and the guy was roundly slammed for being a total dick to a majestic beast that was just minding its own business. Now, in a victory for animals needlessly fucked with by humans everywhere, the guy is going to jail, thanks to a judge who sentenced him to 130 days behind bars, NBC Montana reports.
In the 58-second video, a seemingly drunk Raymond Reinke approaches a bison as it meanders across a Yellowstone roadway. Like some kind of wannabe Pedro Romero in jean shorts, the 55-year-old taunts and lunges at the massive animal as it wanders around stalled traffic. Reinke finally manages to piss off the bison enough to make it charge at him, a close brush with death the guy narrowly dodges.
It seems like Reinke spent his summer on some kind of bizarre, menacing quest to act like an idiot all over the pristine wilds of America. Along with ticking off that bison in Yellowstone, he was reportedly busted for public intoxication in Grand Teton National Park, and got caught causing a disturbance in a Glacier National Park hotel, where he was arrested.
Reinke was facing a handful of charges, including disorderly conduct and the weirdly specific offense of “harassment of wildlife.” He initially pleaded not guilty to all counts, but wound up pleading guilty to four charges when he returned to court this week.
“I’m sorry to the buffalo,” Reinke said during his sentencing, apparently unaware of the small distinction between bison and buffalo. “He didn’t deserve what I did to him. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to hurt that buffalo.”
“You’re lucky the bison didn’t take care of it, and you’re standing in front of me,” Federal judge Mark Carman fired back.
Along with sentencing the guy to 130 days behind bars, the judge slapped him with a $70 fine and five years of unsupervised probation, during which time he’ll be banned from all three national parks as well as all liquor stores and bars, which is, apparently, something judges can do. Welcome to the proud ranks of other dumbasses who have faced criminal charges after hassling majestic animals, man!
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This article originally appeared on VICE US.