Death of Ronnie McNutt

Ronald Merle McNutt (May 23, 1987 – August 31, 2020) was a US Army Reserve veteran from New Albany, Mississippi, who had served in the Iraq War in 2007 and 2008. He worked at a Toyota plant and lived with mental health conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which was reported to be connected to his military service. He was described as a Christian who regularly attended church.

On August 31, 2020, McNutt began a livestream on Facebook Live. His best friend, Joshua Steen, who saw the stream, told Rolling Stone that McNutt regularly used livestreaming as a form of therapy, but that this stream appeared different: McNutt seemed heavily inebriated and despondent, and at one point appeared to misfire a rifle into the air. Steen said he attempted to intervene multiple times, hoping Facebook would cut the stream, but the platform maintained the stream did not violate its guidelines because McNutt had not yet killed himself. During the stream, McNutt's phone rang frequently; the final call was from his girlfriend, and after a brief argument he said his last words, "Hey guys, I guess that's it," before fatally shooting himself. The New Albany Police Department had been called during the livestream but did not enter his apartment until after hearing the gunshot. Police Chief Chris Robertson said officers had secured the perimeter and attempted to reach McNutt by speakerphone without success, and concluded McNutt was in a mental state that could not be reached. McNutt was buried two days later at Snowdown Church of Christ Cemetery in Prentiss County, Mississippi.

Following his death, footage of the livestream spread virally across platforms including Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, frequently disguised as innocuous content so that viewers encountered it unexpectedly. The hashtag #ronniemcnutt reportedly received 15.6 million views on TikTok within days. Public reaction included expressions of sympathy for McNutt and his family, discussion of mental health and suicide prevention, and concern from parents about children's exposure to the footage. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly stated the video was something no child should see.

The incident generated debate about the legal responsibilities of internet platforms in removing graphic content. Steen and others said they had reported the livestream to Facebook repeatedly before McNutt's death, without the stream being stopped. TikTok stated its systems were automatically detecting and removing the clips, while a TikTok policy official attributed continued circulation to a coordinated effort from the dark web. Facebook stated it removed the original video on the day it was streamed and used automated tools to remove subsequent copies, expressing condolences to McNutt's family and friends.