Tuesday , May 26, 2:16 p.m.: Metro has received information that suggests xsouldeath is the head coach of TDotPickup, known as E.J.
Toronto police are looking closely at video of a Toronto pick-up artist who filmed himself muttering about stabbing a girl who turned him down.
User xsouldeath's YouTube channel features videos of himself trying to pick up women in the Yonge and Dundas area, and video diaries about his experiences.
In one, he films himself walking and talking about having just approached a girl who rejected him.
“She deserves to f**kin’ like stabbed and cut up into tiny pieces for that s**t,” he says. “Like, I would f**king take her and her boyfriend and all her f**king friends down. F**king worthless pieces of s**t. She thinks she’s all that, just because she has the looks and s**t. I’ll show all these little bitches one day.”
In a second clip, he appears to try to purchase a knife from a grocery store.
Toronto police cybercrimes Det. Shawn Marshall said he has been reviewing the videos and is hoping to identify the man and speak with him.
“While I haven’t seen anything to lay a charge so far, calling them ‘disturbing’ doesn’t really do it justice,” he wrote in an email to Metro.
In the meantime, he urged anyone who has concerns that a person may get violent to call the police. Even if there isn’t a basis for charging someone, the police can dispatch a mobile crisis team to help the person.
“We’re limited by what we can do to intervene and if people don’t want our help then we can’t force them into anything unless there’s an imminent threat or a criminal charge. Still, absolutely people should call,” he said.
After the videos began circulating on Reddit Monday, xsouldeath's YouTube channel was switched to private.
Reddit users expressed concern for the man's mental health, and fear about what he might do. Some said the videos were reminiscent of Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured 14 in Isla Vista, California. Rodger made YouTube videos about striking out with women and used the language of the pick-up artist community.
Steph Guthrie, feminist advocate and founder of Women in Toronto Politics, said pick-up artists, or PUA's, have been a constant problem at Yonge and Dundas Square and the Eaton’s Centre.
The problem with the pick-up artist subculture, she said, is that teaching young men pick-up lines or flirting tricks gives them a sense of entitlement to the women they approach. Some women worry that the PUA’s will react badly if they turn them down, she added.
“We never know when our rejection is going to result in some kind of violent response,” she said. “The way that these guys approach people — when we’re in the middle of something entirely different, like shopping — can be intimidating and scary.”
Update, Tuesday May 26, 2:02 p.m.: After publication of this story, Metro was contacted by E.J., — to defend comments made in the xsouldeath video.
Metro has since received information suggesting E.J. and xsouldeath are the same person.
In the Monday evening phone call to Metro, E.J. said the video comments were misunderstood.
"This whole thing about getting them back, all he was talking about is basically getting them back by getting a really good-looking girl and rubbing it in their face," he said.
As for talking about stabbing a woman and cutting her up, E.J. said xsouldeath is not the type of person to do that.
The video in which xsouldeath talks about looking for a knife at a grocery store was taken out of context, E.J. said. "Basically the whole reason he was asking for this knife was to find the cutlery section and they were not really understanding the English," he said.
There are plans to get him some counselling, E.J. said.
E.J. said xsouldeath is concerned about losing his job now that what he said, and his image, is public.
Two University of Toronto students, Daman Singh and Vipulan Vigneswaran, who saw the disturbing video and posted it on Reddit, say they've found information online that suggests E.J. and xsouldeath are both the same man, Elton Aguiar. They have since brought that information to police the police. They also shared it with Metro.
Online profiles of E.J., xsouldeath and Elton Aguiar, use some of the same photos, which appear to be the man in the xsouldeath videos. TdotPickup’s website was registered by an Elton Aguiar, with the same phone number he has used in contact with Metro as E.J.