The 2010s were marked by several high-profile crime stories and trials that had significant societal impacts and will likely be remembered for years to come. Here's a look at some of the biggest crime stories and how they might be viewed by history:
1. **The Downfall of Theranos**: Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos promised to revolutionize blood testing, but it was eventually revealed to be a massive fraud. This case highlighted the dangers of unchecked startup culture and the need for stringent oversight in the health tech industry.
2. **The USA Gymnastics Team Scandal**: Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor, was convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of young athletes over decades. This scandal exposed systemic failures in protecting athletes and led to significant changes in how abuse allegations are handled in sports.
3. **Harvey Weinstein**: The downfall of the powerful Hollywood producer following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct became a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement. Weinstein's conviction in 2020 was a significant victory for survivors of sexual assault and highlighted the pervasive issue of sexual harassment in various industries.
4. **Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell**: Epstein's arrest and subsequent death, along with the trial and conviction of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, shed light on a vast network of sex trafficking and exploitation of minors involving powerful individuals. This case underscored the need for greater scrutiny of those in positions of power and their ability to evade justice.
5. **Edward Snowden**: Snowden's leaks in 2013 revealed extensive global surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. His actions sparked a worldwide debate on privacy, security, and government overreach, leading to reforms in surveillance practices and greater awareness of digital privacy issues.
6. **The Boston Marathon Bombing**: In 2013, the bombing carried out by the Tsarnaev brothers during the Boston Marathon resulted in a massive manhunt and heightened concerns about domestic terrorism. The event reinforced the importance of emergency preparedness and coordination among law enforcement agencies.
7. **The College Admissions Scandal**: The 2019 revelation that wealthy individuals, including celebrities, bribed their children's way into elite colleges exposed deep inequalities in the education system. The scandal prompted discussions about meritocracy, privilege, and the need for reform in college admissions processes.
8. **The Case of Amanda Knox**: Although her legal battles began in the late 2000s, Amanda Knox's eventual acquittal in 2015 continued to capture public attention. The case raised questions about media influence, judicial fairness, and the treatment of foreigners in the legal system.
9. **Volkswagen Emissions Scandal**: Also known as "Dieselgate," this scandal involved Volkswagen's use of software to cheat emissions tests, affecting million
1. **The Downfall of Theranos**: Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos promised to revolutionize blood testing, but it was eventually revealed to be a massive fraud. This case highlighted the dangers of unchecked startup culture and the need for stringent oversight in the health tech industry.
2. **The USA Gymnastics Team Scandal**: Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor, was convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of young athletes over decades. This scandal exposed systemic failures in protecting athletes and led to significant changes in how abuse allegations are handled in sports.
3. **Harvey Weinstein**: The downfall of the powerful Hollywood producer following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct became a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement. Weinstein's conviction in 2020 was a significant victory for survivors of sexual assault and highlighted the pervasive issue of sexual harassment in various industries.
4. **Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell**: Epstein's arrest and subsequent death, along with the trial and conviction of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, shed light on a vast network of sex trafficking and exploitation of minors involving powerful individuals. This case underscored the need for greater scrutiny of those in positions of power and their ability to evade justice.
5. **Edward Snowden**: Snowden's leaks in 2013 revealed extensive global surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. His actions sparked a worldwide debate on privacy, security, and government overreach, leading to reforms in surveillance practices and greater awareness of digital privacy issues.
6. **The Boston Marathon Bombing**: In 2013, the bombing carried out by the Tsarnaev brothers during the Boston Marathon resulted in a massive manhunt and heightened concerns about domestic terrorism. The event reinforced the importance of emergency preparedness and coordination among law enforcement agencies.
7. **The College Admissions Scandal**: The 2019 revelation that wealthy individuals, including celebrities, bribed their children's way into elite colleges exposed deep inequalities in the education system. The scandal prompted discussions about meritocracy, privilege, and the need for reform in college admissions processes.
8. **The Case of Amanda Knox**: Although her legal battles began in the late 2000s, Amanda Knox's eventual acquittal in 2015 continued to capture public attention. The case raised questions about media influence, judicial fairness, and the treatment of foreigners in the legal system.
9. **Volkswagen Emissions Scandal**: Also known as "Dieselgate," this scandal involved Volkswagen's use of software to cheat emissions tests, affecting million
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Who his fans are, who knows, but by this posting just yesterday, it's clear Luca Magnata's
00:06narcissism was intact, even while he was a fugitive on the run.
00:10Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're examining 10 of the most infamous crimes of the 2010s.
00:16The NFL released its own statement, calling the alleged involvement of Hernandez deeply
00:22troubling.
00:23For this list, we're looking at the biggest crime stories and criminal trials of the decade.
00:28How do you think history will view these going forward?
00:30Let us know in the comments.
00:33The Downfall of Theranos
00:41Few companies have collapsed quite like Theranos, and few so-called billionaires have had their
00:46fortunes reversed quite like Elizabeth Holmes.
00:49Holmes was just 19 when she dropped out of Stanford and founded Theranos in 2003.
00:54The company peaked in the mid-2010s with a value of $10 billion.
01:08Holmes herself was believed to be worth at least $4.5 billion.
01:12Theranos touted that it had revolutionized the science of blood testing, but later investigations
01:17proved they had not.
01:19In fact, Holmes had been defrauding the company's investors by lying about the technology.
01:24She was eventually convicted of criminal fraud and sentenced to just over 11 years in prison.
01:30The People vs. Turner
01:32This infamous court case caused public outrage and led to new legislation.
01:36On January 18, 2015, Stanford University student Brock Turner sexually assaulted the unconscious
01:43Chanel Miller.
01:44The following year, Turner was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to six months
01:49in prison.
01:50He was also required to register as a sex offender for life.
01:53This sentence was widely criticized as lenient.
01:57And to make the case even more controversial, Turner served just three months before he
02:01was released.
02:02What was this judge thinking?
02:05I don't know what he's thinking, but I know what we can do about it.
02:09We can try to get him off the bench.
02:10Turner's victim impact statement was widely read, including in Congress, and Judge Aaron
02:16Persky was fired by voters in Santa Clara County.
02:24California also changed the law surrounding the assault of unconscious or intoxicated
02:29people, now mandating a minimum three-year prison sentence.
02:33The Charlie Hebdo shooting
02:35In the early 2010s, controversial satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo had published
02:41several cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
02:44In Islam, the depiction of the Prophet is highly contentious, and to some, sacrilegious.
02:49Shortly before noon on January 7, 2015, Muslim brothers Saeed and Sherif Qawashi entered
02:55the magazine's offices and opened fire on the staff, killing 12 people and injuring
03:00a further 11.
03:02Several other terrorist attacks followed in the Ile-de-France region.
03:06The world mourned with France, with demonstrators chanting Je suis Charlie, or I am Charlie,
03:11in defiance.
03:12The slogan became a rallying cry for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
03:24The Bill Cosby trial
03:25What Bill Cosby says and what Bill Cosby does have absolutely no correlation.
03:31There is no morality in this man.
03:34One of the most famous sitcom actors of all time, Bill Cosby attained worldwide fame and
03:39the honorary title of America's Dad by starring as Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show.
03:45But in 2014, his career collapsed following dozens of sexual assault allegations.
03:51The incidents went back decades, all the way to the 1960s.
03:55Many of Cosby's roughly 60 accusers said that he had drugged them.
03:59A trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial, but in 2018, Cosby was found guilty of three counts
04:06of aggravated indecent assault.
04:08He was making a mockery of the whole situation and then, in my opinion, being coached on
04:13the sideline of what to say and how to say it.
04:15However, he was released from prison in June 2021 due to an agreement with a previous prosecutor.
04:21The USA Gymnastics Team Scandal
04:24Larry Nassar served as the lead physician for the United States Women's National Gymnastics
04:28Team for 18 years.
04:31Two years after he left the post in 2014, the Indianapolis Star reported that Nassar
04:36had been the subject of two sexual abuse allegations.
04:39These accusations snowballed, and hundreds of women soon came forward to share their
04:44stories and implicate Nassar, including national heroes like Ali Raisman and Simone Biles.
04:49I don't want another young gymnast, Olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the
04:55horror that I and hundreds of others have endured.
04:58The U.S. Olympic Committee was accused of a massive cover-up.
05:02Nassar was eventually convicted of his crimes and was given a de facto life sentence without
05:06parole in both federal and state prisons.
05:09I believe this sentence is proportionate to the seriousness of the circumstances surrounding
05:16the offenses and of the offender.
05:19The Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting committed by a single individual
05:24in U.S. history, occurred on October 1, 2017, when Steven Paddock fired on the Route 91
05:30Harvest Music Festival.
05:32The festival was being held on the Las Vegas Strip, and Paddock took aim from the nearby
05:36Mandalay Bay Hotel.
05:38He killed 60 and injured at least 413 with direct gunfire.
05:43Roughly 450 others were injured in the resulting panic.
05:47His motive remains unknown.
05:49Paddock's firearms had been legally purchased, and he had no documented mental health disorders.
05:54The story brought into focus many aspects of 21st century life.
05:59Fake news and misinformation spread widely in the immediate aftermath, and the shooting
06:04revived the long-held debate about gun control in America.
06:10Financier and socialite Jeffrey Epstein came to national attention in July of 2019 when
06:16he was arrested and charged with trafficking minors.
06:19He had previously been convicted in 2008 for similar crimes, but was given a sweetheart
06:24deal and served just 13 months in prison.
06:27With work release, Epstein reportedly took his own life before he could be convicted
06:31on new charges.
06:32No one disobeyed Epstein.
06:34This became one of the biggest news stories of the decade, as many disputed the official
06:38story.
06:39Countless conspiracy theories emerged, including the prominent belief that Epstein had been
06:44killed to ensure his silence and to prevent the exposure of high-profile individuals.
06:49Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell was also hit with charges, and was eventually
06:54sentenced to 20 years in prison.
06:56She set me up to walk myself to a predator's house.
07:03The Edward Snowden leaks.
07:05You can't come forward against the world's most powerful intelligence agencies and be
07:11completely free from risk.
07:13Whether his ethical concerns were ignored internally, NSA contractor Edward Snowden
07:17turned whistleblower and leaked thousands of documents in 2013, revealing extensive
07:23global mass surveillance programs.
07:25When you see everything, you see them on a more frequent basis, and you recognize that
07:30some of these things are actually abuses.
07:32Much of the media coverage focused on FISA warrants, as if the NSA was only collecting
07:37information on an individual basis.
07:40In fact, agencies were and probably still are sucking up data en masse, including emails,
07:46browsing histories, text messages, and more, from corporate partners, data centers, and
07:51even undersea cables.
07:53I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant
08:00to a federal judge.
08:01The price for Snowden was life as he knew it, as he was forced to flee the U.S. and
08:06resettle in Russia.
08:07Opinions remain divided in the U.S., with some calling him a hero and others a traitor.
08:14The good news is there's no program named the d**k pick program.
08:18The bad news is they are still collecting everybody's information, including your d**k
08:23picks.
08:24Harvey Weinstein.
08:25I called him, he said, it's not true, it's not true, it's not true.
08:28And then he called back and said, okay, there's something to it.
08:30For decades, prominent film producer Harvey Weinstein harassed, coerced, and assaulted
08:35women in the industry.
08:37His behavior, a more or less open secret.
08:40This left victims afraid to speak out, until 2017, when the New York Times and the New
08:45Yorker revealed accusations from dozens of women.
08:49Their stories emboldened others, and soon, over 80 women had accused Weinstein of sexual
08:54misconduct.
08:55He was arrested in 2018, and eventually sentenced to 23 years behind bars.
09:00Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey
09:04Weinstein.
09:05His outrage over his behavior helped spread the Me Too movement, which has seen many other
09:10powerful figures face similar reckonings.
09:12Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
09:16about our latest videos.
09:18You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
09:22If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:28The Sandy Hook shooting.
09:29I can't even describe the last nine and a half years of a living hell that I and others
09:38have had to endure.
09:39The United States faced its deadliest elementary school shooting on December 14, 2012, when
09:4526 people were killed inside Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School.
09:50Both the high number of fatalities and the young ages of the victims shocked the nation.
09:55To this day, no one is really certain why the shooter did what he did.
09:59It was terrifying.
10:01I'm still terrified.
10:02I think I'm still in shock.
10:03As ever, gun control laws were debated, conspiracy theories spread, and even age-old arguments
10:09around video games were resurrected.
10:11Its ripples are still resounding today.
10:14On October 12, 2022, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was forced to pay nearly $1 billion
10:20in damages for spreading malicious and baseless conspiracy theories about the shooting.
10:25Did you enjoy this video?
10:27Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
10:31to be notified about our latest videos.