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I think that they wrongfully broke down the latrine door at the gas station, and the armed security guard responded.
He likely saw an opportunity and shook-down the US athletes as a target of opportunity, possibly with the assistance of the local LEOs.
Lochte made up the story to keep from having to report that they were drunk (probably) and stupid (definitely), thinking he could avoid the bad publicity by making up a creative story about the shake-down.
Unfortunately for him, the Brazilians are currently hyper-sensitive to this, and made a big deal of it.
Through luck or planning, Lochte fled before the investigation was complete and avoided the backlash and additional extortion by the Brazilian government that fell on his teammates.
This act of stupidity did not reflect credibly on the US or the swimmers, but did not warrant the overreaction by the Brazilian authorities, particularly yanking the swimmers off the airplane and allegedly taking $10,000 from them.
That just made Brazil look more like a corrupt banana republic.
Just my .02, YMMV.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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