LiveLeak Fans Defend Masked Man's Montara Mountain Video

A video posted online by a Pacifica man who wore a ski mask and filmed a woman hiking alone on Montara Mountain has spawned hundreds of comments and even tribute videos in support of the videographer who calls himself "Gortevans."

Patch, which broke the story, and others associated with it are receiving hate mail and threatening phone calls from across the nation, and other media are snapping up the story.

One video supporting "Gort," says the video was clearly meant to be funny, but then the poster admits that perhaps the content was questionable.

He opines that the backlash has something to do with a culture of fear in general and said it's the nature of LiveLeakers to not want to be controlled by police or the media.

Others LiveLeak posters are proclaiming "Free Gort" and "Being Creepy Isn't Criminal."

At the root of the discussion is basic First Amendment rights and, of course, personal preferences about what's funny and what's offensive.

That's easily illustrated by a letter to Patch from the woman who was hiking on the mountain.

Gortevan's supporters say they don't see the big deal and thought it was obvious, from his "cartoony" look, that it was a joke, while the woman in the video saw his face as "sinister" and "menacing." 

Is making seemingly threatening jokes about women hiking alone someone's inalienable right? Or could it be the modern day version of yelling fire in a crowded theater?

Tell us what you think in the comments or take our poll here.

As for Gortevans himself, he didn't want to comment to Patch, but even he seems tired of it, posting on his LiveLeak profile page the following:

"...I'd Like to thank everyone who is supporting me, but this needs to die down..."