A California teenager says his life was thrown into chaos after a three-word Instagram comment led social media users to wrongly accuse him of being the man filmed brutally kicking a sea lion in a viral video, triggering death threats, doxxing and relentless online harassment.
Ryland Cuttitta, 18, insists he had nothing to do with the July 22 incident at La Jolla Cove, where the attack is now being investigated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, as a possible violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
“My name is Ryland Cuttitta, and I was not part of the video. I was not even there or associated with it in any way. It all came from an Instagram comment,” he told NBC San Diego.
The controversy began with a disturbing video that spread rapidly online, showing a young man repeatedly kicking a sea lion as it rested on a low concrete wall at Point La Jolla, then chasing the frightened animal while some bystanders laughed.
The viral footage sparked widespread outrage, prompted a federal investigation and drew sharp criticism from animal welfare organizations, including PETA.
But as people online tried to identify the person in the video, Cuttitta said a sarcastic remark he made under a repost was wrongly treated as an admission of guilt.
He had commented, “clearly self-defense,” saying he meant it as a joke at the attacker’s expense. Instead, he said, other users seized on the comment and accused him of being the man seen kicking the sea lion.
His mother, Susan Cuttitta, said she had watched the footage at first and did not recognize the person shown in the video.
“‘Oh my gosh’, how horrible that there’s this person that’s abusing this animal, that was my gut reaction, and then I moved on to the next story because I didn’t recognize the person,” she told NBC.
That changed when her son called to say strangers online had begun accusing him of carrying out the attack.
“I went, ‘What? How are you being associated with it?’ Well, I made a comment, and I think some folks took my comment as me being the person in the video,” she told the outlet.
The misunderstanding quickly spiraled, the family said.
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Their home address was posted online and they began receiving violent and obscene messages, including death threats left in voicemail messages shared with the station, according to the local affiliate.
Cuttitta insisted her son was nowhere near La Jolla when the assault occurred.
“It was not my son. He wasn’t there. He was not even 10 miles from the La Jolla incident, and I thought I just need to protect him and my daughters. They are minor children,” she added.
Ryland also pointed to obvious differences between himself and the suspect captured on video.
“Obviously in the video you can see that the kid is blonde with a buzz cut. My hair is dark and longer than that,” he said.
“It wasn’t me in the video. I would never do anything like that. It was a very disturbing video.”
NBC San Diego reported that the family has filed an online report with the San Diego Police Department regarding the threats and has also spoken with the NOAA investigator leading the animal abuse case.
The teen said he has since made his Instagram account private in an attempt to stop the abuse.
“It’s just crazy so many people can see one thing on social media, and just believe it,” he said. “No one knew what I looked like. I put my account on private so I wouldn’t get harassed.”
His mother said the ordeal has highlighted the dangers of online vigilante justice.
“He’s always done the right thing, and he made a comment. That’s a lesson we will be talking about and continue to talk about,” she said. “Maybe this is advocacy work on our part to now spread the word about the dangers of social media.”
Meanwhile, federal investigators are continuing efforts to identify the person who actually assaulted the protected marine mammal.
The Cuttitta family hope whoever carried out the attack is found and held accountable, while clearing Ryland’s name after what they say was a devastating case of mistaken identity.
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