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John Cobin
Cobin in 2013
Born
John Macarewich Cobin

(1963-03-10) March 10, 1963 (age 61)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
CitizenshipChilean[1]
Political partyLeague of the South
Libertarian (2006)
Criminal chargesAttempted murder, unjustified shooting on a public way[1]
Criminal penalty6 years of prison
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Spouse
Pamela Sepúlveda Mendoza
​
​
(m. 2010)​
[2]
Children7
Parents
  • George Cobin (father)
  • Joan Audrey Cobin (mother)
Websitepolicyofliberty.net

John Macarewich Cobin (born 10 March 1963) is a U.S. born blogger, convicted criminal, and social commentator. He renounced his US citizenship in December 2015 and holds a Chilean citizenship.[1] He has taught at various Chilean institutions and was arrested after opening fire at protesters during the Chilean social unrest of 2019 in Reñaca.[3]

Biography

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John Cobin was born to Joan Audrey Cobin née Tagliere (born 1939), a nurse from New York, and George Cobin (1939-1966), a mathematician from Santa Monica, California.[4] His father died from cancer in April 1966.[5]

He studied at various educational institutions including Reformed Bible College,[6] California State University, the University of California, and George Mason University. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy, an M.A. in economics, and an A.R.E. in Liberal Arts and Religious Studies.[7]

He left the U.S. to live in Chile first in 1996,[3] in protest of Bill Clinton's government due to its policies regarding taxation.[8] The following year, he became a part-time economics lecturer.[7]

In 2006, he ran for Congress in South Carolina's 4th congressional district as a member of the Libertarian party. He lost, earning 4,467 votes, or 2.5% of the total count.

During this time period, he was accused of choking, pushing and shoving his second wife multiple times during an argument over the custody of their son, causing her injuries.[9] He denied all accusations, but was ultimately arrested on charges of domestic violence.[3] All of the charges were ultimately dropped.[10] He fled the country shortly thereafter. He subsequently objected to paying either of his former wives child support, and is now estranged from many of his children.

John Cobin with his third wife, Pamela Sepúlveda.

In 2012, along with three other Americans, he founded a libertarian compound in the Chilean mountainside, titled "Galt’s Gulch", named in honor of the fictional capitalist society represented in Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged.[10] The venture ultimately failed.

In 2013, he claimed that "there is no one more neoliberal than me in the country" in an interview with The Clinic. He also claimed that he was friends with Hermógenes Pérez de Arce Ibieta, a right-wing Chilean politician, and Axel Kaiser, a Chilean political scientist.[11]

Until 2015, he was an economics teacher at the Andrés Bello National University.[12] He renounced his US citizenship in December 2015.[1]

2019 Reñaca shooting

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External videos
video icon John Cobin attacked in Reñaca and had to defend himself on YouTube (4 mins)

On November 10, 2019 he opened fire on Chilean demonstrators in Reñaca, Chile, wounding Luis Jesús Ahumada Villegas, a 33-year old protestor, in the leg.[13][14] After this, he recorded a YouTube video, confessing to the crime and claiming that he acted in "self-defense".[15] Due to this, he was convicted of attempted homicide and committing an unjustifiable shooting on public roads.[12] Even though he claimed his actions were based on self-defense, the court rejected his explanation, commenting that "the requirements of legitimate defense are not met".[16] He was sentenced to 11 years of jail time,[14] which was later reduced to 6 years.[17]

In 2020, Publimetro reported that he had tested positive for COVID-19.[18]

Electoral history

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Main article: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina § District 4
South Carolina 2006 Midterm Elections[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bob Inglis 115,553 64.2
Democratic William Griffith 57,490 32.0
Libertarian John Cobin 4,467 2.5
Green C. Faye Walters 2,336 1.3
Write-in votes 85 nil
Total 179,931 100

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Former U.S. citizen sentenced in Chile for shooting at protesters". Reuters. 25 October 2020. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. ^ "El historial del tirador de Reñaca y su militancia en "League of the South" grupo armado, racista y de extrema derecha de EEUU". Resumen.cl (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Armus, Teo (2019-11-11). "A Californian economist loves neoliberalism. When Chileans started protesting it, he opened fire on them". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  4. ^ Cobin, Rachel (2014-06-04). "Inspired & Inspirited". Murmurs. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  5. ^ "George Cobin". Billion Graves. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  6. ^ "Alumni Directory: A to Z". Reformed. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  7. ^ a b "Summary of Qualifications". Dr. John Cobin. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  8. ^ Velásquez, Fredi; Siredey, Francisco (2019-11-17). "John Cobin: el camino de un fanático". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  9. ^ "Libertarian congressional candidate denies domestic violence charge". WIS News. 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  10. ^ a b Bodzin, Steven (2014). "Libertarians Plan to Sit Out the Coming Collapse of America... in Chile". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  11. ^ Pizarro, Claudio (2013-11-23). "John Cobin, el gringo que quiere "colonizar" Curacaví: "No hay una persona más neoliberal que yo en este país"". The Clinic (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  12. ^ a b Cabeza, Pablo (2020-10-16). "John Cobin es hallado culpable de homicidio frustrado simple y otros 3 delitos". Página7 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  13. ^ "Fiscalía pide 17 años de cárcel para John Cobin ad portas de preparación de juicio oral". MSN Noticias (in Spanish). 2020-05-12. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  14. ^ a b "El tribunal de Viña del Mar condena a John Cobin a 11 años de prisión". Noticias Colchagua (in Spanish). 2020-10-25. Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  15. ^ "John Cobin habla tras los disparos en su canal de Youtube". 2019-11-10 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ "Condenan por homicidio frustrado y otros delitos a autor de disparos en Reñaca durante manifestaciones". 24 Horas (in Spanish). 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  17. ^ Mennickent, Camila (2021-02-18). "Rebajan sentencia a John Cobin, estadounidense condenado por disparos en Reñaca". BioBioChile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  18. ^ "El "pistolero de Reñaca" tendría coronavirus: tribunal pide antecedentes a Gendarmería". Publimetro (in Spanish). 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  19. ^ "South Carolina 2006 Midterm Election". The Green Papers. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
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