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Stormtrooper Arrested
Kexel writes: Nope, not an April Fools joke. A forty-year-old man in Massachusetts bought a Stormtrooper outfit, and then walked through a neighborhood near a school to show his friends. The principal saw his fake blaster and called 911. The man was then arrested and charged with disturbing a school and loitering. A police spokesman said the man "used bad judgment." I guess this shows you what not to do when geeking out on Star Wars.
I wonder if it would have helped if he'd had a friend. The 501st has a rule "never troop alone", which they came up with after observing that under identical circumstances many people will think one stormtrooper is a little scary but two (or more) stormtroopers are awesome.
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They can bring anyone in on anything they want. The question is whether the prosecutor has enough to believe that they can bring a successful case.
Disturbing a school:
You need to prove that he intentionally sought to disturb the school. Maybe he did... maybe he didn't. It sounds weird that he was there, but then again "bad judgment" is not the same thing as having an intent to disturb the school.
Loitering:
You need to prove that someone in authority asked him to leave. In most of the US it's not loitering simply because you don't have a good reason to be there. The story doesn't say that he refused any instruction to go, so this is actually the more curious charge of the two to me.
Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 prohibits firearms within 1,000 feet of public, private, or parochial school grounds.
Would you be able to be sure the black gun shaped thing was a toy from that distance?
Guns. Aren't. Fucking. Illegal.
So tired of light-loafered nanny-statists piddling themselves at the mere sight of a firearm. Go live in North Korea.
Apparently THEY ARE ILLEGAL at a Massachusetts school!! Source >> https://malegislature.gov/laws...
(j) Whoever, not being a law enforcement officer, and notwithstanding any license obtained by him under the provisions of chapter one hundred and forty, carries on his person a firearm as hereinafter defined, loaded or unloaded or other dangerous weapon in any building or on the grounds of any elementary or secondary school, college or university without the written authorization of the board or officer in charge of such elementary or secondary school, college or university shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. For the purpose of this paragraph, “firearm” shall mean any pistol, revolver, rifle or smoothbore arm from which a shot, bullet or pellet can be discharged by whatever means.
Any officer in charge of an elementary or secondary school, college or university or any faculty member or administrative officer of an elementary or secondary school, college or university failing to report violations of this paragraph shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.
So, if you DON'T report it you can be fined and prosecuted at least for a misdemeanor according to the last paragraph. So the principal is screwed both ways and cannot use common sense like the rest of us would...
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
though in most states, that is being amended to allow legally licensed parent to carry within school zones as long as they are dropping off and picking up. the restriction adopted in 1990 has been changed multiple times in the 25 years since then.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
It may not be the principal's fault. Many schools have "zero tolerance" policies, which is basically PC-speak for common sense and reasoning is prohibited. In my daughter's school, using your fingers to form a pretend gun will get you in trouble.
He wasn't at the school. He was near the school.
Having said that, I hardly think the principal is an idiot for not waiting until the guy crossed the line onto school property with his finger hovering over the final "1" on the phone.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Apparently, the reason the cops asked him to step out of the car was because the windshield was broken and there was fresh glass on the hood. And, contrary to the NPR report, apparently the 3 shots were fired while the car was basically "boxed in" by the cops, though apparently he wasn't really trapped, since he escaped and then the cops fired 12 more shots during his flight.
Very different account from what NPR says.
In any case, police still usually have "qualified immunity" unless their actions are clearly illegal or unconstitutional, as well as "unreasonable" given the circumstances.
Err, no, that's not how it works. At best, you'll get your ass kicked into the dirt. At worst, you'll end up dead with a largish ragged hole bored into your skull or chest.
Dude is minding his own business - you have no rights at all to commit assault and battery on him, and the act gives your target free rein to respond however he thinks necessary... neither option will end well for you.
But then, I've lost count of the number of keyboard warriors who claim online that they intend to do such a thing, so maybe common sense will hit you right before you decide to run and jump?
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
He wasn't arrested for carrying a toy gun. He was arrested and charged with disturbing a school and loitering. So my guess is he was walking around the school trying to show off... but show off to who? It's an elementary school...