Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

I

isabellah

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Apr 8, 2008
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Any Americans have any views on this?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57560352-504083/police-man-brings-2x4-labeled-high-powered-rifle-into-sandy-hook-elementary-school-in-virginia/

Curiously, the article doesn't mention whether he had hundreds of high-power toothpick rounds in his pockets.

Am I the only one who finds it a bit disturbing that dissent is being silenced, or am I being ignorant about the definition of disorderly conduct? Any comments from people with knowledge of matters of law would be particularly welcomed.

Edit: My thread title's wrong. It should be "High Powered Rifle". Moderators, could this be changed?
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

"Disorderly conduct" is probably just the title of a broad statute. He was obviously arrested for being a [bleep].

I'm thoroughly pro-gun (on account of I actually have a working brain, ahem, ahem), but in my book this guy crossed the line of human decency.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

But is being a [bleep] a crime?

Maybe I'm naive, but it seems scary to me. Should a government have the ability to silence dissent just because it seems rude or unpopular?
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

No, he didn't get arrested for being a jerk, itself. He got arrested for trespassing in an "in your face" way that was designed, and intended, to provoke people. He did that because he was a jerk. (That is, the manner in which he did it showed that he was a jerk.) But, again, he was arrested for the act, not for his personality.

The First Amendment doesn't give us the right to make a statement in just any ol' place at any ol' time we want. There are limitations in the place and in time and in the manner of the speech. Elementary schools are NOT a traditional forum for public speech. That's not a place you can just walk into to exercise your First Amendment.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Good post aikiMac. Yes, people do have the freedom of speech but it does have to be regulated. Hence why, for example, you cannot scream "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater.

VA disorderly conduct law: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-415

It specifically mentions schools. If you're at a place of employment and acting in such a way that it prevents those employed there from conducting their job in any fashion, it goes beyond just mere free speech.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Does the very same argument not apply to such organisations as the Westboro Baptist Church, when picketing at dead soldiers funerals, etc. These people invoke the first amendment everytime they picket, and as such are not arrested, and many of their opponents, although against the Westboro message, still defend their rights to express them.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

I wonder about that too.

This dude was a douche. but he tried to make a point. which would be valid if the GOvt and Private institutions aren't taking security more seriously after last week's incident. Are they?

If they are, then there wasnt much point to doing this.

In the end though. He DID just walk in there, and could have done some damage if he actually had a rifle.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

If you have to make your point by terrifying the bejeezus out of a bunch of little kids who have been shot at recently (is Sandy Hook operational again?), methinks you need to redraft your message. Elementary schools should not become staging grounds for political discussions on the second amendment, especially if they have been fired upon recently.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

It does. Sometimes Westboro wins on the First Amendment, and sometimes it loses.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Was it a 2x4 or a 2x4 board?
One could be a weapon while the other not.
What point was he trying to make I wonder?
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Regarding the WBC - they are considered protesters and this have to apply for a permit to share their "religious" beliefs. If they just showed up they could be arrested but since they apply for a permit they are allowed to have a venue.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

From memory they have several lawyers among their 'congregation', so they are very good at obeying the letter of the law.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

They don't enter the funerals; they picket halfway down the block. This guy entered a school during school hours without a valid purpose, which generally is against the law. So there is a valid legal reason why he was treated differently than the WBC. The WBC, scummy as they are, are good about following the letter of the law. This guy didn't. If he had stood half a block away instead of entering the school, he never would have been arrested.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Am I the only one who finds this humorous and salutes the man with the 2X4 for his cleverness?
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

You mean you get the joke?

and more importantly, you think anything involving the massacre of children can ever be amusing?
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Yes, i think you may be.

If I were in that school at the time he came in, there'd have been a dropkick in the middle of Newtown
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Although this guy wasn't very smart about communicating it, he has a good point. Schools aren't secure and safe as they should be. It's a shame to think that we need to lock schools down like bunkers, but that's the reality we live in.
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

Yes you are

That's probably a good indication you are wrong
 
Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

No, it's not. If a school is so unsafe that we have to lock it down or even put up metal detectors at the entrances, then said school is unfit for human children.
 
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