Man arrested for 2x4 labeled "High Powered Rifle"

[isabellah]

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?

[SallyHemmings]

"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.

[abiramam_mm]

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?

[Elvoalven]

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.

[ThatIrishGuy]

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.

[genevieveo]

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.

[WrightOnt]

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.

[pickyournose]

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.

[DVeek]

It does. Sometimes Westboro wins on the First Amendment, and sometimes it loses.

[Melen]

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?