(CNN) -- Police in New Jersey arrested a teenager in connection with a public-address-system announcement telling "all blacks" to leave a Wal-Mart store, a police spokesman said.Look, what the kid did was stupid. In today's day and age of hypersensitivity, grabbing the PA system and making such a blatantly ignorant statement targeting a certain group is bound to bite you on the ass. But "bias intimidation"??? For telling "blacks" to "leave the store"? The way the news reports are coming it, they make it sound like he told them all to report to the local Soylent Green processing center.The 16-year-old boy is from Atlantic County, New Jersey, said deputy police chief John Dalesandro of the Washington Township Police Department. The suspect was arrested Friday in Atlantic County on bias intimidation and harassment charges, police said in a statement Saturday. He is in custody of his parents, police said.
Assuming - and this is a big assumption I'll admit - that the news reports are correct and that's all that was said, this is a tempest in a teapot. If that's the only announcement that was made, you've got a teenage boy being stupid - gee, like that never happens. Now, ban him from that Wal-Mart with a trespassing charge if he ever comes back and have him perform some community service? Sure.
Criminalizing saying stupid things is a surefire way of making sure 95% of the population gets a criminal record, let's be honest...
That is all.
13 comments:
Good points. On the other hand, Joe Biden would have had to have been locked up a long, long time ago.
Stupid is as stupid does.
I agree that it was a dumb-a%% juvenile prank but to be arrested for it? YGTBSM. What's next? Getting arrested for calling up someone and asking if their refigerator is running? Sorry I am not as "culturally sensitive" but people need to get a life and see the joke. Bias intimidation? I did not know there was a law for that.
I can see the lawsuits against Walmart starting already.
What about the Census saying that Latino isn't a race but black is? How can you just throw out one "race" but keep all the others? That's even more racist, in my mind.
Criminalizing saying stupid things is a surefire way of making sure 95% of the population gets a criminal record, let's be honest...
Pardon my conspiracy-theorism here, but perhaps that is precisely the point? Criminals can be, and usually are, tracked. If everyone's a criminal...
tweaker
It could have been a helluva lot worse... the kid could have announced that the store was on fire and to evacuate immediately. Who knows how many people would have been trampled to death?
Let's see; no picture and no mentionof his race. Call me cynical, but I'm betting he ain't white.
Now, ban him from that Wal-Mart with a trespassing charge if he ever comes back and have him perform some community service? Sure.
Don't be surprised if this is what actually happens. There's all kinds of possible scenarios that could play out here, and "scare him straight" is definitely one that comes to mind.
I wonder what kind of crimes THESE teens will be charged with? hmmm?
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20100320_Two_attacked_in_Philadelphias_violent_playground_game.html
UNREAL
Sorry the link on the previous comment is bad, heres the right one :
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/
20100320_Two_attacked_in_Philadelphias_
violent_playground_game.html
Gotta agree with agg79, but I DO think they would be perfectly happy to get us ALL on some felony or the other, that way no guns...
If saying stupid things becomes criminal, Joe Biden might get the death penalty.
I used to work at WM. Went there last night, and chatted with some former co-workers. Because of this "incident", WM has removed all the phones from the store, except the outside line at the service desk or changing room. When that person leaves the immediate vicinity of the phone, they have to disconnect the handset and carry it in their pocket. Is this not hillariously stupid?
If somebody came on the 1MC--oops, I mean PA--and said "All you damned bikers* out of the store!" I would've just laughed & gone about my business. I understand about past oppression; I'm a Southerner. Still, can't everybody just lighten up & not take shit so seriously?
*Or hillbillies, rednecks, honkies, pick your derogatory term.
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