South Carolina Cops Arrest, Jail Woman for Cheering During Her Daughter's High School Graduation

Parents attending graduation at South Florence High School in Florence, South Carolina, were asked to hold their applause until the end of the ceremony, but Shannon Cooper couldn't resist cheering as her daughter, Iesha Cooper, walked across the stage.

Cooper knew she'd violated the rules, so after Iesha had walked off stage, she got up from her seat and started to leave. Before she could get out of the civic center where the ceremony was being held, she was handcuffed by officers from the Florence Police Department and escorted through where graduating students were seated, taken outside, and put in a police van, where she sat in plain view of the other families and students for 45 minutes as her daughter cried in the parking lot. 

Florence police charged Cooper with disorderly conduct despite the fact that she did not protest the escort. She was kept in detention for several hours and posted bail in time to take her daughter out to dinner. Her trial is on June 13. 

WPDE in Florence, which broke the story, has an update, including reactions from the Florence PD and the superintendent of schools, both of whom believe the arresting officers were firmly in the right:

Florence police said it was announced before the ceremony that anyone who cheered or screamed would be escorted out of the building, and those who were disorderly, were arrested.

Florence Police Chief Anson Shells disagrees with Cooper's defense and said the facts of the case will come out at the trial.

He talked to us Wednesday for the first time since Cooper's arrest. 

"The last thing that any of us wanted to see happen was somebody end up being arrested during a graduation ceremony," Shells told us, "But, unfortunately people can not be allowed to disrupt a ceremony to the point where everyone can't enjoy it, and unfortunately that's what happened in this case."

Shells said he stands by his officers and believes Cooper's arrest was lawful.

The superintendent of Florence School District One, Dr. Allie Brooks, is also responding to the criticism handed out since the story went viral.

Brooks said they call parents, send letters, and warn them during the ceremony of the consequences of cheering.

"Our public relations officer, Mrs. Pamela McDaniel, can show you evidence of what was done by all the schools both verbally and in writing. Now that's at least four occasions before you get to the ultimate of being asked to be out," said Dr. Brooks.

Brooks said they hired 30 law enforcement officers to work the district's three graduations, at a cost that was higher than they paid to rent the Florence Civic Center.

Brooks commended the police officers for doing what they did to ensure safety and order at the graduation ceremonies.

Comments

[Mr. FIFY]

This, happening under Obama's watch.

Yeah, liberals, I know what you're going to say... it's not his fault. Which is true... but it's still ironic. He's supposed to be this great goddamned civil-rights champion, after all.

[TELLMOFF]

"Disorderly conduct" and "resisting arrest" are so vaguely defined that cops can persecute anyone that they choose. Jury instructions are ambiguous. American jurors love the authorities.

[Groovus Maximus]

**Lights Dunphy Signal**

(Yes, I know, thread-scumming is in bad taste.)

[Randian]

The proper libertarian stance here is evading me. Am I supposed to be outraged?

Now, I hate the crime of 'disorderly conduct' and she should not have been arrested, but how clearly do you have to spell it out to people not to interrupt?

Me, I happen to like the kind of boisterousness that black folks (and yes, there is a latent racial element here) bring to graduation ceremonies, but still, the owner of the property is entitled to dictate the rules.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

the owner of the property is entitled to dictate the rules.

It's a public school. It's not held by right of property.

[Voros McCracken]

Actually it was the city's civic center not the school.

[Res Publica Americana]

Is it public property?

[Voros McCracken]

Yeah

[Rod Flash]

Yes, but it was rented to the school, so I think they get to make the rules for the event. Still, a fascist overreaction to a not very offensive offense.

[Mr. FIFY]

A mere portent of Future America, Rod.

[sloopyinca]

The school rented the civic center and had "ownership" of the property during the ceremony. And since the public school is owned and operated by the public, this arrest is an affront to anyone that values liberty.

Freedom of speech may be restricted by private property owners. This is a slap in the face of the First Amendment.

[Xenocles]

The proper response is expulsion from the building, reserving arrest for if the violator resists.

[Voros McCracken]

My thought as well. Was just pointing out where the ceremony took place as I was curious as to whether it was private property or not. It wasn't.

[Xenocles]

I don't think it matters. It's reasonable to proscribe certain behavior in some public places if the behavior, though it might otherwise be permissible, is contrary to the purpose of the regulated area. For example: having set aside resources for public schools (and leaving aside the propriety of that decision!) it seems reasonable to prohibit people from staging impromptu metal concerts in the parking lot or from riding their Harleys down the halls.

[Voros McCracken]

Technically, I think you're right, but as a practical matter I think the arrest itself is far more likely to happen in a public venue like this than private property. Without a go between which would be the case in a private property situation, I'm guessing the line between being asked to leave and being charged with "disorderly conduct" probably shrinks a whole bunch. In this case it seems like there was no line at all.

[Xenocles]

Oh, I think the arrest was wholly inappropriate in this case. I also think banning of cheering was a bad rule. I just think that in general the people in charge of an event ought to have the discretion to set those rules. There are probably specific rules that a compelling reason to prohibit, but the cheering one strikes me as a matter of taste.

[Chris Mallory]

A matter of taste? Damn rude is more like it. Do you expect the ceremony to be paused for all the cheers? Or should the student's families who come after the cheers just have to not hear their loved one's name because of the cheers?

[Xenocles]

"A matter of taste? Damn rude is more like it."

Etiquette is a matter of taste. Thanks for making the point.

[DesigNate]

I remember all three of my graduations pretty well. We had cheering parents at all of them. Didn't seem to slow the ceremony down at all.

In other words: Fuck you Chris.

[robc]

leaving aside the propriety of that decision

Im not sure that can be done. Its sort of a core element, IMO, to these situations. Eliminate the original decision and problem solved.

[Xenocles]

Well no question. But we ought to be able to agree that given the existence of a public school it is reasonable to set a code of conduct for it that legitimately supports its function, even if the actual acceptable code is exceeded in every extant school.

Perhaps a better example is the simple tragedy of the commons. Is there a right to spray paint your message on a common bulletin board? I think there's a line somewhere with speech on one side and disruption and vandalism on the other. In situations where no clear owner exists I think i's reasonable to abide by the collective (gag) decision on where the line should be. I also think those situations should be minimized.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Actually it was the city's civic center not the school.

Again, public building. It's not held by right of property.

[Mr. FIFY]

Sorry, Pound, but you're slightly wrong - public schools are property of the state, which is the only kind of property rights these fucktards respect.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Sorry, Pound, but you're slightly wrong - public schools are property of the state, which is the only kind of property rights these fucktards respect.

Public "property" is not held by right of property. It's held by simple power of the state (of whatever level).

[R C Dean]

I've seen the deeds for various pieces of "public" property. They look just like every other deed. I'm not aware that a government has fewer property rights than a private owner. So I'm not sure what you're getting at.

[Emmerson Biggins]

The fringes on the flag means it's an admirals court, or something like that.

[Randian]

Then you can do anything you like on that non-property, I assume? Can I take a shit in the middle of the rotunda of the state capitol building?

The property is owned by the public, administered in trust by elected officials and those to whom they delegate authority.

You can quibble with the rules, but there do have to be rules. Suppose she had not been arrested but merely escorted off the premises. Would you have found that similarly outrageous?

There are two issues that need to be parsed out: whether having rules on public property is permissible from a libertarian standpoint (I say it is) and whether the arrest was warranted (I say it was not, but resisting escort from the premises may have warranted it had that happened).

[Mr. FIFY]

Arresting her was overkill, Randian.

[Randian]

I concur entirely.

[Tulpa the White]

So are you still not sure whether you should be outraged?

A person was hauled off in cuffs and put in a cage for what you agree are insufficient reasons.

[Res Publica Americana]

"Then you can do anything you like on that non-property, I assume? Can I take a shit in the middle of the rotunda of the state capitol building?"

At the levels Americans are being taxed today, yes. In fact, I'd even say you have a right to set the fucking Capitol on fire -- without ramification. Restoring a nice-looking building for no other purpose than it looks good, even, would certainly be an infinitely more productive application of tax money than the ones our money is actually going towards.

"The property is owned by the public, administered in trust by elected officials and those to whom they delegate authority."

And standard, justifiable rules of conduct are the only ones that should apply -- like, for example, destroying shit (vandalism). Making noise isn't one of those.

"You can quibble with the rules, but there do have to be rules. Suppose she had not been arrested but merely escorted off the premises. Would you have found that similarly outrageous?"

Nope. If she became consistently disruptive, ask her to leave. If she refuses to leave voluntarily, get a guard (private) or even a cop to escort her out. That's it. The moment she's out, it's over. Detention is utterly unjustifiable here.

[Chris Mallory]

So, should they be able to use airhorns to celebrate? Just noise as you say. No matter of the other families can't enjoy seeing their student's moment.

[sloopyinca]

Do you support limits to the First Amendment, Chris? A graduation is a public event. If they consider camping in the WI capitol building and sleeping(eating/shitting/pissing /fucking/raping/you name it) in a private park in Manhattan "free speech," what the hell is this?

Sorry, but you can't legislate good taste.

[sloopyinca]

Can I take a shit in the middle of the rotunda of the state capitol building?

Not legally, but there is no "Freedom To Dump" in the Constitution. There is, however, a freedom of speech clause that permits this woman to say what she wants in the public square.

No way in hell she should have been arrested, especially since she was exiting the premises when the cops stopped her.

[Randian]

There is, however, a freedom of speech clause that permits this woman to say what she wants in the public square.

How far does that go, exactly?

[Res Publica Americana]

Without limit.

[sloopyinca]

It goes far enough to let people camp out in the Wisconsin Capitol building and fuck in the hallways and camp/eat/fuck/piss/shit/rape in a privately-owned park in Manhattan.

I doubt cheering for your graduating daughter goes as far as either example.

[Res Publica Americana]

But those were pinko cunts demonstrating in advocacy of things that obliterate prosperity and liberty. That's acceptable, you see. They didn't get their college education free.

The nigh unimaginable shitstorm that would have taken place if a tea party demonstration had become anywhere near that depraved would have been one to behold.

[Mr. FIFY]

That was microaqgressive AND racist of you, sloopy. You should turn yourself in for virtual genocide.

[MisterDamage]

Find a limit in the constitution, and you're golden.

[Randian]

well, for good or for ill, you aren't allowed into the Lincoln Bedroom any time you want.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Okay. Cops can arrest people for breaking "the law". Schools have NO power to legislate and therefore can only impose rules of conduct for an event. If those rules are broken, the offender can be asked to leave the event and even be escorted out. PROVIDED the offender leaves peacefully AND breaks no law...the arrest isn't warranted.

Not quite sure what the controversy is here. Seems pretty straight forward to me. Cops cannot enforce school policy as though it was law.

[Mr. FIFY]

In my city, there are "school police" - city cops who are assigned to school property.

Scary, innit?

[Pi Guy]

"Spit that gum out now or we're gonna have to take you in!"

[Francisco d Anconia]

Or shoot your dog.

[Tulpa the White]

The property is owned by the public, administered in trust by elected officials and those to whom they delegate authority.

Note that I've made this point many times (regarding food trucks in particular) and been screamed at as a "statist".

But when one of the cool kids does it, we get polite disagreement. I see.

[dieinafiredunphy]

we get polite disagreement. I see.

Do you?

Do you see that it happens that way because Randian engages in honest debate, doesn't move the goalposts when he's losing, and isn't a twat?

Because that's why you get treated like you're an asshole. You behave like an asshole. Randian doesn't. Apples and oranges.

[Xenocles]

"You behave like an asshole."

Says the guy with "die in a fire" in his name.

[dieinafiredunphy]

Says the guy with "die in a fire" in his name.

Do you see me whining about how I'm treated?

Do you think I'd deny being an asshole if you asked?

Right, so fuck off, your observation was stupid.

[Xenocles]

You've got your douchebag level up at 9, I need you down around a 4 or so.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

You've got your douchebag level up at 9, I need you down around a 4 or so.

But this one goes to eleven.

[Pi Guy]

It's one higher.

[Tulpa the White]

You don't have to move the goal posts when you set them right above your head! What is his argument here? He's saying you shouldn't be outraged while saying he agrees she was unjustly arrested. Once we accept that his statement isn't absurd from the getgo he has nothing to prove.

And every accusation of me moving goalposts has turned out to be groundless. In the recent cases where this was alleged, I had stood by my original statement throughout the discussion. No posts were moved.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Then you can do anything you like on that non-property, I assume?

I'm not saying actions cannot be limited there, just that they are doing it by simple state power. They cannot legitimately do it by a claim of property rights.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

I'm curious how someone calling himself Randian wouldn't be able to differentiate between something held by right and something held by force.
Does not appear to be much of an Objectionablist.

[Heroic Mulatto]

but still, the owner of the property is entitled to dictate the rules.

But there is no law against being boorish.

[TELLMOFF]

Randian, if someone would have shouted: "I love Obama", there would not have been an arrest.

[Mr. FIFY]

Hell, the kid probably would have gotten a sudden valedictorian award on the spot if Mom had done that.

[Tulpa the White]

the owner of the property is entitled to dictate the rules.

And if someone violates the rules, they can ask that person to leave. Not have them arrested.

[Tulpa the White]

The proper libertarian stance here is evading me. Am I supposed to be outraged?

Now, I hate the crime of 'disorderly conduct' and she should not have been arrested, but how clearly do you have to spell it out to people not to interrupt?

See folks, this is what masterful contrarianism is. Of course the arrest is what most of us are outraged about, but he acts confused as to why we are outraged, while blunting criticism by saying he's against the arrest.

[Peter L]

Hey, it's not just the black folks. My High School had a bunch of Chaldeans, Arabs and Albanians, they were just as loud as the three black families we had at graduation.

[Peter L]

Wow, that didn't thread well. I was responding to "Me, I happen to like the kind of boisterousness that black folks (and yes, there is a latent racial element here) bring to graduation ceremonies"

[Brandybuck]

Black folks? Except for the redneck streaks, I'm whiter than Wonder Bread. Yet people cheered all the time at my high school's graduations. Yeah, the latinos cheered loudest, but only because they tended to have larger families.

I don't give a shit how solemn you expect graduations to be, arresting someone for cheering for their daughter is just plain fucked. Expulsion from the public property, maybe. Arrest, not at all.

[perlhaqr]

Now, I hate the crime of 'disorderly conduct' and she should not have been arrested

Is that not an adequate reason to be outraged?

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Must only cheer in orderly fashion.
Lucky they didn't drone her.

[Mr. FIFY]

Or shoot her dog.

[William Bruce]

...or drone her dog?

[shamalam]

... or drone on about her dog?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Or doggedly drone on about her drone.

[R]

Or doggedly drone on about her drone shooting her dog?

[MJGreen]

"But, unfortunately people can not be allowed to disrupt a ceremony to the point where everyone can't enjoy it, and unfortunately that's what happened in this case."

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that, maybe, handcuffing and holding a woman in plain sight for 45 minutes disrupts the ceremony. It may even disrupt the ceremony to the point where some people can no longer enjoy it.

I don't know. Just thinking.

[Mr. FIFY]

If she'd been yelling Occutard-style at a town hall meeting, she wouldn't have wound up being handcuffed.

[William Bruce]

But that would be liberating tolerance, not destructive tolerance. One of them showed me so, in a Wikipedia article, on her iPad.

[Mr. FIFY]

No wonder Team Occutard is in decline. Or at least we HOPE it is.

[James Anderson Merritt]

You can't keep your kid away from school, or we'll arrest you and maybe take the kid away.

You can't cheer spontaneously for your kid at a graduation ceremony, or we'll arrest you and embarrass you with a perp walk.

I wonder what the proponents of public schools would have said, had the above examples of actual events in the modern day been posed to them as hypothetical scenarios that might occur, if they got their do-gooder way? Would they have said "preposterous, it would never happen," or would they have said, "perhaps, but the authorities would be in the right"??

I have a hard time believing news stories like this one, originating in the "Land of the Free." I hope we demonstrate in November that this is also the "Home of the Brave."

[Res Publica Americana]

Also: If this had happened at a private school, you can bet your ass people would be outraged, especially since she's black.

[A Serious Man]

If this happened at a private school, tomorrow's NYT or WaPo op-ed would read something like: "Are Private Schools Secret Training Camps for Right-Wing Racists?"

[Res Publica Americana]

But don't worry, Serious Man, your kids are alright, because the public schools are here to save the day! There's no need to tolerate libertards and various other capitalistic, right-wind pigs when you've got Generic Public School Named After Unremarkable Jackhole Number 134 to "educate" your kids.

[Res Publica Americana]

Bringing out police officers to arrest people for making noise during a graduation ceremony at a school? Are you fucking shitting me? Has everybody, everywhere, become this pathetic? You actually need cops for events like this? Sweet Jesus. If she's consistently disruptive, tell her to leave. That's it.

"Brooks said they hired 30 law enforcement officers to work the district's three graduations, at a cost that was higher than they paid to rent the Florence Civic Center."

30 cops for three graduation ceremonies. 30. Probably all armed. Wow. Tax dollars at work.

Fuck public schools.

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, you have to remember that both Teams view *us* as their property, so in essence it's just another example of "Fuck You, That's Why"ism.

[Res Publica Americana]

The thing is, this is a fucking farce. These asswipes are being paid salaries to perform fucktarded, useless duties of this sort. It's pretty simple -- who the fuck needs cops at graduation ceremonies? At all? If I had a say, this would be considered a criminal misuse of public funds.

[Mr. FIFY]

Cops have to be everywhere these days, Res... *and* armed to the teeth.

Just for this kind of occasion.

[Res Publica Americana]

Yeah, fucking tell me about it. What if the prom queen bends over and the vice-principal gets a boner? SWAT'll be right on the scene to liquidate the felonious sex offender straight away. With fragmentation grenades.

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, in that one instance, I'm all for it... rapists, I mean. They ought to be fragged on the spot.

Not for looking, though. Hell, *I* do that. I've eye-fucked a lot of women. [if Feministing had the White House, they'd have ME fragged for observing.]

[Res Publica Americana]

If Feministing had the White House, we'd all have been hanged for crimes against humanity under their new Sexist Gaze statutes.

[Mr. FIFY]

Except for a few gay guys being exempt, of course. But only a few.

[R]

30 cops? Jesus Christ. I think the sheriff was at mine, but only because his daughter was in my class. I don't recall any cops at all.

[Brandybuck]

Mine had two or three cops. But that's just to prevent kids from sneaking back behind the stadium to toke up, and watch the parking lot.

[Gojira]

I know. The part that stood out to me was, "...ensure safety and order."

Really? Ensuring safety and order at a fucking high-school graduation? Five rent-a-cops should have been sufficient for that. It's like they're constantly, everywhere, braced for a Vietnam-style insurgency to break out.

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's like they're constantly, everywhere, braced for a Vietnam-style insurgency to break out.

*sigh*

If only that were true.

[Groovus Maximus]

There aren't enough Punji Sticks, HM. Perhaps some Death-Pr0n-O-Matic is in order?

[Tulpa the White]

We're not talking about a high school in a rich suburb, Gojira.

[Res Publica Americana]

What now?

[Gojira]

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? You have so much experience with the unwieldy poor that you can vouch they need armed occupation in order to ensure their compliant behavior?

[Tulpa the White]

So you're denying that there are greater security problems at poor urban schools than at rich suburban ones?

It's not elitist to notice the fucking metal detectors around the entrance doors.

[Voros McCracken]

I was recently at an 8th Grade graduation in a nice middle class suburb and they had State Troopers at every exit.

It seems like nowadays any collection of greater than 100 people now have to have a police escort regardless.

[TELLMOFF]

"Everybody, everywhere has become this pathetic". It's the American people, stupid. For my own sanity, I proudly proclaim my hatred for the American people.

[Edwood]

yup. Back in my day volunteer ushers handled this kind of thing.

[Elphie]

I'd assumed most people--even if they suspected there was more to the story--would find it outrageous if she really was arrested solely for cheering. Sadly, judging from the comments in the linked article, I was wrong. People really are authoritarian assholes.

[MyrahU]

Fine, they escorted her out, but did they have to full-on arrest her AND press charges to where she has to go to court? Is this really the best use of tax dollars? Thank goodness she didn't bring a beach ball. They'd have shot her on the spot!

It's just more militarization of our *government* schools. They treat the kids like they are all prisoners/suspects and actually teaching them is secondary, at best. 30 police officers?! What did they expect to happen? A shooting? A riot? A terrorist attack? A woman who is proud of her daughter yelling? Oh, wait...thank goodness they were there to save the rest of the people from being mildly annoyed.

[Res Publica Americana]

"Fine, they escorted her out, but did they have to full-on arrest her AND press charges to where she has to go to court? Is this really the best use of tax dollars? Thank goodness she didn't bring a beach ball. They'd have shot her on the spot!"

And the moral issue, too: I'd fire the cops who cooked this shit up and prohibit them from further public employment. What a bunch of degenerates.

[TELLMOFF]

This is the best use of police thugs.

[Tulpa the White]

Actually, she probably would have been better off if they had to escort her out. They probably felt that they needed to make an example of her somehow, which wouldn't be accomplished by merely allowing her to walk out.

[Res Publica Americana]

She would have been "better off" if her local police agency were not staffed by power-abusing shitstains.

[Tulpa the White]

Unfortunately that's rarely in the cards.

[Ken Shultz]

Florence police said it was announced before the ceremony that anyone who cheered or screamed would be escorted out of the building, and those who were disorderly, were arrested.

So the police can arrest people for anything--so long as they announce that's what they're going to be arresting people for beforehand?

[Res Publica Americana]

God forgive us for what we've done to our inheritance.

[mad libertarian guy]

God forgive us for what we've done to our inheritance.

THIS

[Elphie]

And do the same rules apply to private property owners? If I invite someone to my house and tell him I forbid him to sing Celine Dion songs and he does it anyway, can I have him arrested?

[Res Publica Americana]

You can demand that he leave. If he refuses, you can throw him out. If you're physically incapable of doing that, you can make the cops throw him out. That's it. Arrest? No.

[Ken Shultz]

They could have asked her to leave. She was already leaving.

[Res Publica Americana]

I know. Which makes an awful situation 100 times worse.

[Tulpa the White]

Sounds like she was trying to game the system by high-tailing out of there after breaking the rules. Not an arrestable offense, but she sounds like a schmuck regardless.

[Brandybuck]

Being a schmuck is not a crime. Not even the mildest of misdemeanors.

[R]

If you have to call the cops to get to them to leave, at that point it's trespassing, and you can have them arrested for that.

However, this lady left voluntarily even before anyone asked her to do so. There was absolutely no reason to arrest her.

[Mr. FIFY]

Actually, "Fuck You, That's Why" was the reason, R.

The pattern of the near-future repeats itself more and more. And Obamney voters will gleefully go along with it.

[TELLMOFF]

Some peope may be lawfully ordered to leave and arrested for disorderly conduct if they refuse. Trespassing in a space open to the public is not appropriate- I have seen this done.

[wareagle]

that may be true, but nothing points to this woman having refused to leave. My kids graduated high school in NC - same stupid rule, lots of parents hooping and hollering for five seconds and then walking out. Good grief; for some of these kids, getting a diploma is a high-water mark.

[toddb]

My son graduated a couple of weeks ago. They sealed up all the entrances to the facility (local state U basketball arena) except for one. They then herded everyone through one gate. Anyone carrying a purse or bag had to stop at a table set up at the door to have cops rifle through their belongings. Anyone not carrying a bag could just walk in.

In other words, I could have had a machette down one pant leg, a shotgun down the other, and dynamite strapped to my chest under a jacket and just walked in while they used keen police investigative work to discover what shade of lipstick my wife carries with her. Security theater at the finest!

There were tons of cops and the part above was only the tip of the iceberg regarding how insulting, wasteful, and aggravating their presence was. I can't imagine how much money they spent for the goon-squad.

[Res Publica Americana]

What, don't you want underprivileged cops to get much-needed overtime in order to feed their poor little children beluga caviar? Heartless libertard!

[Tulpa the White]

I could have had a machette down one pant leg, a shotgun down the other, and dynamite strapped to my chest under a jacket and just walked in

You'd have a pretty odd gait with machetes and shotguns stuffed in your pants, methinks. Also a jacket thick enough to disguise a bomb would be conspicuous in June.

[Res Publica Americana]

"You'd have a pretty odd gait with machetes and shotguns stuffed in your pants, methinks."

Not if they're both short enough, and a shotgun is very easy to shorten. Or you could just bring a small automatic weapon -- I mean, if you're going to commit mass murder, lesser rules don't mean shit.

"Also a jacket thick enough to disguise a bomb would be conspicuous in June."

Cheap plastic explosives. Even if you cover only tight spots on your body lightly with them, that'll be enough to bury a very significant target.

[Tulpa the White]

You've obviously thought this through to a distrubing extent.

[Pi Guy]

Or, more to the point, the cops aren't capable of thinking about it the degree that they're actually capable of preventing a real attack.

It's security theater with a couple of dashes of "Respect my Authoriteh!" for seasoning.

[R C Dean]

Smuggling a machete, and maybe a shotgun, into a building without metal detectors would be trivially easy. Hell, I could probably manage it with shorts on.

[Torontonian]

I'll go out on a limb and say none of this would have happened if the woman was white.

[Res Publica Americana]

I wouldn't. Why do you say that?

[Peter L]

Because the White lady would have followed the rules?

[wareagle]

I call bullshit. Goonery is color blind, especially at events like this. Saw it myself in NC. Authority-inspired hard-ons are the closest to color blind as one can ever find.

Thanks for weighing from Toronto, where the only black folks are the ones playing in the NBA or CFL. Or, did you not imply that this was bigoted because of location?

[Res Publica Americana]

Everything south of Pennsylvania is neo-Confederate flyover country. They have guns (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and Bibles there, among other icky things, like pick-up trucks and NASCAR.

Gosh darn it, hillbillies are such colouful little critters, bless their primitive souls!

/Stereotypical Canadian progressive, probably from Vancouver or Montreal.

[wareagle]

we even let the womenfolk vote nowadays. Right after they make the grits and sweet tea. 🙂

[Res Publica Americana]

Holy cow there, Eagle! Women votin'? Well, I sure hope you still make them spend at least 75 percent of their time in the kitchen! Down in NC, in the true spirit of Dixie, we even put their beds in the kitchen.

[Apatheist ?_??]

I'm not basing my statement off of the police conduct. Both this time and last time there were numerous people who either said that "I don't like people arresting for being annoying/disruptive" or "black people sure are loud at graduations" which implies it is out of the ordinary wherever they are.

[Apatheist ?_??]

The squirrels did not put this in the right place.

[Francisco d Anconia]

They're not even a real country anyway.

[sloopyinca]

This story is a real bitch, but nowhere near this one. Yes, the city has to acknowledge that their officers beat a man to death for no reason, but the officer responsible was not charged with a state crime and still is yet to serve a day after being convicted in federal court over 7 months ago.

The taxpayers are on the hook for the settlement, by the way.

As I said on a thread earlier, police are uncaged animals with arms and the right to commit violence with near impunity.

[mad libertarian guy]

But are these cops as bad as your favorite mayo makers?

[Res Publica Americana]

I envy your talent for self-control. I really do. Because after reading that, all I can do to prevent myself from smashing something is pace red-faced around the room.

[sloopyinca]

I cannot say this more clearly: I hope at some point in time, every officer in the SPD accidentally takes cyanide in a roll call and drops dead...all five minutes after they sign their pension back over to the taxpayers.

They are either pure evil or they cover up for the acts of the evil.

[sloopyinca]

Everything I said above goes double for Seattle.

[Pi Guy]

I think it's time for the Dunphy Signal.

[Groovus Maximus]

One and Done, Pi Guy.

[sloopyinca]

I mock the mayo-making hipsters, but this is an affront to any person that values justice and liberty. These cops are as low as any rapist or child molester. Perhaps lower because they know right from wrong and choose to murder anyway...and their brothers in blue cover it up. It's not like there's a Fraternal Order Of Child Molesters out there fighting for protections to keep child molesters from being investigated unless it's run by fellow child molesters and undisclosed to the public.

[Res Publica Americana]

"Constructive" and "generous." That's what the judge called the way the situation ended. "Constructive" and "generous" would have been the cop involved being sentenced to life without parole for a capital crime instead of the electric fucking chair he should have gotten, and which he would have gotten in a more just society.

It just doesn't compute in my head. He's still free.

[Mr. FIFY]

Thanks for the nut-punch, sloop.

[Tulpa the White]

Otto Zehm, who was beaten to death at the hands of police in 2006.

Interesting passive voice.

[Fist of Etiquette]

In the raw interview with the superintendent, he claims that if you see the video, you will agree the arrest was proper. I would like to see the video of the incident to see how it escalated to arrest. He also claims that there was a warning (shushing, like they "teach in elementary school, kindergarten") at graduation by LEO individually to anyone making noise before they got to arrest.

Someone is not telling the truth.

[Res Publica Americana]

The superintendent and the cops involved. I'll bet my fertility on it.

[sloopyinca]

Someone is not telling the truth.

Might it be the ones that refuse to disclose the video to the public?

[Tulpa the White]

You won't see the video, so your continued disapproval is irrelevant to the truth of his conditional statement.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Having been to one too many graduations this spring/summer, yeah, bitch deserved it.

Next time, how about a nice, steaming cup of Shut The Fuck Up.

/over the top

[WinningTheFuture_w/Salmon]

I think is too strong. But only a *little* too strong.

I wish they would have a Solemn graduation and a Rowdy graduation. Pomp and Circumstance for the first, and "We Are The Champions" for the second. But I have this nasty feeling that part of the enjoyment of the rowdies is acting up when they're supposed to be behaving, so the thrill would just move to infiltrating the Solemn ceremony.

And, I see no racial divide on this. Bad taste and no class comes in all colors, creeds, and national origins.

[Andy Dufrane]

Most people who have been to the movies know that black people in crowds can sometimes be very obnoxious. Black women in particular, when exited tend to get very loud, and often disruptive. This is not to say all black women do that. But the stereotype exists for a reason. Where is the video of her making a scene? Libertarian or no libertarian, if someone is screaming, yelling, and acting a complete fool in a formal graduation ceremony they should be removed. This is not news.

[Gojira]

Removed =/= arrested, perp-walked, and given a trial date.

[Res Publica Americana]

Justice is a pretty hard concept for some people to grasp.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Bah! Don't give the time of day to someone who can't spend 2 seconds googling the correct spelling of a movie character's name.

[sloopyinca]

Most people who have been to the movies know that black people in crowds can sometimes be very obnoxious.

Case in point. These guys wouldn't let anybody else in the theatre enjoy the film. (Bonus points for the first utterance on film of the phrase "Nigga' please!")

[TELLMOFF]

Andy Dufrane, the black people in the crowd were not complaining. The authorities were complaining and wanted to teach the parents how powerful they are.

[Sevo]

Andy Dufrane|6.10.12 @ 6:13PM|#
"Most people who have been to the movies know that black people in crowds can sometimes be very obnoxious. Black women in particular, when exited tend to get very loud, and often disruptive."

That's GREAT! I'll bet you figure they can dance pretty good, too!

[sloopyinca]

That's GREAT! I'll bet you figure they can dance pretty good, too!

They're very musical people, aren't they?

/Randolph Duke

[DesigNate]

And fleet-footed

/anonymous newsletter writer

[DesigNate]

Fuck you Andy. Nobody deserves to be arrested, and I would even say fuck you to being removed, for expressing their happiness at their kid graduating.

You are a statist fuck and I hope you get to feel the bootprint on your neck sometime for "acting a complete fool" when the cops don't want you to.

[Lyle]

Incompetent policing. I'm guessing this school has had issues with parents or people disrupting the ceremony in the past. I'm on the let the disruption happen side, but people like to control functions like these and this is what happens.

Better police work next time guys and gals.

[Res Publica Americana]

"Better police work next time guys and gals."

I'm sure they'll get right on it.

[sloopyinca]

By "get right on it," I imagine you mean they're firing up their tazers and stocking up on citation books.

[Res Publica Americana]

I meant raises, but yeah, that too.

Thank God in Heaven for our heroes in blue!

[Apatheist ?_??]

As I said on another thread where this came up I am astounded by the cultural differences within this country. Down here in Texas it is normal for people of any race to make a ruckus for their kid regardless of race. I've been to numerous for my various cousins and we get up and cheer loudly. Yeah some people take it a step further and bring air horns and stuff but nobody cares.

[Heroic Mulatto]

As I said on another thread where this came up I am astounded by the cultural differences within this country. Down here in Texas it is normal for people of any race to make a ruckus for their kid regardless of race

It's not a regional difference; we do that up in New Hampshire too. It's a difference between the culture of normal people and the culture of arrogant, power-abusing jackasses.

[Res Publica Americana]

Been to two in NC. Loud as a stadium, nobody gave a shit.

Must have been a particularly fucktarded police department and a particualrly fucktarded staff in this case.

[Cdr Lytton]

Same in the Northwest.

And this ... superintendent is in charge, among other things, of the civics and history curriculum that the kids took to graduate? It's like the cherry on the top of this whole thing.

[sloopyinca]

Yeah some people Mexicans take it a step further and bring air horns and stuff but nobody cares.

Racist yet accurate FIFY.

[Groovus Maximus]

**Lights Dunphy Signal**

[Mr. FIFY]

This action was, ultimately, the fault of George W. Bush.

/libsnark

[Res Publica Americana]

But FDR made it better with the New Deal1

[Mr. FIFY]

Damn that crafty FDR and his time machine!

[Res Publica Americana]

And then Obama saved American States of USA by killing Osama bin Laden! Gaia bless liberals!

[Mr. FIFY]

Also, fried chicken.

[Res Publica Americana]

God, white people suck. Stop being racist!

[Mr. FIFY]

Apparently, everything a white people does is racist, Res...

Some non-liberal white guy: "I have to leave. I promised the wife I'd buy a gallon of milk on my way home."

Liberal moron: "Why do you hate Mexicans?"

[Res Publica Americana]

"You know what, white chocolate really is the best-tasti--"

"ARREST THIS MUTHA RITE HERE, HE BE OPPRESSIN'!"

[Mr. FIFY]

So, I take it Louis Farrakhan doesn't like white chocolate.

[Bee Tagger]

I'm fairly certain I'd rather listen to anyone or anything than a high school graduation. I dare you to find me someone who disagrees.

[Res Publica Americana]

What about a libertarian high school graduation in Libertarian Utopia (tm), where, with no age-of-consent laws, all the girls are naked and constrained into sexually provocative positions by chains of gold, monocles are empire, and the diplomas are only given out after hours of unpaid labor (mostly sexual) are performed?

[Bee Tagger]

You almost had me, but then I realized that even in Libertopia, high school graduations will still be the worst thing in Libertopia. However, if Libertopia has removed the social responsibilities that usually compel people to be there, then I suppose I'll change my tune.

[Entropy Void]

... um ...

May I be the Varsity Girls Volleyball coach at this mos distinguished institution?

Pretty please?

[CE]

Except you forgot that in Libertarian Utopia, all the schools are private and parents don't send their daughters to your school, even if it's free.

[Abdul]

The good news is that Mom can cheer when her daughter graduates from MIT in four years.

[Almanian...still]

+ $160,000

[Sevo]

OT:
Surprise! Poor people live in areas where property values are lower!:

"The complaint alleges that African-Americans, Latinos and Asians are more likely to live in the low-income neighborhoods near refineries and power plants and will not receive the benefit of emission reductions intended under Cap and Trade."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/......DTLtsp=1

The good news is that the lawsuit is over cap-and-trade BS. The bad news probably takes more than the character limit.

[mad libertarian guy]

Our biggest problem is that we don't have enough government because it's, you know, super awesome and stuff, and those fucking obstructionist Republican kept Obama from spending even more money which would have totally fixed our economy.

Why don't Democrats just say [that Government is the Solution]? They really believe in active government and think it does good and valuable things. One of those valuable things is that government creates jobs ? yes, really ? and also the conditions under which more jobs can be created.

[. . .]

Indeed, our unemployment rate is higher today than it should be because conservatives blocked additional federal spending to prevent layoffs by state and local governments ? and because progressives, including Obama, took too long to propose more federal help. Obama's jobs program would be a step in the right direction, and he's right to tout it now. But he should have pushed for a bigger stimulus from the beginning. The anti-government disposition has so much power that Democrats and moderate Republicans allowed themselves to be intimidated into keeping it too small.

Are fucksticks who believe that we would be wallowing in mud without the guiding hand of Big Government really this numerous? The comments are enough to make you puke.

[sloopyinca]

Oh my god. I think I'm gonna cum in my pants.

/police officer

[sloopyinca]

Man loses wife in horrific attack. Turns into total asshole.

Seriously, this dimwit thinks the solution is to outlaw guns for people going through a divorce? How about...make it easier for the ex-wife to get and have a gun (which is hard in California because of bullshit waiting periods) and maybe she could have defended herself when Mr. Dickhead busted into her salon.

Or, maybe make it easier to get a CCW so people can carry guns to work and defend themselves.

I'm sorry for this guy's loss, but fuck him.

[R]

Dude probably would have used a knife if he didn't have a gun. If someone wants to murder you, they can generally find any number of ways to do so. Ain't no way around that, besides being well enough armed to prevent it yourself.

[Almanian...still]

Turns out that "Call of the Wildman" is the GREATEST SHOW EVER.

OMG - we're splitting a gut here.

"Eeeyeeeyeeeyeee!! Liiiiive action!"

I don't know who's more awesome - Turtle Man or his compadres.

[A Friend]

Please. This woman is celebrating what all of us (hopefully) still believe in. Her cherished daughter has achieved the majority dream of graduation in (still somewhat) segregated, beloved, conservative, traditional, South Carolina, a State I hold dear. If that isn't protected by the 1st Amendment, then we all had better head for Texas or somewhere. Honestly, let this woman celebrate her triumph, in peace. Join with her in celebration, show her you are a Libertarian in word and deed, or else declare your true wretched condition before Almighty God. Governor Haley, let this woman go.

[Sevo]

See:
sloopyinca|6.10.12 @ 4:22PM|#
"The school rented the civic center and had "ownership" of the property during the ceremony. And since the public school is owned and operated by the public, this arrest is an affront to anyone that values liberty."
Pretty sure (outside of Tulpa, who looks for any excuse for control), most everyone here agrees.

[Randian]

Tulpa agrees with you, though it does not surprise me that, as the dumbest poster here, you failed to recognize that.

[CE]

Amen.

[Spokanite]

When my son graduated from college, no one could hear his name read because the jackass family of the kid who was in line in front of him were still blowing their air horns. Have some fvcking manners, people.

[Sevo]

":Have some fvcking manners, people."

OK, but arresting them?
Sorry, if bad manners were illegal, there wouldn't be room enough in the jails.

[Voros McCracken]

"Sorry, if bad manners were illegal, there wouldn't be room enough in the jails."

That's true, Buster Bloodvessel does take up some space.

[CE]

How about banning air horns next time?

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[R C Dean]

Rules against "disrupting" the ceremony - OK.

Arresting people who have broken the rules but are leaving peacefully - not OK.

Allowing someone who has broken the rules but is leaving peacefully to do so - yeah, she got away with it, it happens.

[CE]

We had 200 students in my graduating class, and cheering was not prohibited. There was a lot of cheering for people early in the alphabet, but later on just polite applause. Somehow we survived and the community continued to exist, without any arrests.

[Dr G]

I think being forced to sit through the whole thing would be a worse punishment. She got off easy. Not even tased or pepper sprayed.