Brickbats: February 2024
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
Alabama's Jefferson County school system suspended a 6-year-old for pointing his finger like a gun while playing cops and robbers. He initially received a class 3 violation, the same one given to students who bring actual weapons to school, later dropped to a class 2 violation. School officials later told local media that only a "discussion with the student" was needed, and not a suspension, but the boy's father said the class 2 violation remains on his son's record.
Milford, Massachusetts, police charged two people with keeping a disorderly home, gaming or betting, keeping a place for registering bets, and selling liquor without permits. According to police, Luis Loja-Caguana paved over the backyard at his home and installed two full volleyball courts, where police say he not only hosted volleyball games but ran a betting operation on the games. Police served a search warrant on the property and seized around $10,000 in cash.
A Maricopa County, Arizona, prosecutor fired for falsely charging protesters as gang members said before a State Bar disciplinary hearing that she did nothing wrong, even when she charged a bystander who was not part of the protest. April Sponsel said she still believes nurse Ryder Collins is part of a gang, despite video evidence from both police officers and bystanders showing Collins did not take part in the protest.
Police in Valence, France, ordered a Chamas Tacos restaurant franchise to turn off its sign or face an administrative closure order because the C in the sign is not working, so at night it appears to read "Hamas Tacos." The owner of the restaurant told local media that the C has not been working for months, well before the recent attacks on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas.
Christopher Fujushin of Grantsville, Utah, put up a Halloween decoration of a pole-dancing skeleton outside his house. City officials posted on Facebook that the display, which was attached to a street sign, had to be removed. Fujushin then moved the display to his front yard and added lights, music, and more skeletons. His neighbors donated items to make the display even bigger.
Hachikosela Muchimba, a U.S. Postal Service carrier in Washington, D.C., has been charged with mail theft and bank fraud. Prosecutors said Muchimba stole $1,697,909 in mailed checks, erased the payees' names, and deposited them in his bank account. In a search of his house, authorities allegedly found an ATM receipt in which Muchimba deposited a Treasury check for $415,173. Prosecutors say he tried to flee to Zambia when discovered.
In England, Northumbria Police fired Constable Philip Aiston after a panel found he failed to notify a couple of the death of their son, as he was told to do, then lied about it for two years. Aiston reported going to deliver the news and finding no one home, but GPS data from his patrol car placed him five miles away from the couple's residence. The panel found that not notifying the parents didn't warrant disciplinary action but the multiple lies he told his superiors did.
A proposed Chinese law would ban wearing clothing or symbols that "undermine the spirit or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation." Those who violate the law could face up to 15 days in jail and a fine of up to 5,000 yuan ($700). The proposal came after police in Suzhou detained a woman for wearing a Japanese kimono and after people wearing rainbow-print clothing were barred from attending a concert in Beijing.
