"Going Armed To the Terror of the People"

Here's an offense I didn't know existed, but apparently in North Carolina you can be charged with a crime for doing something that is otherwise legal if it scares people.

What apparently happened was that a soldier from FT Bragg went to a local mall to have glamour shots made of himself with his body armor and rifle. The result was a complete panic, the closing of the mall, the arrest of the soldier, and his being charged with this obscure crime.

The Duffel Blog mocks the soldier for his lack of self-awareness, pointing out that this was right after a reported shooting at the Navy Yard. That story turned out to be false, of course, which suggests that a kind of public hysteria is at work. I suppose one has to be aware of the hysteria of one's fellow Americans as well, though frankly, at this time that requires a tremendous amount of awareness. America is hysterical about everything just now.

In any case, while scaring others is adequate for being arrested and charged with the crime, actual conviction will require proof that his intent was to terrify people. Assuming they don't manage to bluff him into pleading guilty, our boy ought to walk on that one.

10 comments:

E HInes said...

The soldier may or may not have been guilty of poor judgment. However, the meme that he caused panic is pure, unadulterated BS.

He didn't cause anyone to panic. Those grown, adult human beings chose of their own free will to panic. Full stop.

But this is what we come to in a society of microaggression, thin-skinned-ness, and professional victimhood.

Speaking of which, the cops bothering the soldier are guilty of microagression. The folks who...panicked...especially microaggressed with their disruption of the soldier as he went about his business and with their disruption of those businesses.

Eric Hines

E Hines said...

A person guilty of this offense [Going Armed to the Terror of the People]

(1) arms himself or herself with an unusual and dangerous weapon

(2) for the purpose of terrifying others and

(3) goes about on public highways

(4) in a manner to cause terror to the people.


An easily beatable rap, even among a population of the determinedly timid.

Re (1): Nothing unusual at all about his rifle. They're easily--and legally--purchasable in any licensed firearm store or firing range. That they're also easily purchasable on any street/alley corner only adds to the usualness of the rifle our guy was carrying.

Re (2): Plainly no such purpose existed in his mind. He was simply moseying along minding his own business until microaggressed against, and other peoples' business thrust upon him.

Re (3): No public highway. He was in a shopping mall, not on a highway, toll or public. If the State had intended malls to be included as highways, it would have written the law to say so.

Re (4): I addressed that in the comment above.

QEFD.

Eric Hines

Anonymous said...

Ehhh,

There have now been several incidents where people with guns have walked into malls unremarked, and then started spraying real bullets around. So you could say that there was a factual basis for the decisions of adults to treat the situation seriously. I know I would.

Valerie

E Hines said...

Treating the situation seriously is a far cry from going into a blind panic.

Eric Hines

Grim said...

Quite right.

jaed said...

Am I missing something? I'm not seeing evidence of panic in the linked article. It says most people found out about this when they were herded from the mall by the cops. There's no report of people running around and screaming.

(I wouldn't characterize calling the police as panicking.)

Ymar Sakar said...

The police probably got a reported and then tried to set up an over reaction as with Waco 2.

Things didn't go as planned in either case.

Grim said...

Heh. You know, Jaed, if it turns out there wasn't terror, there was even less reason to file the charge. :)

MikeD said...

There have now been several incidents where people with guns have walked into malls unremarked, and then started spraying real bullets around. So you could say that there was a factual basis for the decisions of adults to treat the situation seriously. I know I would.

I can understand calling the police. I can understand the police stopping him as to inquire about his purpose for being so armed. I could even understand it if the mall had a policy of "no firearms permitted" and them enforcing a trespass complaint. But to arrest him for "causing panic" is ridiculous. Once you have ascertained that he is intending no harm to the citizenry, there is no cause to detain him.

Want to see how something like this SHOULD be handled?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdJ8pjKmIQU

Grim said...

At this point, usually these encounters are with open carry advocates who are trying to make a political point. They tend to be courteous and know the law (the ones who are rude to the police are morons, in my opinion, who are not helping their cause or any of us). The police are becoming more aware even in some urban areas.

This poor kid, though. I think he'll walk, as I said, but his command will probably eat his lunch over it. If he's 25 he's got some rank he can lose.