Nobody.... especially not several people at one time.... is going to accuse someone else of these things for no reason at all, out of the clear blue sky. I don’t believe this story.
Balony! What did they accuse him of?
Its possible that the neighbors just don’t know what autism is or how to deal with it.
Some people are just crazy.
You're forgetting the tremendous irrationality of many hoplophobes. This sounds like the work of 3 suburban housewives with severe cases of hoplophobia (aggravated by way too much time on their hands), who really think nobody should have a gun in their home, and especially that nobody with children should have a gun in their home, and the idea of someone with an autistic child having a gun in their home sent them over the edge.
One of them has a kid who was picking on the autistic kid, and didn't like the father complaining about this to the bully's father. One or more of them may also have have mentioned their concern about the gun to the father at some point, and gotten the same sort of reaction from him that they would have gotten from you or me. At any rate, they (notably just the women -- apparently the husband who was at the receiving end of the complaint about the bullying didn't care to put his name on this insane court filing) decided the autistic kid's father was "a very violent, unstable and unpredictable man" (though apparently they couldn't provide even an allegation of a single incident in which he'd been violent), and when police and CPS and Continental Airlines all blew off their crazy complaints, they decided they had to go to court to avert a mass slaughter on their block.
Given that calls to 911, CPS, and Continental preceded the court filing, there was plenty of provocation for Mr. Trussle to demonstrate his "unpredictable" responses to these idiotic complaints, thus rendering the hoplophobic ladies apoplectic. I'm sure any one of us would have reacted to such calls and their fallout in a way that would cause these ladies to deem us "very violent, unstable and unpredictable". They've had their opportunity to tell their side of the story -- first to the court, which threw them out and ordered them to pay Mr. Trussle's legal expenses, and then to the media, to which they responded by fleeing into their homes (2 of them) and saying "no comment" (1 of them). I suspect these ladies are in deep doo-doo with their husbands (at least the ones who have husbands) for causing all this trouble and getting socked with the legal bills.
I hope the Trussles buy their autistic tot an arsenal of toy guns with which to drive these idiots out of the neighborhood.
Sure. there was a reason. We don't know what it was. It could be the neighbors are a bunch of pinko-wussies who freak out at the Thought that somebody might own a gun. I've seen people's curl in a combination of fear and contempt when my gun ownership comes up in a conversation. It's not a rational reaction.
Or since the child is apparently suffering from some form of autism, the neighbors could be having problems with being confronted frequently with the reality that some people suffer from sorrowful afflictions for what seems to be no good reason. Yeah, I'm a little uncomfortable around people with autism. The difference here is the neighbors want the victim to go away instead of facing the challenge of personal and spiritual growth and the obligation of compassion.
So yeah, there has to be a reason. But assigning a reason is not the same thing as assigning fault.
I've experienced this kind of thing first hand. I was the supervisor of a woman that just liked to have some kind of conflict going all the time. Being the supervisor (because, hey, everyone hates the boss) I was often the target of her efforts. Fortunately for me, I had the power to get rid of her, and eventually (when I saw she wasn't going to change), I did.
So yes, what is happening to this guy can certainly happen. It only takes one who wants to stir things up to get others on her "side" against you.
>Nobody.... especially not several people at one time.... is going to accuse someone else of these things for no reason at all, out of the clear blue sky. I don’t believe this story.
I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve had some similar situations wherein people have used the police [via 911] to complain that I had a gun, which is legal in my open carry state, and apparently the call originated with my National Guard unit: who wouldn’t have had ANY first-hand knowledge on the “incident” at hand.
This wasn't "for no reason at all;" it was for revenge, one of the more common reasons to act like a jerk.
Multiple people made accusations in the Salem witch trials. Ergo, you must believe that the accused were guilty as charged, and that witches have actual magical powers.
The first thought that popped into my mind was that the three accusers were lesbian roommates.
Dunno why.
Really? I have had the police called on my several times because I was out walking with my son. There wasn’t any reason for it to happen - but it did.
That’s one way to think about it. Believe me, I’m trying to understand what more could be behind this story, but when the media came, not one woman documented a single incident of violent, unstable, unpredictable behavior. Instead, two of them ran into their homes like frightened field mice, while the third said, “no comment.” The only people who seem unstable and unpredictable are these women.
Tell that to the numbers of day care owners who were charged with abuse during the 80's. Some were actually convicted and sent to prison, staying there for years before the cases were finally re-heard and thrown out for lack of evidence. There was no hard evidence at the time of their convictions, but because of parents' fears and the anger of the public at the accusations, they were convicted anyway.
People jump to idiotic conclusions all the time. Back when I was working, I overheard my boss talking about me to a couple of my coworkers. They were discussing how much weight I was putting on, how I was moving around slowly...when they started to mull over “maybe she’s having problems at home,” I made my presence known and let them know I was seven months pregnant, as any idiot could pretty plainly see. They seemed to like the “marital troubles” explanation better, even knowing the facts. Dumb bunch of broads they were.