Man Arrested for Public Consumption of Iced Tea Urged to Take a “Deal” from Prosecutors

D.C. Clothesline ^ | 03-27-2014 | Kimberly Paxton

[mykroar]

Pretty sure Heartland meant there are cases of a person being arrested for “just being black” as opposed to a real crime - and this is one example.

[The Antiyuppie]

“He should take the deal and consider himself lucky that the SWAT team didn’t show up and shoot him. /s”

Lucky he wasn’t walking his dog.

[RegulatorCountry]

I think I got the gist of the situation at first reading, but thank you for highlighting the lack of identification again.

[The Antiyuppie]

“Part of the problem is, he wasn’t wearing a badge and didn’t identify himself as a police officer when he approached the individual and demanding his can of iced tea.”

I would say that’s a mighty big problem in and of itself.

[HereInTheHeartland]

There are people who are unfairly arrested because of the color of their skin. This story would indicate that is possibly what happened here.

[LevinFan]

The whole point of an under cover officer is that you don’t know he is a cop.

[Focault's Pendulum]

Pretty sure Heartland meant there are cases of a person being arrested for “just being black” as opposed to a real crime

I understood that. Thanks

But Heartland did use the word legit.

[Yorlik803]

Its a crime against everyone. The US is a police state now where even the slightest thing can end up with a person handcuffed and beat down.
Time to reign in these goons

[maggief]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ridiculoud

[Focault's Pendulum]

You did use the word legit. If it was meant as sarcasm, I missed it.

[xrmusn]

But, there comes a point when the “solution” is worse than the problem. They have reached that point.

: = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

(Police) Major Colvin "The Wire"

(After he proposed Drug Usage Zones in Baltimore)

The brown bag was a great moment in civic compromise. Some “nameless smokehound” put his bottle of booze in a brown bag and the police left him alone. The consumption of alcohol in public places is illegal, and enforcing the law was an incredible drain on police resources.

[Maurice Tift]

  I drink something called 'Outrageous Ginger Ale.' It didn't occur to me that it looked like a beer bottle until someone at the store thought I was buying beer too early in the morning. To think I actually drank some in the car.

It's just a matter of time before I'm arrested for ginger ale...
by the way - it's great stuff

[Hatteras]

"I didn't realize there were legitimate reasons for being arrested for the color of your skin?"

He said there are legitimate cases of arrested for being black. Not legitimate cases for arrested for being black.

In other words, in some cases, there are legitimate complaints that a law-abiding citizen was targeted by the police solely for the color of their skin. This appears to be one of them.

My apologies for butting in, just thought I'd help :-)

[LevinFan]

” No doubt there is a problem in
Fayetteville with public intoxication, and
no doubt they’re attempting to disguise it
by mixing drinks in iced tea cans.”

There is plenty of doubt, until someone show it is actually a significant issue.

” But, there comes a point when the “solution”
is worse than the problem.”

Which is the big issue. Laws aren’t ends to themselves. Laws serve the public, not themselves.

[longfellow]

If he had skittles he’d be dead.

[gaijin]

Kidnapping

Aggravated battery

$$$$

[ArtDodger]

In Nazi Germany, the badge meant one was correct in ALL situations, up to and including pulling out a luger and shooting another in the head for no particular reason. In the Iced Tea episode, if this had escalated to fisticuffs or something more deadly and it wasn’t discovered until after the incident that the offender was an officer, the officer would immediately be granted the benefit of the doubt. From that point on, the wronged man would be fighting for his life.

[skinkinthegrass]

"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken.You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.” ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957it appears, we've reached that point..(think about it)

[sport]

I am now at your post, scrolling down reading, but I fully expect some of the cops can do no wrong crowd saying how brave the cop was and the perp deserved what he got. I, myself, am still dazed that the cop did not shoot him. And I also know that by now the cop realizes his error and vows not to repeat it.

The next individual he sees drinking iced tea, out comes his gun and bang, bang, bang. "It looked like he/she was holding a gun and I was in fear of my life", will be his/her story.

[BubbaJunebug]

I had a similar thing happen to me in that frickin state.

Pulled over by not one but 2 N.C. state patrolmen..yanked out of my car demanding that I hand over the beer I was drinking...what they found was a coke which I had been drinking.

One officer had me face down on the ground the other proceeded to empty my luggage and dumped it all over the ground looking for the “beer”

Not finding what they were looking for, they just up and left...no sorry, no let me help you reload your car.

Me...at the time..White, 58, a bit overweight, drive a Cadillac.