Posted on 04/04/2003 5:14:01 AM PST by Miles Bennel
Signs land seven in court
By CLIFFORD JEFFERY STURGIS JOURNAL
What started as an April Fool's joke involving bad grammar landed seven people in jail Tuesday.
Sturgis police arrested seven Sturgis men for placing more than 20 threatening letters on various businesses, schools, banks and at the post office. At least 12 signs were posted Monday morning. Another 20 were put up Tuesday evening, according to Sturgis police.
The letters all read "All your base are belong to us and you have no chance to survive, make your time."
Information about the letters was forwarded to the FBI and U.S. postal authorities, said Sturgis police Chief Eugene Alli.
"This is no joking matter," he said. "During a time of war and with the present concern for homeland security, terrorist acts will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
The "All your base are belong to us" are lines said by Cats, a bad guy in a 1989 Japanese video game. The poor translation to English led to its use by many involved in the video game culture.
According to the "All your base are belong to us" Web site, a voiceover of the Zero Wing video game introduction, including the poorly translated line, was put to music and sung by a Wayne Newton impersonator. Stories about the phrase have appeared in Time, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times and Wired. The phrase is printed on T-shirts and bumper stickers.
But police were not in on the joke.
Officer Damon Knapp witnessed three people placing the signs on a downtown business. By early this morning, police had arrested seven men, charging them with disorderly conduct.
Robert McNew, 20, Carl McNew, 19, John Wolf, 20, William Caldwell, 17, Dustin Garn, 19, Kirk Vezeau, 20, and Kyle Woodward, 18, were all released after posting bond.
They are scheduled to appear in St. Joseph County District Court April 16.
The prosecution will no doubt be conducted by the Ministry of Silly Walks.
Captain: What you say!!
Sense of humor is not involved here nor should it be!
Of course the judge should follow the law. But part of the law concerns intent. If a nightclub comedian wisecracks that "My material is great. It's gonna kill this audience.", that doesn't mean he should be charged with attempted murder.
These kids probably though everybody was in on the joke. You want to see them put in jail for that?
Amendment I, U.S. Constitution,
"Congress shall make NO law...abridging the freedom of speech."
As I said to the gun control freaks, what part of NO do you not understand?
It is "during time of war" that we citizens have not defended and have abdicated our liberties in the past and subsequently have seen them diminished and trampled upon with impunity.
With that being said, the proper way to handle this "prank" from the presumption of liberty is we do not have to have unconstitutional laws "...abridging the freedom of speech...," for the sake of "security," but we should have civil liability laws enacted and enforced that hold the "cost" of irresponsible speech by citizens accountable.
The pranksters should be financially liable for the disruption their prank caused to the schools and businesses in which they posted the sign and for the cost of the police, FBI, etc., time and effort to track them down to ensure that the posting of the sign was not a true terrorist threat.
The point of my remarks above is to show that we do not have to compromise, give up, or concede that our liberties are not absolute, even "during a time of war."
It would be extremely disappointing to our founding fathers that most of the present day citizens have such a mindset.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." Benjamin Franklin - 1759
I hope the judge has a sense of humor.
His kung-fu is not strong, he will learn many lessons in pain.
bad link?
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