Connecticut has a very dubious and troubled relationship with our breach of peace statute. Its broad language gives license to turn perfectly legal acts into a crime.
So whether you’re someone who is legally carrying a gun in Connecticut, or a college student who returns home in his Halloween costume, society’s irresponsible overreaction is your responsibility.
I’m sure you’ve heard of David Kyem, the Central CT State U (such a fucking long name – hereinafter CCSU) student who walked back onto campus on a Monday wearing his ninja Halloween costume.
A guy, who allegedly went to that school, so someone must’ve known him, walking to his dorm room with a fake sword was cause to bring the SWAT team and 62 – yes, I said sixty-fucking-two - police officers to the campus. It caused a three hour lockdown and Kyem was arrested for breach of the peace.
Here’s a video of him dangerously getting into an elevator after which he dangerously presses the button to his floor and dangerously walks through a common room not in the least bit looking tired:
So how did this all come to light? Apparently someone who sat next to him on a bus (!) notified police:
Kaylie Washburn, a senior at CCSU who said she rode the bus with the suspicious person and called police. She said she was grateful for the quick police response and called 911 to “help prevent an incident like at Virginia Tech from happening at Central.”
More:
Jordan Governale, a 20-year-old junior from Farmington, said he walked by a man carrying a backpack and with a sword and sheath strapped to his back Monday morning. The man was wearing a mask, camouflage pants, knee pads and a vest resembling body armor, Governale said.
A minute later, he said, he saw police. ”At first I thought it was a Halloween costume. But after I saw the cops I thought it was some sort of threat,” he said. “It’s pretty scary. It’s pretty strange, unexpected.”
Yes, it’s unexpected, because it was a fucking Halloween costume to begin with. If we didn’t have such a disproportional response to guns, we might be able to have an intelligent conversation about them.1
Do you see that all it takes for you to be guilty of a crime is for someone to have their limbic system go in overdrive?
Thankfully for David Kyem, despite the charge, he is still not guilty of Breach of Peace:
(a) A person is guilty of breach of the peace in the second degree when, with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, such person: (1) Engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior in a public place; or (2) assaults or strikes another; or (3) threatens to commit any crime against another person or such other person’s property; or (4) publicly exhibits, distributes, posts up or advertises any offensive, indecent or abusive matter concerning any person; or (5) in a public place, uses abusive or obscene language or makes an obscene gesture; or (6) creates a public and hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which such person is not licensed or privileged to do. For purposes of this section, “public place” means any area that is used or held out for use by the public whether owned or operated by public or private interests.
(b) Breach of the peace in the second degree is a class B misdemeanor.
One might argue that subsection (6) applies, but one would be wrong. He is clearly licensed and privileged to walk through the campus of his school to his dorm room wearing a halloween costume carrying a fake gun and sword. I mean, he must’ve left campus with those things, right?
As if that wasn’t enough, they order him to leave campus. He returns the next day and is arrested for trespassing.
As if that isn’t enough, he’s no longer a student of the school: forced out or left because he didn’t want to be around morons is unclear.
At that point, the best thing for everyone would be to just let it go: the school and police massively overreacted, a student lost his education and is facing criminal charges and everyone had to go buy new pairs of underwear.
But no. This Police State USA, so the New Britain police department has made the almost laughable request that they be reimbursed $13,000 by Kyem and his family.
Kyem, the only guy who probably didn’t do anything wrong in this whole fiasco is being asked to foot the bill of our collective freakout.
In a way, we all have to foot this bill and already do. Because taxes.
—–