Experiment: walk around downtown with a lit tiki torch and see how quickly you get arrested.
0 2017-08-15 by joe_jaywalker
The over/under is 9.5 minutes and I'm taking the under.
0 2017-08-15 by joe_jaywalker
The over/under is 9.5 minutes and I'm taking the under.
26 comments
1 Putin_loves_cats 2017-08-15
Why would you get arrested? As long as your not breaking any laws they have no reason to even engage with you.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Is carrying an open flame in a city not against the law?
1 The_Veracity_Sector 2017-08-15
Ask the Olympians lol.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Considering they shut down entire blocks for the torch ceremony I think that constitutes a special exemption...
1 The_Veracity_Sector 2017-08-15
This is true
1 Putin_loves_cats 2017-08-15
I'm going to go out on a limb and say.... no?
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Try it then. You won't get bitten by insects at least.
1 Putin_loves_cats 2017-08-15
I can't. I'm way too far away from any populous down town area. As long as you are not waving it menacingly, I'm not sure what standing a LEO would have to engage with you. I mean, they probably will engage you, but that would be unlawful. They don't really care about that, though. So, I guess if you're going to do this, check the laws, and have a video camera taping it.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Yeah that's the thing, even if it's not illegal per se, you know you would be stopped by LEO's simply because you're in a crowded area. So how much less likely is it that a pack of (fake) Nazis that looks like a classic pitch fork lynch mob can walk around menacingly with dozens of torches and not immediately get detained and shut down?
Food for thought.
1 Putin_loves_cats 2017-08-15
It wasn't officially made known of before they did it, and I'm sure they were allowed because the cops didn't know. Once they were made aware, they probably did engage them and shut it down.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Well in reality if this were taking place in my nearest metropolitan area, x would equal roughly 40 seconds.
Yet it was plenty of time for many, many photo opportunities. And no video/photographic record of the actual shutting down taking place...
1 Ninjakick666 2017-08-15
I dunno.. I seen some of them fire juggler guys out busking and they didn't get hassled by the 5-0.
1 armchairCueB 2017-08-15
If that was the case, then no one would be able to have a smoke on their breaks or whenever the hell they wanted to light up.
1 iantm 2017-08-15
You first, Braveheart.
I'll take the over, you won't get arrested at all.
1 Kolyin 2017-08-15
You could walk around all day and not get arrested. Why would anyone bother? It's not against any law I can think of.
If you were blasting a flamethrower around the neighborhood, sure. But tiki torches are specifically designed to be safe in public places. Bars put them up around drunk people. Yuppies put them up around toddlers.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
So this is perfectly legal to do in a city and would not result in immediate and forceful molestation from the fuzz?
1 Kolyin 2017-08-15
Depends on the local rules regarding assemblies. A group that large might need a permit, particularly in dense urban environments. It's the size of the group that would trigger that though, not the fact that they're carrying tiki torches.
I'm speculating, I've never looked for torch regulations. But if there is any such law, I can't think of it and no one seems to be able to find one. Or an example of people getting busted for carrying tiki torches.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Don't know why it has taken me so long to think of this but I feel like there should have been video of the moment when a group of cops descended upon this ominous looking assembly and said "Ok knock it off you little shits."
1 Kolyin 2017-08-15
They can't. The demonstrators got a permit, if I recall correctly, and cops are very reluctant (appropriately so) to break up lawful public assemblies. It's a core First Amendment right to assemble, especially over political issues.
Even where the assembly is unpermitted, LEOs are generally pretty reluctant to break up nonviolent political assemblies.
There's a lot of criticism being leveled at the cops for not breaking it up once things got violent. I tend to think they should have stepped in at that point, but it's hard to tell from arm's length.
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Yes, city council office? Hullo, we are a group of nonviolent white nationalists and we would like to apply for a permit to stalk menacingly downtown with hundreds of men carrying flaming torches and chanting inflammatory slogans. .
1 Kolyin 2017-08-15
Yeah, pretty much. And the city literally can't say no. There's generations of legal precedent on this one.
This is a massive oversimplification, but basically the city can exercise some discretion based on the methods of the march, but not its viewpoints. So if they want to use loudspeakers in a residential neighborhood at 4 a.m., the city can say no to that. But it can't say no because the marchers are Nazis. (There are famous cases on that exact, specific point. Ever seen Blues Brothers? The line about "Illinois Nazis" is a reference to one of those cases.)
I don't think the city would have a leg to stand on if it tried to deny a permit because the marchers were going to carry tiki torches. The things are literally designed to be as safe as possible. If they made homemade torches with rags and pitch, maybe, but not Pier One tiki torches.
1 biggeststardewfan 2017-08-15
Yes, that's how the First Amendment works. If the town says no, they expose themselves to lawsuits.
And in fact, the town did try to prevent this rally from happening, or more accurately, tried to move it to a different location. As they've done in the past, the ACLU defended their right to do so and the town relented.
1 Lord__Buckethead 2017-08-15
The tiki torches were CGI.
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6tfq8z/reminder_that_fake_car_attacks_are_nothing_new_15/
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6tbqay/some_people_need_a_quick_review_of_why_everything/
1 joe_jaywalker 2017-08-15
Those posts of mine are admittedly of a higher quality than this one. Thank you for perusing my history.
1 LilyoftheCalla 2017-08-15
I saw a commercial on MTV today where they extinguished a tiki torch and it said something like stop the hate...
All I'm saying is... don't invest in any tiki companies for a little while
1 skysoles 2017-08-15
I doubt you'd get arrested, but after last weekend I bet you'd get punched in the face.
1 EricCarver 2017-08-15
Downvoted. Since when is it illegal to walk around with something lit? They arresting people with cigs and cigars?