Tannerite Gender Reveal goes south.

[Rocketshooter]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/18/us/gender-reveal-explosion-man-charged-trnd/index.html?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

The neighbors thought it was earthquake. Really?

[Rick_In_Tampa]

This story has more holes in it than a screen door. The one thing I found particularly troubling, was the assertion that the guy was being charged with "disorderly conduct," not because he did anything illegal. Not because he caused any damage to anything. But because he caused "public alarm." Seems like a pretty bogus charge to me. So if one or two of my neighbors gets scared because they hear my pyro show on the 4th, am I then at risk for being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct because someone else got scared??

[PyroJoeNEPA]

This story has more holes in it than a screen door. The one thing I found particularly troubling, was the assertion that the guy was being charged with "disorderly conduct," not because he did anything illegal. Not because he caused any damage to anything. But because he caused "public alarm." Seems like a pretty bogus charge to me. So if one or two of my neighbors gets scared because they hear my pyro show on the 4th, am I then at risk for being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct because someone else got scared??

Welcome to the "WOKE" generation!!! I got banned on FakeBook for three days because I posted a chart that listed the side effects of the currently available covid vaccines--FakeBook said it "went against their community standards by instilling fear in people"....go figure!!!
I guess "thump junkies" are a threat to the mental health of overly noise sensitive people????

[Pyroplantfreak]

Welcome to the "WOKE" generation!!! I got banned on FakeBook for three days because I posted a chart that listed the side effects of the currently available covid vaccines--FakeBook said it "went against their community standards by instilling fear in people"....go figure!!!
I guess "thump junkies" are a threat to the mental health of overly noise sensitive people????

Bailed from Censor book....And twit censor..

[tgis81]

Sounds to me like whoever the higher up in the department was told the officer to charge them and that's the best they could come up with. Having worked in law enforcement for 18 years, I can attest that there are unfortunately a lot of officers who don't appreciate pyro. There are even fewer who actually have any experience with it.

As far as the DC charge, public inconvenience is one of the requirements of the charge. In PA, there is even a section for "loud noise" that can be used for anything from yelling late at night, to revving a car engine excessively in the middle of a bunch of houses. Just some examples. I am fortunate to work for a department that backs their officers' decisions and discretion on how we handle situations. I personally am happier to check and make sure everyone is safe and leave on a good note than I would be to hit someone with a minor citation. But not all departments are like that. Some insist on officers filing charges for the smallest things and those are terrible places to work.

I'd be curious to see how this case turns out in court though. They are going to need the neighbors to come in and testify to get it through.

Tony

[Mattp]

The real problem is that story made it to cnn? it actually happened about a month ago. and the original local news story on it showed someone?s ring doorbell camera go off because of the shockwave it sent out .. lol? so ya people thought it was an earthquake .. they said people actually heard it and felt it in the next town.. and some are trying to say it cracked their foundations

[Arclight]

I mean, making a huge air blast without warning anyone first falls more under "bad explosives etiquette."

[Birdman]

But not all departments are like that. Some insist on officers filing charges for the smallest things and those are terrible places to work.

I'd be curious to see how this case turns out in court though. They are going to need the neighbors to come in and testify to get it through.

Tony

This is why I always tell people never call the police unless you are in danger or really want someone to get fined or charged. Also don't be surprised if it turns out to be you. In my experience if you're calling the police they show up to do their jobs and enforce whatever law they can. Too many times I hear of people that regret calling cops after someone gets charged when all they wanted to do was send a message, a message they should be sending themselves before they call the cops. Instead of talking to their neighbors people seem to prefer to either complain on social media about them or just call the cops.

I have a ring doorbell and with it people can alert of criminal activity that is sent to anyone in the area with the app. Besides the nightly alerts of kids checking car doors it's all people alerting about "fireworks", (possible) "gun shots" or the even the more exaggerated "explosions"! They typically never know exactly what they heard, never saw anything and don't know if anyone is actually in danger. But the alert people send out that rubs me the most is "Fox in the area!" I always ask if it's armed and dangerous or a sexual predator! These chicken littles have practically rendered the app useless.

[upNdown]

But because he caused "public alarm."
For whatever it’s worth, that’s pretty much the definition of disorderly conduct, where I’m from.

I don’t really know the specifics of this case, and I’m obviously not opposed to blowing things up, but I suppose at some point, an explosion can be too big, even if nobody gets hurt?
I dunno. I’ve just seen so much idiocy with these gender reveals, that it’s tough for me to have sympathy.

[Arclight]

Public safety people get irritated about explosions that don't serve any purpose. The key is always having a good reason why you're blowing something up. And ideally being the person who called it in before it happened. Which is a great reason to become a blaster.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Welcome to the "WOKE" generation!!! I got banned on FakeBook for three days because I posted a chart that listed the side effects of the currently available covid vaccines--FakeBook said it "went against their community standards by instilling fear in people"....go figure!!!
I guess "thump junkies" are a threat to the mental health of overly noise sensitive people????

If posting factual information about how something can hurt you violates their standards, then there's something wrong with their standards. Life isn't always rainbows and butterflies, and it should be okay to say so.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

The key is always having a good reason why you're blowing something up.

The problem with that theory is it presupposes that you get to have the final say on what constitutes a "good reason." That's generally not the case.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

For whatever it’s worth, that’s pretty much the definition of disorderly conduct, where I’m from.

I don’t really know the specifics of this case, and I’m obviously not opposed to blowing things up, but I suppose at some point, an explosion can be too big, even if nobody gets hurt?
I dunno. I’ve just seen so much idiocy with these gender reveals, that it’s tough for me to have sympathy.

Totally get where you're going with that. But it seems to me that there should be a "reasonableness" test applied to these cases. i.e. If the guy blew up 80lbs of tannerite in the street in front of his house in an HOA... I think it's going to be a hard sell to say that is reasonable. However, doing the same thing in a quarry where one would/should expect to hear explosions.... I don't know. I wasn't there. I don't know the details. Generally speaking, criminalizing legal behavior because someone else got scared just seems to be a bad precedent to set.

[Arclight]

The problem with that theory is it presupposes that you get to have the final say on what constitutes a "good reason." That's generally not the case.

<Ranger responding to report of loud explosion in desert> "We were...disposing of some expired product. Don't worry, it's all gone now."