What am I being charged with officer?

[enomaj]

This is tangentially related to Gates-gate but I thought it deserved its own thread. Probably not enough here for a GD post.

Disorderly Conduct: Conversation About Gates Arrest Precedes Arrest

My opinion is this guy won’t get as much sympathy as Gates and we by the wording of the statute in the article the charges might stick.

“That’s why I hate the police,” Tuma said. He told the Huffington Post that in a loud sing-song voice, he then chanted, “I hate the police, I hate the police.”

D.C.'s disorderly conduct statute bars citizens from breaching the peace by doing anything “in such a manner as to annoy, disturb, interfere with, obstruct, or be offensive to others” or by shouting or making noise “either outside or inside a building during the nighttime to the annoyance or disturbance of any considerable number of persons.”

[Hello_Again]

I went to college with the guy arrested, Pepin Tuma. I didn’t know him very well, but you don’t forget a name like “Pepin Tuma.”

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Seems more likely to me that he will get satisfaction from complaint, or that ultimately the law will be thrown out as too vague, but IANAL.

[scarbrow]

I have to admit, I would have found this hard to believe until recently. I could definitely get behind an effort to reform the apparent ridiculousness of disorderly conduct laws. No one should be arrested because they are expressing their distaste for the police, either collectivvely or individually.