[Lighthouse]

Interesting times we live if: First a rape victim in Saudi Arabia, Then a Teddy named Mohammad in Sudan, And now a snowball in USA:$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') SYDNEY University student who faces jail time in the US for allegedly throwing a snowball at a co-worker has been gagged from discussing the bizarre case.
Andrew Thistleton, 21, will face a jury trial Thursday night (Australian time) in Colorado charged with third-degree assault and harassment.
Mr Thistleton is accused of throwing a snowball at then ski shop co-worker Michelle Oehlert, 22, on the morning of February 4, 2007 near the staff housing complex at the Copper Mountain ski resort in Colorado. link

[katkinkate]

Well, that's put an end to snowball fights in America. Everyone will be too scared of being arrested for assault or sued.

[Andrew_S]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he office of Mr Thistleton+s Denver based lawyer, Lisa Moses, said she was prevented from discussing the case further.

Ms Moses has previously described the charges against the Australian as "insane" and a "waste of taxpayers time".

[Lighthouse]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('golem', 'A')dd fewer lawyers to my Saint Nicholas X-mass massacre wish list....then meet me in Miami...where some like it hot.

namaste

[peaker_2005]

Does anybody else think this is just a symptom of the whole thing starting to come down? Stress fractures, if you will?

It's patently ridiculous and deserves to be thrown out.

Of course a gag order has been placed on this - a) the details of the case are likely ridiculous, and b) it is after all an ongoing case.

And you realise what this does right? Since parents will fear being sued, children will basically be kept indoors all winter, for fear they'll throw a snowball at someone and they'll sue them for all they've got. What that adds up to is a generation of even fatter kids.

[Grifter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('peaker_2005', '
')
And you realise what this does right? Since parents will fear being sued, children will basically be kept indoors all winter, for fear they'll throw a snowball at someone and they'll sue them for all they've got. What that adds up to is a generation of even fatter kids.

[peaker_2005]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grifter', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('peaker_2005', '
')
And you realise what this does right? Since parents will fear being sued, children will basically be kept indoors all winter, for fear they'll throw a snowball at someone and they'll sue them for all they've got. What that adds up to is a generation of even fatter kids.

[eastbay]

If Mr Thistleton is convicted he may not be able to return to the US to work or attend school.

If convicted the US Department of Homeland Security will consider him to have been convicted of a CIMT (Crime Involving Moral Turpitude) and he will never be allowed to enter the USA again for any reason.

But the DHS allows more than 1,000,000 people to enter the USA illegally each year. But not this guy. He'll be gone forever.

[Plantagenet]

If the judge finds the Australian guilty, I hope he's sentenced to stand still while the woman he hit with the snowball gets to shoot him with a spitball.

[emersonbiggins]

Franklin Delano Romanowski


That is all.

[PeakingAroundtheCorner]

I took a BIG gamble one time with regard to snowball hurling. Some of you Texans may remember a few years ago when Austin got a 4" deluge of the cold white stuff. It was the first accumulative snowfall in the city in seven or eight years and we just happened to be visiting Austin specifically to party on 6th Street and it began snowing a couple hours before final call.

Well, 6th Street is a very festive place and as such was not the place to be for snowball fight haters. For blocks snowballs were flying back and forth and up and down the street. As we walked along the street, of course I too was launching fist-sized missiles of frozen precipitation at random targets and taking incoming fire. I let loose a volley and then, as I turned to take cover from the return fire, I ran right into two Austin police officers on the sidewalk.

And as my g/f watched, the two cops then grabbed me, spun me around and gave me a gentle nudge back into the fray saying something about cowardice and honor. I took a couple rounds in the head as they continued the way we had come.

Then, as I gathered up another couple of icy projectiles, I called to the officers who were now half a block up the street. And, as they turned toward me, I let my assualt! One! Two! Got both of them! So, like the good cops they were, they returned fire and missed! I laughed and made fun of them saying I hope they shoot bad guys better than that. Then, as they turned to continue on down the street, the enemy I had been firing on moments before, having seen their attack on my position, nailed them with a sustained barrage of the cold, white, and round mortars.

I thought it was pretty cool that the cops joined in the fun instead of calling out the riot squad.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakingAroundtheCorner', 'I') took a BIG gamble one time with regard to snowball hurling. Some of you Texans may remember a few years ago when Austin got a 4" deluge of the cold white stuff. It was the first accumulative snowfall in the city in seven or eight years and we just happened to be visiting Austin specifically to party on 6th Street and it began snowing a couple hours before final call.

Well, 6th Street is a very festive place and as such was not the place to be for snowball fight haters. For blocks snowballs were flying back and forth and up and down the street. As we walked along the street, of course I too was launching fist-sized missiles of frozen precipitation at random targets and taking incoming fire. I let loose a volley and then, as I turned to take cover from the return fire, I ran right into two Austin police officers on the sidewalk.

And as my g/f watched, the two cops then grabbed me, spun me around and gave me a gentle nudge back into the fray saying something about cowardice and honor. I took a couple rounds in the head as they continued the way we had come.

Then, as I gathered up another couple of icy projectiles, I called to the officers who were now half a block up the street. And, as they turned toward me, I let my assualt! One! Two! Got both of them! So, like the good cops they were, they returned fire and missed! I laughed and made fun of them saying I hope they shoot bad guys better than that. Then, as they turned to continue on down the street, the enemy I had been firing on moments before, having seen their attack on my position, nailed them with a sustained barrage of the cold, white, and round mortars.

I thought it was pretty cool that the cops joined in the fun instead of calling out the riot squad.

[AlexdeLarge]

As Jesse Walker noted earlier today, an armed confrontation between snowball-throwing DC residents and police took place during the day's historic snowfall.

Reason.tv: Exclusive Footage: DC Cop Brings Gun to a Snowball Fight!
http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/19/reasontv-exclusive-footage-dc

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') fundamental shift is occurring. The people are ridiculing the government. “Don’t bring guns to a snowball fight.”

Look at all those video cameras. There is simply nowhere for this arrogant police officer to hide. No way to lie his way out of it later on.

The watchers are being watched.

[yeahbut]

A dumb cop behaving in an aggressive, arrogant, stupid and inflammatory manner. Anyone who has ever been involved in street protest or civil disobedience of any kind has encountered these morons- they're everywhere. Not all of the force by any means, but a significant number, and as this footage shows it only takes one to start trouble where before there was good will. Only the very naive and sheltered would think this was anything new.

As for the phenomenon of the filming of the stupid cop, it's certainly a good thing, but hardly new either. People have been filming and photographing police in an effort to document inflammatory and illegal behaviour for a very long time, I remember it from demonstrations in the 80's(the cops hated it then too), and I'm sure it goes much further back than that.

Wait until you have laws like the one they passed in the UK this year under the 'anti-terror' banner, which makes it illegal to film or photograph police if it is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". Of course it has been abused since the day it was passed, with accredited press photographers having their cameras confiscated because they were filming police behaviour at protests and demonstrations. Then you'll have something to worry about...this is just a foolish police officer inflaming a crowd having a snowball fight. Nothing to see here, move along please folks

[HeckuvaJob]

He was targeted b/c he was driving a Hummer past a snowball fight. After getting pelted, he exited the vehicle and drew his weapon, prompting someone in the crowd to dial 911.

"The goobermint is a joke..............."

OK, I need some clarification on this one, Alex...................................

Obama made it snow?...................................................................

Socialist revelers redistributing the snow?........................................

[dinopello]

Some good reporting on the incident here at a local news channel site. And, by good reporting I mean by the commentors who were there and correcting the erroneous reporting by WJLA.

Comment: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')efore the plain clothes cop had pulled his gun there were plenty of cops around who had stopped to watch the snowball fight and were taking pictures and watching videos. The snowball fighters were even stopping occasionally to help cars who had gotten stuck in the snow. This even included a cop car that got caught in the snow. None of the cops made any attempt to disperse the snowball fight until the one plain clothes cop decided to over react.

[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yeahbut', 't')his is just a foolish police officer inflaming a crowd having a snowball fight. Nothing to see here, move along please folks

[Novus]

That pig should be fired.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') fundamental shift is occurring. The people are ridiculing the government. “Don’t bring guns to a snowball fight.”

Look at all those video cameras. There is simply nowhere for this arrogant police officer to hide. No way to lie his way out of it later on.

The watchers are being watched.

[Dreamtwister]

The anger is starting to boil now...

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', 'T')hat pig should be fired.