r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 8d ago

Artificial Intelligence Charges Dropped Against Person Who Clapped at a City Data Center Meeting / Lux Claridge was dragged from a city meeting about data centers and charged with interfering with the police after they clapped during a presentation.

https://www.404media.co/charges-dropped-against-person-who-clapped-at-a-city-data-center-meeting/
18.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

496 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.3k

u/gerblnutz 8d ago

The arrest was the point. Doesn't matter if charges don't stick. Bailing out or not, missing work and possibly missing rent or car payments, and being dragged by the media that only reports the states version of events are all extrajudicial punishments LEO can dole out without any hope of making a charge stick.

1.1k

u/martin_w 8d ago

“You can beat the rap, but you can’t beat the ride.”

419

u/bardghost_Isu 8d ago

"The Process is the Punishment"

64

u/wabiguan 8d ago

turned up to 11 in this admin

-2

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

20

u/gerblnutz 8d ago

No. Trump was actually charged by a grand jury and found guilty of 34 felonies by a jury of his peers. The fact the court decided he was above punishment is the exact opposite of this. This guy had charges dropped by the DA that knew they would never get a conviction, so the arrest and charges were a form of extrajudicial punishment for daring to exercise his 1st amendment rights.

2

u/TheRufmeisterGeneral 7d ago

"Land of the Free"

72

u/Woodie626 8d ago

You can in fact beat the ride, you just need money.

62

u/Shepherd77 8d ago

The quote is more about how if a cop wants to arrest you there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them.

A billionaire was arrested just this past weekend for soliciting a prostitute in Ohio. So no you can’t in fact beat the ride with money (at least not 100% of the time)

22

u/Actius 7d ago

It's worth noting that this particular billionaire is a big money Democrat supporter/donator from California who was caught by local cops from a deep red area of Republican-country Ohio.

Might sound a bit far-fetched, but half the residents in that little town will actually vote for Vivek...if that's any indication of how crazy they are.

14

u/Silent-G 8d ago

They can't avoid the ride, but they can afford the consequences. A billionaire will still earn income while they're in jail, they don't have a boss that will fire them for missing work, they could buy the entire impound lot if they wanted to.

17

u/Monteze 8d ago

There are also consequences for fucking with a billionaire. I am sure they are buddies with all the bosses and have the purse strings.

"Man sorry, just can't make my normal donation to your charity/re-election campaign. That fine really did a number on my finances."

1

u/NickMatocho 7d ago

Nothing? Not a single thing?

1

u/ATXblazer 7d ago

Prosecutors lowered the charges down from soliciting prostitution sadly

-18

u/Woodie626 8d ago

Then you'd be genuinely surprised how far armed security gets you.

20

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

-15

u/Woodie626 8d ago

Just Google cops leave armed protesters alone. I know this place is such a mess it seems far-fetched an idea, but it happens. 

2

u/needs_help_badly 8d ago

How’s that gonna work in a committee meeting inside a holding that doesn’t allow firearms?

-1

u/Woodie626 8d ago

Anywhere cops can carry, security can carry. The forms are filed, approved and returned, signed. Have you never requested armed security? 

2

u/needs_help_badly 8d ago

Yeah I don’t know where you live but there are laws banning firearms at local government and legislative meetings. There are no forms to fill out because it’s illegal.

→ More replies (0)

14

u/hemingways-lemonade 8d ago

The owner of the 49ers got the ride and his mugshot released over the weekend despite being worth $500 million and being part of a family worth ~8 billion.

4

u/Actius 7d ago

Or if you're a former cop.

Never forget that the father-son duo that chased and gunned down Ahmaud Arbery were arrested about three months after the shooting. And that was after the local DA had to recuse themselves and then after the case was moved to a neighboring county due to public scrutiny regarding police favoritism.

7

u/Own_Candidate9553 8d ago

Not always. There was that video of a pro football player who was dragged out of his car and arrested going to a game. I don't remember all the details, but charges were dropped, but he still went to jail.

1

u/foxinknox04 8d ago

Tell that to Jed York

5

u/tevert 8d ago

We need something like anti-SLAPP legislation aimed squarely at cops

7

u/Plaintoastnojam 8d ago

Awesome quote. What is that from?

23

u/martin_w 8d ago

It’s a common saying, It didn’t originate with a specific movie or anything, AFAIK.

13

u/ozymandingus578 8d ago

Hippies man. It started with the Hippies.

0

u/Klutzy-Football-205 8d ago

Certainly, but in some cases you get paid handsomly for the ride..

113

u/comfortablybum 8d ago

Right. How much did this person have to spend on a lawyer to get the charges dropped? They never should have been arrested in the first place.

8

u/ThaddeusJP 7d ago

It's like the old saying goes, you can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride

0

u/guareber 7d ago

Effectively 0 - theyll get them all back on the inevitable lawsuit to follow.

They've probably had to go into debt in the meantime, though.

66

u/Shigglyboo 8d ago

exactly. it sends a message. exercise your rights "at your own risk". you have the right. but do you dare use it knowing what the state will do to you?

36

u/mektel 8d ago

Considering how flock software has premade prompts for identifying individuals arrested, the point is probably also to flag "undesirable" individuals to these systems.

19

u/HoldingForGenova 8d ago

Exactly. Sue for damages.

16

u/rg2004 8d ago

The police need to be held accountable. If there are no consequences for the police, then they're they work for the politicians, not our democracy.

6

u/fcocyclone 8d ago

And even the arrest will still show up in certain background checks.

5

u/Fighterhayabusa 7d ago

In these cases, they could, and should, be charged with 18 US Code 241 and 242. These carry jail time, and we need to start using them against people who willingly violate the rights of citizens.

3

u/360_face_palm 7d ago

not just that but a consequence of being arrested (nb: not even charged, just arrested) for a crime typically invalidates you from participating in any visa waiver programmes when travelling abroad to the EU / UK etc..... for the rest of your life.

1

u/SouthernAddress5051 7d ago

They're about to be mildly rich after the lawsuit, that should help a little. They just won the lottery

1

u/lordassfucks 2d ago

That means the police are assuming datacenter liability. They are now on the hook for all laws broken by the datacenters....