This thred from Twitter:
After being kettled & mass arrested with 645 others in November ’20, 19 y/o college student, Amina McCaskill, faces up to 5 yrs in prison & a $10k fine for felony second-degree riot armed w/ a dangerous weapon charges for shining a laser pointer at police. https://t.co/f8t5eiyebq
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) February 8, 2021
Amina McCaskill, a 19-year-old College Student Faces Felony Charge From I-94 Mass Arrest in Minneapolis
Story: https://t.co/f8t5eiyebq pic.twitter.com/Pv4PHoWumz
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) February 9, 2021
Amina McCaskill said she’s still able to go to school while facing the pending charge, but she’s mentally stressed out not knowing if she can even pursue what she’s studying for later in life with a felony charge on her record.
Story in thread & here: https://t.co/f8t5eiyebq pic.twitter.com/wJd95DDzpB
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) February 9, 2021
A sign says “It’s a cat toy. Not a weapon.” referencing the laser pointer that Amina had in which the state is using for their charges of felony second degree riot with a dangerous weapon.
Demands to Drop the Charges on Amina and the 646 Mass Arrested: https://t.co/f8t5eiyebq pic.twitter.com/8bVF5USixm
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) February 9, 2021
Oh how sad. This student activist took time away from her studies to protest an injustice and was arrested and is facing prison time for having a cat toy.
Except that’s a load of horse shit.
According to the Tribune-Star:
According to the charges against Mussa McCaskill: Police confronted a large number of protesters on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Mussa McCaskill pointed a laser “directly” into a Minneapolis officer’s eyes as they stood in a line with other officers.
“Shining a laser into the eyes of officers has occurred at a number of protests around the country and is very dangerous to the officers,” the charges said. “Multiple officers in the United States have suffered significant damage to their vision as a result of being hit in the eyes with such a laser.”
The officer was wearing special safety glasses and was not injured. The officer identified Mussa McCaskill as the person who allegedly turned a laser on and off a few times.
A laser pointer was found on Mussa McCaskill, who admitted to her actions, the charges said.
Not a cat toy. One of those high power green lasers with big fucking warnings plastered all over them not to shine them in people’s eyes because it can cause blindness.
May I remind you at this point that there is a protocol against using blinding laser weapons in war.
This wasn’t a college kid with a cat toy. This was a rioter attempting to maim a police officer with a directed energy weapon.
That deserves a felony charge and a felony conviction.
If a police officer is struck in the eye with a brick and loses vision that is a felony. It is no different if a police officer is struck in the eye with coherent radiation which destroyed his photoreceptors and he loses vision.
It’s time the courts start handing down convictions for laser blinding that are a serious as the crime is serious.
I hope this girl is convicted and is given the maximum sentence. Fuck her.
“Fuck her”? I wouldn’t get that close. She sounds unstable. 😂
Crazy in the head– nope, not going there. There’s only so much crazy I’m willing to deal with.
Some of the best dating advice I ever got: treat crazy like a land mine. Avoid if possible, walk softly around if not, and under no circumstances get “up close and personal” – let someone else try to disarm it.
Problem, though, is you might not recognize you’re in a minefield early enough.
Then she’ll get out and if the Dems still are in power, get a nice cushy job with an activist nonprofit.
In fact … less debt (only $10k), might actually learn some real skills, gets street cred … done in 5 years or less … prison might be a better deal for her than college.
“It’s time the courts start handing down convictions for laser blinding that are as serious as the crime is serious.”
Amen.
Put her on the stand and tell her to shine her “cat toy” into her own eyes. If she doesn’t go blind she’s free to go.
+ 1000 Let the punishment fit the crime.
“It’s a cat toy, not a weapon” Even granting (for the moment) that it was a low powered cat toy, it’s not the design function that matters, it’s how it’s used. A baseball bat is a piece of sports equipment, until it is swung at someone’s head, then it’s a lethal weapon.
Nuke beat me to it.
A weapon is as much how it is used as what it “is”
Examples abound. There are several hundred things in my garage alone that are “not weapons” but if pressed into an off-label use, they can be used in a deadly manner.
Just because the item you used to cause harm was not manufactured for that intent does not mean you did not use a weapon.