Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children!

Here's one way to promote decency and family values: make a grown man piss on himself. In public. It happened in Jackson Hole, Wyoming the other day, when local cops decided to taser a streaker at a demolition derby, in front of thousands of onlookers, including lots of kids. From Planet Jackson Hole, via Fark.com:

A naked man leapt from the stands holding a red fire extinguisher and raced around the rodeo pit, eluding police while attempting to spray fans in the grandstand. Spectators cheered the nudist as two Jackson Hole police and a sheriff’s deputy gave hot pursuit on foot. They finally took the man down when the deputy fired a taser dart into the streaker’s right shoulder blade. The tasering provoked catcalls and boos as the nudist quivered and shook before falling and writhing facedown in the dirt for several seconds. As the arresting peace officers lifted and cuffed the naked man’s hands behind his back, urine trickled down the streaker’s front.

According to one spectator, streaking is almost a tradition at the local demo derby. "In years past, everyone cheered the streaker. This year, they taser a guy. ... I've been to Yankee Stadium and World Cup soccer matches, but this is the first streaker I've ever seen tasered."

Reactions to the cops' trigger-happy solution have been overwhelmingly negative. The public hardly needed this type of 'protection' from a harmless prank, was the prevailing sentiment. As for the damage that the sight of a naked runner might do to young uns' delicate sensibilities, an online commentator named Stephen offered this perspective: "I also talked to a parent at the event today. They were there with a kid, seven years old. She said at first the kid thought it was funny that someone was running around naked. However, when he got taken down the kid realized something bad had happened, [and] started to cry."

Said seven-year-old might want to be careful. If he's out of line, he's not too young to get tasered himself (that'll give him something to cry about!). After all, police officers have used tasers to subdue suspects as old as seventy-five and as young as six. Notwithstanding Taser International's slogan ("Saving Lives Every Day"), the weapons are frequently deadly, too. People who've been tasered but lived to tell the tale include belligerent patients strapped to a gurney on their way to a hospital, and a hand-cuffed nine-year-old runaway seated in the back of a cop car.

Comments

[LeeFranke]

Really which is worse for the kids, seeing a nekked man run around or watching said nekked man getting tasered by the cops?

This is one time I hope someone is the crowd sues the crap out of the city for the 'duress' incurred by the children. Really its for the children ;)

[Phil]

Well it's an ancient question, why is it considered so terrible for people to be seen naked?

[Rob D.]

"Well it's an ancient question, why is it considered so terrible for people to be seen naked?"

Because it's easier to bitch and complain than to realize that a certain level of tolerance is a necessity in a free society. Otherwise shit like this happens. Fuck all the nanny staters.

Old School baby
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302886/