Posted on 02/28/2013 6:19:22 AM PST by ConservativeStatement
Anthony Brasfield saw romance when he released a dozen heart-shaped balloons into the sky over Dania Beach with his sweetie. A Florida Highway Patrol trooper saw a felony.
Brasfield, 40, and his girlfriend, Shaquina Baxter, were in the parking lot of the Motel 6 on Dania Beach Boulevard when he released the shiny red and silver mylar balloons and watched them float away Sunday morning.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Felony?
Felony? Barred from gun ownership for life. Because of releasing mylar helium balloons. Yep, we’ve got to enforce the gun laws already on the books.
wtf?? environmental crime??
Brasfield was charged with polluting to harm humans, animals, plants, etc. under the Florida Air and Water Pollution Control Act.
polluting to harm humans? don't you have to show the harm before charging someone with the act? doesn't there have to be actual harm?
“Man arrested for releasing helium balloon with his girlfriend”
Did she have a good flight?
That was the first thing I noted; felony charges for letting go of a set of balloons because it MIGHT impact some environmentally sensitive area. These are the thousand cuts that every day deny a citizen the right to bear arms. A law intended to prevent chemical dumping into the swamps is instead used to prosecute an innocent gesture.
My thoughts exactly.
I figgered he tied said girlfirend to a big ol’ helium balloon and....
Away they went.
Hello? I’ve been calling for balloon registration for years. Maybe now people will wake up to the dangers...
Not all, but many and a growing number of law enforcement agencies are becoming hyper-vigilant and treating law abiding citizens as suspects or terrorist.
This is nonsense and should never have happened. The FHP trooper should be reprimanded.
The increasing criminalization of all sorts of infractions (and increasing infringements on firearms and explosives) makes it much easier for the BATFE to follow you around until you commit a felony and then they can come and grab your guns.
For real, good thing they weren’t talking like Donald Duck when he walked up. They could have had a DUI charge slapped on them too.
“Man arrested for releasing helium balloon with his girlfriend”
Did she have a good flight?”
Did she put up a fight?
That will never see the inside of a court room.
I once released some helium balloons after a party and was later told I should not have done that as it was restricted airspace (general aviation airport just up the street).
I can see a problem if these Mylar balloons were released near an airport and messed up the radar, but when did littering become a felony?
This is a crime but threatening at a voting place was not? (Black Panthers)
Military-style assault balloons have no legitimate sporting purpose.
Another power hungry midget megalomaniac with a badge. This arrest should serve as disqualification to wear a badge. I doubt it though.
What about all the balloons released during sporting events? Football games in Florida, half time shows, the Daytona 500? How come all the promoters there were not arrested?
In California, even some misdemeanors get you barred for life. At least that's one of the latest gun control laws proposed by a few lawmakers in Sacramento.
And if you are charged with one of the prohibited misdemeanors, they confiscate all your previously purchased guns, even if they were purchased legally. IIRC, some of the misdemeanors mentioned were "a history of aggressive driving," littering and jaywalking (demonstrating a contempt of the law?).
It's a feeding frenzy. The b******s are falling all over each other, trying to outdo one another.
This reminds me of my husband’s littering citation. For years the game department was gunning for him, granted he had some crazy friends but he never broke the rules.
His friends had gone up before him and put a note in a wine bottle by a gate telling where camp was, since others were still to come my husband read the note and put it back. Yep, he got littering ticket. He paid that one, it was 10 bucks.
Then there was a time when we were fishing and didn’t think anything of the date, well the old license ended on Sat and the new one began on Sun, we just brought our new licenses though we had old ones, yep, he got a ticket, the magistrate in that county was furious and it was dismissed.
Then there was the time when the same guy went to their camp when only the children were there and made them allow him to search the whole camp. He decided the beard on the turky they had killed was too short and cited my husband and the guy who had shot the turkey but not the rich guy who was with them. He confiscated their guns and it was a good thing they were in the rich guy’s vehicle.
They went to court, the judge dismissed the charges and told the ranger to give them back their guns, I don’t remember what my husband said but it even made the judge laugh and the ranger was about to explode, he finally decided to leave my husband alone.
Every frog in the pot is going to be made a felon if they dare to jump out, so might as well lose your virginity and jump.
99 Red Balloons!
Shiny Badge Derangement Syndrome
Welcome to the police state, where any act is a felony, & those convicted are just one level above slaves.
No doubt, with a string of these types of arrests under his belt, the officer will be Policeman of the Year. But hey, he is bound to enforce ALL of the laws, & felonious balloon releasers are far less likely to pull a gun when confronted, although he may have to shoot the family dog.
He needs to take this to court and demand the prosecutor produce the evidence. I’m pretty sure the balloons went quite far and were not recovered.
Yet another load of horse sh*t from yet another over-zealous cop.
Don’t these morons have anything valuable to do with their time?
No they have nothing better to do. It is easier and safer to harass normal citizens that it is to take on real criminals. It is no longer to protect and serve it is now harass and collect revenue.
He needs to take this to court and demand the prosecutor produce the evidence.
***
I thought the same thing. Another question: If you throw some litter from one state and it lands in another, where does the littering occur?
The cop wasn’t over-zealous but following the law. It’s against the law to release balloons in many states. Even against the law in Texas. Sure, it’s a ridiculous law but a law none the less.
Interstate trafficking? Dude, you're going to spend some quality time in Club Fed.
This is very close to Ft Lauderdale airport. But, yes, this shouldn't be a felony. One possible scenario is the cop intended to give a warning, but the balloon releaser decided to mouth off.
Yeah, I was picturing him sending her up in some kind of home made blimp, until I got to the details of the story. Glad to see I was not the only one confused by how that was worded.
Good thing Nena doesn’t live in Dania.
Everyone’s a Captain Kirk.
This will not be tolerated! Laws banning balloons must be drawn up now!
A great many things are “against the law” these days - it’s up to cops to prioritize their time and efforts and not to enforce stupidity.
And this was egregious stupidity.
I stand by my post.
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