Posted on 03/11/2014 11:35:45 AM PDT by robowombat
An Ohio high school student training to be an EMT was charged with a felony and sent to jail for 13 days because police found a pocketknife during an unauthorized search of his car.
Jordan Wiser, an 18-year-old student at Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus in Jefferson, Ohio, is an EMT trainee with a passion for self-defense and public service. He aspires to be a firefighter, and is a certified emergency vehicle operator. Wiser is comfortable with weapons, and posts Youtube videos of himself talking about law enforcement, self-defense and video games.
Apparently, school administrators caught wind of the videos, which led them to believe that Wiser was in possession of weapons, according to The Huffington Post.
Police searched Wiser’s car without his permission, discovering a pocketknife, stun gun and airsoft guns. Airsoft guns fire non-lethal, plastic pellets, and are used in sports games.
“I didn’t think anything of the Airsoft guns,” said Wiser in a statement. “Our school is a technical school, and I was planning on meeting with my Airsoft team after school. My stun gun was locked in the glove box, and the knife was in my EMT medical vest. I bought it at K-Mart and have it as part of my first responder kit for cutting seatbelts.”
The pocketknife violates the school district’s zero tolerance policy against bringing weapons onto school property — a class 5 felony.
For his crime, Wiser was carted off to jail for 13 days.
He is worried that a conviction will destroy his chance at a career in public service. Indeed, he has already been expelled from high school and technical school, and had his participation in the U.S. Army’s Future Soldiers program terminated.
“I won’t even be able to be a janitor. I’m 18 years old, and this is going to ruin my entire life,” he said.
Prosecutors aren’t backing down, however.
“We charge [people] with everything that we feel they are guilty of, and in this case, he is guilty of a felony,” said Ashtabula County assistant prosecutor Harold Specht in a statement.
As a condition of his release from jail, he was given an ankle monitor and ordered to remove all weapons from his house. Most curiously of all, he was told to have no further contact with his grandfather, who is dying of cancer.
“The one judge I went in front of told me to remove any firearms from my parents’ house and put them at my grandpa’s house,” said Wiser. “The next judge freaked out about me even knowing what a gun is and put a no contact order against me and my grandparents. My grandfather is dying right now, and I am not allowed within 500 feet of him.”
The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
My suggestion for the administrators, prosecutor and judges is entirely illegal. They should all be disappeared IMO. Lawlessness begets lawlessness.
Thanks for the head up cyn! My blood is BOILING! Going to pass this around...thinking about contacting the school.
Who know my Jr High School was training me to be a felon when the Mechanical Drawing class required a sharp pocket knife to trim wooden drafting pencils and a box of single edged razor blades to scrape India ink blobs from the drawing.
Then again, that teacher did pack a snub nose revolver on his hip.
And ruling pens were drafting instruments and not the school administrative offices.
You could have done the Obozo thing and used “prosecutorial discretion” and not prosecute. . .
So, we have one story saying that he gave permission, and another saying that he did not.
He says, in comments at the one article, that his lawyer is doing a great job.
One of the comments says that the police were investigating him for taking pictures at crime scenes and at house fires. It could be that they were looking for something to hang him on. Of course, I do not know if the allegation in the comments is true, but we do have a first amendment right to take photographs in public places.
“We charge [people] with everything that we feel they are guilty of, and in this case, he is guilty of a felony,” said Ashtabula County assistant prosecutor Harold Specht in a statement.
Fortunately for you sir stupidity is not s crime!
“For the same reason they don’t suggest repeal of the NFA or GCA, or seriously fight abortion, or seriously try repealing Obamacare, or seriously attack the debt — if they did any of that, they couldn’t use that issue to scare up more votes.”
They could get more votes by taking stands against idiocy like this. I would rather fix the problem than btch about it.
Oh, I believe that!
The problem though is that they don't. In fact, I would venture to say that they are the ultimate conservative (in the sense they wish to preserve the status quo) they'd be much happier just "stopping" everything and living in their current comfort than risking anything.
Indeed — we have a small-l libertarian about to be created.
Gnash your teeth at that, ansel12.
Quite so! I just pointed out to ansel12 that “conservatism” can become VERY navel-gazing. And this fights God. And it’s like the answer is la la la la, I can’t hear you.
You have got to quit stalking me, don’t be pinging me to threads I’m not even on and posting about me on threads I’m not on.
Oh woe, cry baby!
I pinged you to a perfect example of your brand of folly.
Harold Specht needs an ass kicking.
Form a PAC and recall the prosecutor and either the sheriff or police chief's boss (mayor/Council etc).
Time to stop putting up with this and making the jobs of these bureaucraps a living HELL.
Well, I am an old fuddy duddy and I don't mind saying so, and I am in accord with your feelings. I am so thankful that I was able to grow up in the 1940s and 1950s, */ when the USA was a true constitutional republic.
*/ NOT the 1940's and 1950's--those contain an apostrophe and an apostrophe indicates POSSESSION, the plain "s" indicates plural. How I wish Freepers, the vast majority, that is, would learn that simple lesson.
Coming soon:
Good citizens publish the address of the addresses of the school officials, the cops and the judges so other good citizens can deliver true justice to these tyrants. It will happen.
Coming soon:
Good citizens publish the addresses of the school officials, the cops and the judges so other good citizens can deliver true justice to these tyrants. It will happen.
Governor Kasich needs to pardon this person immediately!
Republican governors can put a real crimp in their evil by instantly pardoning all of these cases of a good student attacked by the liberal machine.
Next, that school and prosecutor’s office should have their budget slashed.
Here are latest stories,, but they seem mostly a retelling rather than additional info or updates:
Rutherford Institute speaks: http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2014/04/16/attorney-schools-overreaction-to-pocket-knife-may-destroy-teens-future
// His trial is set for June, and the prosecutor isn’t bending. He’s running for an open judgeship on a “no tolerance” platform, and Wiser is unwittingly helping his campaign. //
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/25007824/ohio-student-jailed-expelled-over-pocket-knife-in-car (”updated” 4/1)
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