What part of “zero tolerance” don’t you understand, kid? Quick-thinking school officials stopped a potential mass poking by bringing the hammer down on a 12-year-old girl who pointed a high-capacity assault finger of war at her classmates. Luckily nobody was poked and the finger-pointer was hauled away in handcuffs and charged with a felony. Hopefully this incident will get those do-nothings in Congress, beholden to the finger lobby, to finally do something about the “pointing loophole” that allows unchecked access to hand gestures.
This is a real thing that actually happened. The Kansas City Star reports:
A 12-year-old Overland Park girl formed a gun with her fingers, pointed at four of her Westridge Middle School classmates one at a time, and then turned the pretend weapon toward herself.
Police hauled her out of school in handcuffs, arrested her and charged the child with a felony for threatening.
A felony? For pointing a finger gun? Apparently yes and it’s actually worse than it sounds:
…according to Johnson County District Court documents, on Sept. 18, the girl “unlawfully and feloniously communicated a threat to commit violence, with the intent to place another, in fear, or with the intent to cause the evacuation, lock down or disruption in regular, ongoing activities …” or created just the risk of causing such fear.
Classifying a finger gun as unlawful and felonious is only outdone in the stupidity department by the fact that cops felt a 12-year-old girl pointing at people was a serious threat of violence. Maybe if she had long sharpened press-on nails, but that seems doubtful.
Here’s what apparently happened, which somehow doesn’t make this any less dumb:
A person familiar with a more detailed incident report spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity. The person said that during a class discussion, another student asked the girl, if she could kill five people in the class, who would they be? In response, the girl allegedly pointed her finger pistol — like the ones many children use playing cops and robbers.
Because of that gesture, The Star was told, the girl was sent to Principal Jeremy McDonnell’s office, and the other students involved were also talked to. The school resource officer recommended that she be arrested, the source said. She was detained by police and later released to her mother. A hearing in the Juvenile Division of the District Court of Johnson County is set for Tuesday.
If the girl had pointed out the classmates she would kill with a regular finger instead of a finger gun, would that have been okay? It says very clearly “because of that gesture” she was arrested so she might have been okay if she had done “devil’s horns” or one of those “hang loose” dealies.
Also, doesn’t it seem like this little girl was just joking around after being asked a silly question?
Shawnee Mission school district spokesman David Smith said this incident might have violated the school’s bullying and intimidation policies.
“I might not have anything in my hand but I might be so clear that the individual definitely feels threatened,” said Smith.
So she was arrested and charged with a felony for bullying? Actually, make that “suspicion of bullying” since the district spokesman said it “might” have violated a policy.
There seems to be some conflicting reports here. Maybe it was the finger gun. Perhaps it was bullying. The only thing crystal clear is that that this school overacted and got a little girl charged with a felony for making an innocuous hand gesture. It wasn’t even a middle finger, a shocker, or one of those “white power” OK hand signs.
When fingers are outlawed, only outlaws will have fingers. They can have my fingers when they pry them from my cold dead hands. First the came for the fingers and I did not speak out…
