Comedians should steer clear of Connecticut because it’s a hate crime to ridicule people in the state. Make a joke about Asian drivers or poke fun at white people’s lack of rhythm and there is jail time to be had. A man was recently arrested for ridiculing a Hispanic police office. Not threatening, not attacking, but ridiculing. You’ve heard of the “fun police” ruining everyone’s good time? Well, they actually exist in Connecticut.
The Hartford Courant brings the most ridiculous story of the year so far:
A local man turned himself in to police Tuesday on charges that he vented his hatred of Hispanics when he was pulled over last month by a Hispanic officer.
Russell Burnett, 50, of 21 Woodland Road, was arrested on a warrant charging him with ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race, along with second-degree breach of peace and interfering with police.
Yes, you read that correctly. He was arrested for ridiculing the Hispanic officer. Here’s an account of what landed this guy in jail for making fun of someone:
On the afternoon of Jan. 22, an officer saw Burnett flailing his arms around while driving, police spokesman Lt. Josh Litwin said. The officer did not know if Burnett was trying to signal for help, so he pulled him over in the parking lot of the Citgo/Food Bag, 1259 Burnside Ave., Litwin said. Burnett demanded that the officer’s supervisor come to the scene, Litwin said, and after other officers arrived, Burnett “made his feelings of hatred toward police and Hispanics known to all within earshot via a barrage of profanity-laced insults.”
Insults? So he was pretty much doing what Bob Hope, Don Rickles, and Rodney Dangerfield made a career out of. You want some black insult comics? How about: Bernie Mac, Eddie Murphy, and Redd Foxx. Plus here’s some liberal insult comics for the snowflakes: Bill Maher, Chelsea Handler, and Sarah Silverman.
If ridiculing someone based on their ethnicity is a crime, why wasn’t Burnett arrested on the spot? The paper says he had to turn himself in, so that means his ridicule spree wasn’t considered all that criminal at the time, seeing as how there were several police officers present.
This is actually a real thing. Here’s the absurd statute:
“Any person who, by his advertisement, ridicules or holds up to contempt any person or class of persons, on account of the creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race of such person or class of persons, shall be guilty of a class D misdemeanor.”
Can we still at least make fun of fat, short, and ugly people? What about gingers? Are they part of the protected class?
And the crime of ridicule is punishable by 30 days in jail and $50 fine. That’s a pretty stiff sentence for talking shit.
This law is obviously very racist because nobody talks more shit than Hispanics except for blacks. In what was probably meant to protect minorities, this law is actually going to fill the jails with black dudes for telling “Yo mama” jokes. Once again the unintended consequences of liberalism ends up hurting minorities. Why do they continue to vote for democrats?
This is the United States of American and we all have the 1st Amendment right to hate who we want to hate and make fun of who we want to make fun of. If that expression crosses the line and becomes a threat or libel, then it’s a matter for the courts, but ridiculing someone for who or what they are isn’t a crime.
