Should Something Be Done If "This " Happens?

[Mitchell]

True story which just happened in my town today.

As I was coming out of a place after eating lunch.

A guy with headphones, was walking down the street, with music blasting out of his headphones and was screaming , and I quote.

"Oh Suck My Fucking Dick!"

Not once, but over, and over and over again.

Everyone on the streets and coming out of stores was looking directly at this guy with faces, as if to say.

"Dude, What The Hell Are You On?"

If a cop had been around , which there was not one, or at least not visible

Should said cop have stopped this guy and told him to shut up because he was "Disturbing The Peace" or something?

I told this incident to my good friend T

T usually thinks I overreact , but even he thought it was too much.

Thoughts?

 

[COOLCAT88]

Stop the guy and ask him to stop?

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[raslebe]

Personally, I would've cocked an eyebrow, said to myself, "Well, that happened, " and kept on walking. Just a plot point in someone's else's strange little story that we'll never hear to the end.



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[MrMacphisto]

Maybe it was the lyrics to a song. Or... maybe a Tourette's episode.

Either way, it's not surprising when it happens in a big city like NYC. A small town would likely react differently...

 

[Cosmo_ac]

For a while I was living in a city that was dealing with a homeless problem (and still is). It wasn't uncommon to see somebody doing something like this maybe once a week on average. Usually these are people who have mental issues or drug problems. I swear a few of them were schizophrenic. My advice is, so long as they aren't a danger to yourself or themselves, it's best to leave them alone. If they are a potential danger, like the guy I one saw from my residence who was using a steak knife to slash at trees a few dozen feet away, it's best to call the police.

 

[TMF Jeff]

Cosmo is right - don't try to enforce order yourself. Ignore it and alert the police.

 

[Mitchell]

I would never have said anything to the guy myself.

Doing that in NY or any place, is an invitation to get the crap kicked out of one, or worse.

I just walked home, as this happened down on the main street in my town near my apartment.

I have no idea what eventually happened to this guy.

Hopefully, he either shut up, or a cop told him to stop

 

[BlueLine7045]

I mean on the one hand, you could argue freedom of speech, so he's not technically doing anything wrong. He's outside in a public place where there's no expectation of peace or privacy. On the other hand, it could possibly be disturbing the peace but what peace is he disturbing? If he's just walking down the street listening to music, shouting, despite the profane language, there really is very little that can be done. Any action taken by police would be thrown out in court and ultimately a waste of everyone's time.

It really depends on the circumstances and location as well, but you're always going to have people screaming and cursing in public. No way you're going to arrest every single one of them

 

[MrMacphisto]

Legal precedents in most jurisdictions interpret "disturbing the peace" pretty broadly. Obscenities are not generally considered part of "free speech", which is demonstrated by the FCC's ability to censor them in various media.

I don't know the specifics of NYC's interpretation of disturbing the peace, but it would not be surprising to discover that screaming obscenities would qualify as such.

 

[4Pawz]

I, personally, would mind my business if no one is being hurt. Like others said, you don’t know the situation. I do have Tourette’s. While I don’t generally have tics that involve swearing, many do. It’s not something that is easily, or even able to be controlled. And if I’m in the middle of a tic attack, the last thing I need is for someone to try to talk to me or ask questions.

I’m not saying that was the case, but really, who is he hurting? Let it go

 

[BlasterMaster]

If it's Tourette's then there's nothing that can be done and I feel for the guy as I have Tourette's myself (pretty damn badly).

Something tells me though this guy may just have either (A) not been well in the head or (B) just not given an utter damn about who he was creeping the hell out.

 

[FrenzyTickles]

If it would be possible to tell there's no illness involved & you live in an upper level apartment, a bucket of ice water might do the trick.

 

[Ronihbbtts136]

Though this guy's behavior is annoying, there's no law to ban it so far. It would be better to stay away from him ASAP

 

[BlasterMaster]

Though this guy's behavior is annoying, there's no law to ban it so far.

If he's blasting music at max volume and screaming offensive words at the top of his lungs in a neighborhood then that'd 100% disturbing the peace.

Yes it's a good idea to stay away from him. After all he might have a gun. If he does it again then don't hestitate to call the police and make a noise complaint.

 

[Mitchell]

Two other characters in my neighborhood.

There used to be a woman who would ride around in a motor scooter, going in and out of stores, flipping people off, and shouting. "Fuck You!" to anyone she saw. Recently I think they may have caught her.

Today, there was a guy who was mentally ill, homeless, or both.

This person came out of a subway station, pulled down his pants, and mooned people with his bare ass.

I just tried to stay far away from him.