Our local police recently arrested a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old because he gave them the finger.
I was fairly surprised that two of our Police officers got out of their car for anything other than a pastry.
The charge is not expected to stick.
Free speech...? Wonder if the cop's ever heard of that...
If those idiots who picket military funerals get the free speech excuse for spewing that hate, then this teen ought to be able to flip the finger anytime, anywhere.
Apparently there is a law here about the degree to which one can "insult an official". Different countries draw different lines regarding free speech.
As I said, this case isn't expected to go anywhere. My understanding is that the officers would have to prove that it constituted an actual threat. It sounds more like it was a group of drunken teenagers (the drinking age here is sixteen) acting like, well, drunken teenagers -- annoying, but probably not actually unlawful.
Regarding the actual thread topic, the seven percent represents "charges and citations" rather than convictions. Like others, I don't think seven percent is a particularly significant number. I pretty much loathe the presence and importance of big time sports in the US university system, and certainly there are a handful of athletes who can't keep their violence confined to the game field, but this is a flawed sensationalistic report.
