Student arrested for wearing gorilla mask and handing out bananas at BLM protest

An East Tennessee State University student was arrested Wednesday after going to a Black Lives Matter protest on campus wearing a gorilla mask and handing out bananas.



Tristan Rettke, an 18-year-old freshman, wore overalls and a gorilla mask and, wandering barefoot while holding a burlap sack with a Confederate flag and a marijuana leaf on it, offered bananas to students who were protesting. He was arrested and charged with "civil rights intimidation".




In a video posted on Facebook, several of the Black protesters appear to be ignoring Rettke, and one protester seems to be partially amused, although another protester says that his hands are "shaking in anger". A woman at the protest called the police.

Rettke says he did not intimidate anyone and was just pulling a prank to provoke the protesters.

Rettke appeared in court for an arraignment hearing on a charge of civil rights intimidation. His next court date has been set for November 9.

District Attorney General Tony Clark was asked about what has to be proven for Rettke to get convicted of the charge against him.
“Did that in and of itself, was that an intrusion of their rights to the point they could not exercise or protest freely as guaranteed by the constitution? So that’s the question of intimidation, did it cross that line?,” Clark said.


Now before any of you accuse this student of being just a pothead, after examining the facts more closely I don't believe that's the case, which I'll elaborate on a little here.

Here's a picture showing the logo on the bag he was carrying:

It's obviously a fake brand logo, the type of thing designed to be joke and sold in novelty stores. Depictions of marijuana leaf designs on different things, from backpacks to T-shirts, is very common on college campuses these days.

He might have just grabbed the burlap sack because that was the only thing around campus he could find with a Stars & Bars flag on it. I think he was just trying to be offensive and controversial, it shouldn't necessarily be taken as a reflection of him personally smoking.

Just in case it wasn't clear to you all, this student did not actually do anything illegal (although I'm sure that banana wrapped with a thin piece of twine was very intimidating). Yet he was arrested and charged.

 

Just because his actions were technically legal doesn't meant they were smart.

 

That's really not the point . Why was he arrested for doing nothing ? Yet BLM burn down cities and like in Baltimore the police are told to back off. Why ?

 

He was arrested for his actions while wearing the costume.

http://wjhl.com/2017/06/20/former-e...y-wore-gorilla-mask-wants-charges-thrown-out/

If there was evidence that he was doing that...then he needs to stand trial.

 

What makes you so sure he didn’t break the law. By the wording of the legislation he was apparently charged under, it seems perfectly possible he could be convicted, though it would depend on the specifics of what actually happened (rather than what was reported) and what can be determined as his intent (and it seems wearing a mask won't have helped his case). A relatively minor offence but an offence all the same.

Incidentally, you seem to be missing a link in your OP.

 

not illegal, but extremely disgusting and immoral.

when will the Conservatives in this forum condemn him?

 

FYI- it is illegal to intentionally disrupt a legally sanctioned protest or demonstration. Such as a protest with a permit.

this is called "Disorderly Conduct" & "Disturbing the Peace".

 

He was also yelling racial slurs and intimidating people, that's not "doing nothing." And even if he wasn't doing one or the other that doesn't make it a smart idea to do that so I'm not sympathetic. At all.

Quite a few of them have gotten arrested too if being told to back off isn't warning enough.

 

Lol! Kind of funny though.

 

Wow, butt hurt BLM scared of a SINGLE guy in a mask? If he said anything, he has the right to do so. Can this law be used when people see someone burning a flag? This is such an asinine law, it can really be applied to anything. Trolls everywhere, but there was no way this guy was infringing on anyones civil rights. If anything, his civil rights have been infringed for being arrested while preforming and having his free speech sequestered.

PS, I don't condone what he was saying, but he did have the right to do what he did.

 

So, being arrested for "being stupid" is ok with you? Gotta love the fascists on the left who get people arrested for speech. Racial slurs be damned, cause every rap artist should be arrested then for using racial slurs, did he make any threats to physically harm anyone?

 

he could be charged with disorderly conduct, but only if he was interrupting a legally sanctioned event

 

I don't know, what do you think the word "intimidation" means?

 

They probably spared him a beating by arresting him. Needlessly provacative.

 

Well, a mob of BLM protesters, sanctioned or not, could be considered a "intimidation" by some. Do you really want to go into speculation or did he actually say "I am going to kill you..."?

 

he should be examined for mental instability

 

not according to the law.

 

Let him get beaten for his stupidity. Darwin award winner. But also arrest those who have no self control if they jumped in.

 

Is this "mob" of BLM protestors threatening you? No? Then you have no case.

The intimidation mention wasn't speculation, it was written specifically in the article in post #4.

 

Woot, statist going to state. According to the law, slavery was justified. See how stupid that argument "not according to the law" actually is?

 

How was he threatening them? One guy, no weapon, not making any gestures or statements of threats? Racial slurs are not threats.

 

To intimidate means to generate fear in someone, shouting racial slurs can be considered generating fear in people.

 

Gathering in large groups can be intimidating to some. Especially with BLM and all the riots they have spawned, I could be a little intimidated if I saw a protest coming towards my place of business. Just like when the KKK would march through towns, pretty sure they were intimidating. WBB church tries to be intimidating. One single guy is not intimidating to a group of people if he has no weapon.

 

That can also be applied to black people with no weapons when it comes to police.

 

I fully agree. What's this non-sequitur have to do with this thread?