Inventor arrested for interesting, harmless invention.

[2strokebloke]

http://www.wired.com/politics/online...4/kinberg_0410

I heard about this invention before, but then a friend sent me this.
I'm not quite sure what part of a bicycle is considered violent...
More completely unjustified BS - that they let him off makes me think they knew ahead of time that they couldn't legally hold anything against him the first place. They just wanted him out of the way for a little while.
Does anybody else question the ethics of this?

[taranaki]

The "anti-terrorism" method of silencing one's opponents has started.

On researching further, I have found claims that this breach of rights which occured at the 2004 RNC goes much further. Kinberg's bike, laptop and printer were seized by police. The laptop and printer were held for a year. The police 'lost' his bicycle. I've found no argument anywhere that Kinberg did anything more than has been recorded, nor can I find any evidence of anyone else ever being treated in this manner in relation to the type of charges laid [and subsequently withdrawn].

No true Republican could possibly defend this abuse of the law. Those responsible for this grubby little bit of censorship should be held accountable.

[2strokebloke]

I'm surprised they didn't claim he was a communist leaking secrets about the manhattan project. Since that would have about as much to do with his goal as what they accused him of - I can't even say "doing" because he hadn't even "done" what they accused him of yet. It's not even an "attempted" crime - he had made no action whatsoever.
This is absolutely nothing but a bunch of BS.

[sickcallawayc12]

Wow that bike is a great idea and complete nonsense on how that turned out for him. The government uses it's power to quiet what they consider a "threat" to them. That's U.S. republicanism for you.

[nismogt_rfreak]

Well, It does spray paint on the sidewalk, so I could see why they would frown upon it. Either way, there's better ways of getting the message "ZOMG!! i h8 bush!" across than spraying graffiti on public sidewalks with a bike.

Originally Posted by sickcallawayc12

That's U.S. republicanism for you.

Oh, yes, let's make republicans the face of all evil why don't we?

[fredjacksonsan]

ExTREMEly wrong. He was arrested without having done anything to keep him from doing something that wasn't even illegal. The cops, if left to their own devices, probably would have just checked out his bike, watched a demo, made sure that the chalk was water soluble and let him go.

I smell a rat.