Laser Painting Could Lead to 25-Year Prison Term

lowy writes "According to this USA Today article, a New Jersey man was charged under federal anti-terrorism laws with shining a laser beam at a jet flying over his home. The Feds arrested him after he flashed a police helicopter searching for the source of the beam. He now faces up to 25 years in prison under Patriot Act charges." It seems to be happening around the country, as our earlier post makes clear.

ummm....

[Anonymous Coward]

link to the usatoday story, please?

RTFA?

[defMan]

I know we don't read the articles but to stop linking to them is not making it easier.

That's federal pound me in the ass prison.

[glrotate]

Doesn't sound like fun anymore, does it?

RTFA

[justforaday]

For once, everyone will have an excuse for not RTFA.

How appropiate . . .

[Kaimelar]

Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

"Hmmm . . . new article on Slashdot, think I'll check the comments . . . Argggh! My eyes! I can't see anything!!"

Re:Only 25 years?

[jim5272]

I think there is a big difference between hitting a plane with an industrial type laser, and screwing around with your laserpointer. Check it out I'm Luke Skywalker .. bbbzzzzzeeeewwww, oh crap was that a POLICE helicopter?

Re:Motive

[deadlinegrunt]

" I would really like to know what he was thinking."

I'm pretty sure he wasn't.

What a moron

[rlthomps-1]

I like how he lit up the police helicopter which led to his arrest. I mean, with all the flap about this, he HAD to know that police were looking for the guy doing it.

I wonder if just finished a grand theft auto marathon before going to "look at the stars"

"Laser printing could lead to 25-year prison term"

[g0at]

and I'm thinking wtf, the pro-collusion bent of American law is really getting out of hand here; now they're forcing people to buy overpriced ink cartridges?

...oops.

-b

Re:RTFM

[Dr Caleb]

RTFM? What Fucking Manual?

Thanks for the link BTW.

Re:RTFM

[Elwood P Dowd]

After being taken to an FBI office and given a lie-detector test, Banach said he had hit the jet with the beam, court documents say.

Ok, weird. I would like way, way more information than was provided in this sentence.

During questioning by the FBI, Banach showed an agent his laser. After the agent switched it on, Banach warned him "not to shine the laser in his eyes because it could blind him," the court documents say.

MY GOD, STRING HIM UP AND FRY HIM!

Re:Only 25 years?

[mmkkbb]

Well, it's certainly hard enough to throw a little girl hard enough to bring down an airplane no matter how strong you are.

Worse still...

[SolemnDragon]

Worse still, he now has to live with the permanent epithet, "Laser Guy."

Evildoer 1: I'm the Disgruntled Postman!

Evildoer 2: Welcome aboard! Meet MurderOne, Manslaughter, Aggravated Assault, and oh- that guy over in the corner is Laser Guy.

Evildoer 1: THE Laser Guy?

Laser Guy: Just give me a laser pointer and i'll - (remembers what he's in for and hangs his head in shame) be almost completely ineffective, but not ineffective enough to stay out of PRISON... *curls up in fetal position and sobs*

Evildoer 2: Yep, that's LaserGuy, all right.

One hell of an aim...

[Sliptwixt]

I can't always hit the toilet from a foot away, how the hell did this guy get a laser in the face of a pilot in a plane hundreds (thousands?) of feet in the air?

paranoia

[willCode4Beer.com]

I agree, kill 100 with a leatherman might be difficult.
Now, if you had a plastic spoon AND a leatherman...

Oh, that article...

[abb3w]

The slashdot story is missing the link. No comment about the editor who posted it.

Are you implying that they may be a missing link? Or just noting that it was from the "too-bright-therefore-not-so-bright" department editor?

Eh. Errare humanum est.

Home repair jobs!?

[badmonkey]

From the article: "Thousands of inexpensive lasers used for home repair jobs were sold before Christmas, some for as little as $15."

What kind of home repair can you perform with a laser pointer?

Re:Only 25 years?

[swv3752]

Heh, a bizarro Macguyver would need either a bar of chocolate or a rubber band.

Re:I'm confused by the distance

[Anonymous Coward]

Well there have been several reports of lasers shining in cockpits for several seconds, blinding the pilots.. Its impossible to shine it for even a microsecond, nevermind several seconds.. So obviously this is either a government technology being tested on civilians, or aliens. So the gov needs him to cover it up.

Obviously

Re:Is this a good trend?

[oliphaunt]

We're basically now arresting and locking up stupid people. Maybe this is a good trend

Only if we also castrate them so that they can't breed and make MORE stupid people. Locking people up is a bad idea in general, because you have to then worry about feeding them, sheltering them, etc. Wouldn't it be much better to just kill them outright?

My solution to the prison problem in the US: Stop locking people up locally- instead just put up a big fence around Texas, and let's send all of our criminals there, like the British used to do with Australia. Give them NOTHING. Let them kill each other and steal from each other and defraud each other and shoot lasers at each other as much as they want- I would volunteer to sit on the other side of the fence and shoot anyone who tries to get across. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would proudly serve his country this way.

And all the people who already live in Texas? Well, life's a bitch sometimes, ain't it? Stay on your side of the fence.

After several generations, perhaps Texas could transform itself from the barren wasteland and breeding ground of theives and traitors that it is today into a nation of proud citizens, working for the good of the world, just like Australia. And if that doesn't work, we can just salt the earth, pave the whole state and use it as a parking lot for Mexico.

Re:Only 25 years?

[gammoth]

they do not wear military uniforms, instead they try to blend in with the population...

It's a good thing we donned uniforms for the American Revolution so that we can take this stand on illegal combatants now without a hint of hypocrisy.

Frickin lasers

[merc]

Were they attached to a frickin shark's head?

Re:Only 25 years?

[Lord_Dweomer]

"Riiiight. Like I could really kill 100 people in a mall with only a 2-1/2 inch blade and a pair of pliers."

Macguyver could...

Re:Only 25 years?

[Greyfox]

I bet you could do it with some sort of catapult or air cannon device! We see those built from time to time on various Discovery Network shows.

Now I want to see Mythbusters build a little girl cannon!

Suggestion, as in hypnosis

[Muttonhead]

I can see how the media might have suggested the idea of shining lasers at aircraft and after reading that people went outside to give it a try.

Re:Only 25 years?

[maskedbishounen]

I don't know about you, but I for one already have a "little" girl cannon. Or so the e-mails tell me.

*ducks*

Terrorism pretext

[Muttonhead]

The terrorism pretext is a big excuse to clamp down on Americans. In other news, little Johnny rudely pointed his finger at his teacher, Mrs. Smith. He will get 50 years for that. Little did Johnny know that his finger pointing interrupted Mrs. Smith's speech and caused her to lose her bid for school principal.

Re:RTFM

[EnronHaliburton2004]

Thanks for the link BTW

You got that wrong, it's "Thanks for the Fucking Link BTW"... sheesh. Some people.

Re:Only 25 years?

[trentblase]

Fair enough... I especially like this quote "Can be used for skypointing, projection on low clouds, signalling, detecting explosives" -- maybe he was just trying to detect some explosives on the plane. Also, the range is only about 2 miles. This all assumes he didn't go with a more powerful laser from a discount supplier.

Re:ummm....

[HTH NE1]

Note to self: don't try to signal departing rescue craft with laser pointer.

Sue the manufacturer

[PsiPsiStar]

After all, they should have had a warning saying pointing the label at airplanes was illegal under the PATRIOT act.

And of course...

[Tuxedo Jack]

Your green laser will not work on the blue police.

You are promptly shot for twenty-five damage with the additional penalty of a "pound-me-in-the-ass state prison" takced on.

You are demoted to Red and lose one clone from your six-pack.