High school senior suspended after posting picture of airsoft gun on social media

[Strychnine 1,804]

http://wtnh.com/2018/03/28/high-school-senior-suspended-after-a-post-on-social-media/

 

Quote

WOODBRIDGE, Conn. (WTNH) – A high school student was suspended and arrested after posting an image of a toy gun on social media.

Zach Cassidento, a high school senior at Amity High Regional School was suspended and arrested as a juvenile after he posted a picture of a toy gun, or what’s called an “airsoft gun,” on Snapchat.

 

Zach said, “I didn’t want to put any words and someone misinterpret it as a threat so I figured I posted this picture on my own time, on my property.”

The words “have a nice day” with a happy face is part of the gun’s design. The senior told News 8 his hobby is playing with toy guns and he thought posting the picture was harmless.

Zach added, “I took a picture. It was about half way up the barrel of the gun. It showed the trigger. It showed the magazine. And it cut off just by the stock. It also showed the chamber open with no bullet in there and the warning sticker stating that it is a toy gun.”

Related: Brookfield police arrest student after alleged threatening social media post

The image and words were unsettling to a student who brought the picture to the attention of school officials. Zach was taken out of class.

He added, “They took my phone and my backpack and pulled me into the office, out into the hallway where the officer told me to put my hands out and he checked me.”

 

His mom, GraceAnne Cassidento, said her son was treated like a criminal.

She told News 8, “He was arrested because he posted a picture of what he got for his birthday which is an airsoft gun. If he would have gotten a skate board he would have taken a picture of a skate board.”

She said the high school handled it wrong. Cassidento added, “They searched my son at school. They didn’t call me. they didn’t tell me what was going on. They did not call me until he’s already been arrested, searched, brought to the office, harassed. Then they called me because I had to meet them at my home to have five officers come into my home and search my house.”

Amity Regional High School suspended Zach for one day for what they call “disrupting the educational process.” News 8 reached out to the school superintendent but the calls weren’t returned.

 

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Folks be stupid.  It seems to be a particularly virulent affliction amongst school administrators.  They get in the job and have a lobotomy or something that renders common sense null and void.

I don't have an issue with the police checking in with him, seeing the gun and verifying that it's not real and such.  Talking to the boy and his parents.  But arresting him?  Suspending him from school over something he posted on his social media not on school time?  GMAFB.

[Strychnine 1,804]

38 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Folks be stupid.  It seems to be a particularly virulent affliction amongst school administrators.  They get in the job and have a lobotomy or something that renders common sense null and void.

I don't have an issue with the police checking in with him, seeing the gun and verifying that it's not real and such.  Talking to the boy and his parents.  But arresting him?  Suspending him from school over something he posted on his social media not on school time?  GMAFB.

 

I think what bothers me the most is that there are police officers out there, with the authority to make the decision to take my life, and they cannot tell the difference between a real firearm and an airsoft gun when they see a closeup picture that clearly shows them it is not real.  AR's are quite ubiquitous patrol rifles for police agencies across the United States.  It is perfectly reasonable to expect police officers to know that there are not obviously plastic gears under the dust cover of a real AR.  God help the kid if he had been showing it to a friend in front of his house at night.  He would have been shot by those ace police officers.

I graduated from a public high school in 1997.  Due to having completed almost all of the requirements to graduate, several of my friends and I had rather light schedules.  This is what much of my time at school consisted of:

1.  We built a network for the CAD workstations in the drafting lab, in order to play Doom II multiplayer.  Teachers and administration were fully aware, and had no issue with it.  After school, the principal, drafting/tech lab teacher, and the biology teacher would frequently join us to play.  The principal, oddly enough, was the best player.

2.  We cleaned up an unused plot on school grounds for the purpose of paintball.  We were allowed to bring paintball guns to school, and use them on each other.  Teachers and administration were fully aware, and some participated.  Airsoft was just becoming a thing at that time, but we absolutely would have done that instead of paintball if it had been a real option.

3.  Seniors were allowed to leave campus for lunch if they wished.

That may have been an unusual experience for a high school student, but it shocks me that in the span of 20 years we have gone from what I experienced to a senior being suspended and arrested, and having his home searched, all for posting a picture of the airsoft gun he got for his birthday, from home.  Like you, I do not have an issue with the police checking in with him.  That said, when you have an obvious picture of an airsoft gun in one hand, and the suspect also telling you it is a picture of his airsoft gun in the other, it is not necessary to continue treating him like a potential terrorist or escalating the situation further.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

Get used to it. Look at Alabama over the last couple of months. How many kids have been arrested for making threats? Just cause the kid posted a toy gun doesn't mean it couldn't symbolize what he had planned for the future.

Students, parents, administrators are on edge/scared and precautions have to be taken due to that. Nothing can be taken lightly.

Like the time somebody wrote the "day of reckoning on x date" is coming on a bathroom stall in Haley. 10-15 years ago it would of been laughed off, now they have to close campus for the day just cause something could happen.

[around4ever 4,139]

SMH!!

[Strychnine 1,804]

15 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

Get used to it. Look at Alabama over the last couple of months. How many kids have been arrested for making threats? Just cause the kid posted a toy gun doesn't mean it couldn't symbolize what he had planned for the future.

Students, parents, administrators are on edge/scared and precautions have to be taken due to that. Nothing can be taken lightly.

Like the time somebody wrote the "day of reckoning on x date" is coming on a bathroom stall in Haley. 10-15 years ago it would of been laughed off, now they have to close campus for the day just cause something could happen.

 

I am perfectly fine with kids being investigated and/or arrested for making threats.  That makes complete sense to me.  We have ample evidence that threats and warning signs should be taken seriously. 

There was no threat here, just a senior high school student posting pics of his birthday present.  He even said that he intentionally avoided adding words to the post so that it would not be misinterpreted as a threat.  There were enough adults involved here, including police, that someone should have been able to recognize that it was obviously not a picture of a real firearm.  I give school officials some leeway there, as I do not expect them to be very familiar with firearms.  However, when the resource officer was approached about the situation, he should have immediately identified it, made a joke or two at their expense, and that should have been the end of it.

There is definitely a reasonable space between underreaction and overreaction that administrators and police need to be exploring, rather than society being compelled to view something like this as expected and perfectly acceptable.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

15 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

Get used to it. Look at Alabama over the last couple of months. How many kids have been arrested for making threats? Just cause the kid posted a toy gun doesn't mean it couldn't symbolize what he had planned for the future.

Students, parents, administrators are on edge/scared and precautions have to be taken due to that. Nothing can be taken lightly.

Like the time somebody wrote the "day of reckoning on x date" is coming on a bathroom stall in Haley. 10-15 years ago it would of been laughed off, now they have to close campus for the day just cause something could happen.

I think we all want school admins and police to be vigilant for problem kids who might do harm.  But this went beyond vigilance and straight to full blown idiocy.  I could see if the principal called the kid into the office to ask about the photo.  I could even see if a police officer dropped by the house and asked to see the gun, verify that it is indeed the gun pictured, and discussed with the kid and his parents how things can get misinterpreted and they have to do their due diligence.  If the police wanted to dig a bit and make sure there weren't any reports/rumors of him threatening people at school, that's fine too.  But arresting him?  Suspending him for a day?  That's not "not taking it lightly."  That's just a lack of critical thinking skills.

[Strychnine 1,804]

1 minute ago, TitanTiger said:

I think we all want school admins and police to be vigilant for problem kids who might do harm.  But this went beyond vigilance and straight to full blown idiocy.  I could see if the principal called the kid into the office to ask about the photo.  I could even see if a police officer dropped by the house and asked to see the gun, verify that it is indeed the gun pictured, and discussed with the kid and his parents how things can get misinterpreted and they have to do their due diligence.  If the police wanted to dig a bit and make sure there weren't any reports/rumors of him threatening people at school, that's fine too.  But arresting him?  Suspending him for a day?  That's not "not taking it lightly."  That's just a lack of critical thinking skills.

 

I suspect the student, and his upset mother, would have understood that sequence of events and even agreed with it.

Suspending him for "disrupting the educational process" was just adding insult to injury.  He was in class, engaged in the educational process, when the supposed adults had a massive collective brain fart and disrupted the educational process in order to freak out.  If the adults were still confused after the student said "airsoft gun", Google could have cleared it all up for them in a matter of minutes.  His phone, which they confiscated, likely contained pictures or videos of him playing airsoft with his friends.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

By the time my lawyer got done, I'd own that school.

[The Freak 2,528]

5 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

By the time my lawyer got done, I'd own that school.

... and never get a speeding ticket in that town again.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

14 hours ago, Strychnine said:

 

I am perfectly fine with kids being investigated and/or arrested for making threats.  That makes complete sense to me.  We have ample evidence that threats and warning signs should be taken seriously. 

There was no threat here, just a senior high school student posting pics of his birthday present.  He even said that he intentionally avoided adding words to the post so that it would not be misinterpreted as a threat.  There were enough adults involved here, including police, that someone should have been able to recognize that it was obviously not a picture of a real firearm.  I give school officials some leeway there, as I do not expect them to be very familiar with firearms.  However, when the resource officer was approached about the situation, he should have immediately identified it, made a joke or two at their expense, and that should have been the end of it.

There is definitely a reasonable space between underreaction and overreaction that administrators and police need to be exploring, rather than society being compelled to view something like this as expected and perfectly acceptable.

Again, welcome to the new America. Nothing can be taken for granted or overlooked. Where we are at at this moment, it sucks ya. Mass shootings, school shooting, domestic terrorist bombing cities. If one person gets spooked and reports it then its going to be taken seriously to the extreme level. Just cause it was a not real gun doesn't mean it didn't symbolize anything potentially.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

12 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

By the time my lawyer got done, I'd own that school.

And if the toy gun symbolized a future endeavor and he carried it out... another set of parents would own the school with their lawyers.

And again, ya it sucks but unfortunatly that is where we are at right now.

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

1 hour ago, Texan4Auburn said:

And if the toy gun symbolized a future endeavor and he carried it out... another set of parents would own the school with their lawyers.

And again, ya it sucks but unfortunatly that is where we are at right now.

Wait a minute, what would be the premise of liability in your hypothetical? Failure to take action on the Snapchat photo? Isn’t that the issue already? I mean, unless you would hold that a reasonable response (for the school) could only be determined prospectively - i.e., if the kid in fact shot up the school in the future, thereby giving retroactive effect to the Snapchat photo. But that doesn’t make much sense now, does it?

So please explain if you can.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

9 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

And if the toy gun symbolized a future endeavor and he carried it out... another set of parents would own the school with their lawyers.

And again, ya it sucks but unfortunatly that is where we are at right now.

Our choices aren't to ignore it completely or lose our effing minds and overreact.  No one here is suggesting that nothing be done.  But there's this whole swath of middle ground that no one bothered to consider.  So again, as I said, there's nothing wrong with the principal speaking to the student, nothing wrong police follow up to get visual on the gun in the photo to make sure it's indeed a toy and then have a talk with him and his parents about how posts like this on social media can get misinterpreted in wake of the recent school shootings.  The police could even dig around a bit and ask some students and classmates if he's ever expressed any animosity or violent tendencies toward the school or others.  But arresting him?  Suspending him for a day?  Ridiculous.  And saying "that is where we are right now" doesn't excuse it.

His family is about to have a nice windfall.  Book it.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

6 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

Our choices aren't to ignore it completely or lose our effing minds and overreact.  No one here is suggesting that nothing be done.  But there's this whole swath of middle ground that no one bothered to consider.  So again, as I said, there's nothing wrong with the principal speaking to the student, nothing wrong police follow up to get visual on the gun in the photo to make sure it's indeed a toy and then have a talk with him and his parents about how posts like this on social media can get misinterpreted in wake of the recent school shootings.  The police could even dig around a bit and ask some students and classmates if he's ever expressed any animosity or violent tendencies toward the school or others.  But arresting him?  Suspending him for a day?  Ridiculous.  And saying "that is where we are right now" doesn't excuse it.

His family is about to have a nice windfall.  Book it.

Never said it was right. Not trying to excuse it.

Middle ground is off the books due to fear. I agree it is ridiculous. People losing their effing minds and overreacting is pretty much the norm now. Hopefully that will change one day. For now, well it is where we are at.

They may very well bank, good for them. Will most likely be an out of court thing. Just like if he later did go on a killing spree someone would bank out of court.

I have the utmost confidence that both scenarios with quality representation could win in our current judicial system and climate.

[alexava 6,973]

I think my opinion on machine guns and assault rifles is well known.However, i have a real problem with this. I've seen comments stating it was a toy and police should be able to tell the difference. while that is totally true, I don't give a damn if it was a real McCoy AR 15 decked out in all the accessories including bump stock and body armor. If there was no threat made or even insinuated they have no right to ____ with a kid at all. Like Titan said by all means investigate, ask questions, call parents but no handcuffs or suspensions. My 13 year old has maybe 10-12 airsoft guns. I don't follow him but my wife does on snap chat and Instagram so i don't know what he posts. But he has 3 real guns. Last year for his birthday i got him a 20gauge pump. I videoed and posted to FB him blasting 5 water filled plastic bottles on his birthday. I sent it to his phone so he could do whatever he wanted with it. If that had got him arrested i would lose it on somebody and probably been arrested myself. AND I'm an advocate for more gun control.

[alexava 6,973]

This is interesting! 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/31/us/florida-chinese-student-guns-deported/index.html

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

On 4/1/2018 at 8:07 AM, alexava said:

This is interesting! 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/31/us/florida-chinese-student-guns-deported/index.html

Is interesting.

The communication issue could be a sign of depression.

Colored hair. I live in Austin, if changing your haircolor was a sign the APD would be dragging all kind of innocent people downtown hourly.

Dropping cash on a vette. Honestly some of those foreign students come from insanely obscene rich families. That doesn't surprise me. Most 26 year old males like Corvettes. Seen many driving high dollar cars and just dropping cash like mad at bars in Auburn.

Maybe he was gonna flip out, maybe he wasn't. They said they just saw pattern changes but nothing violent. Curious if he was grad or undergrad, grad guessing by his age. Also by going to class I wonder if they mean physical attendance or if he had withdrawn from everything. He messed himself up there by violating class rules.

I like this qoute

Quote

Other UCF students who own guns shouldn't be concerned, Beary said. He said this case was about patterns and behaviors.

So if you own a gun, and do something that freaks your roommate out you better become concerned.

Quote

"We know that in today's world that a person in distress who owns a high-powered firearm, we just cannot ignore that," Beary said.

Also find this quote interesting. What constitutes distress and what is the reaction to it when it is an American citizen. "Hello Mr./Ms. X, we were notified that you regularly take Xanax, we have determined you are in distress. Please come with us and surrender all your firearms."

[AU64 10,122]

Tough problem....but I have this cute picture of me as a 7 year old dressed in my cowboy outfit with my cap pistol six shooter pointed right at mom as she took a picture of me.......yep, can't deny it....that is "me"..... her future school mass murderer?   

I was gonna send the picture along with this post to further the joke but had second thoughts as I did not want a visit by the FBI or someone asking if I still harbored thoughts of using that pistol. 

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

On 4/7/2018 at 8:58 AM, AU64 said:

Tough problem....but I have this cute picture of me as a 7 year old dressed in my cowboy outfit with my cap pistol six shooter pointed right at mom as she took a picture of me.......yep, can't deny it....that is "me"..... her future school mass murderer?   

I was gonna send the picture along with this post to further the joke but had second thoughts as I did not want a visit by the FBI or someone asking if I still harbored thoughts of using that pistol. 

I'm totally convinced your distressed now. Sorry man.. dunfor

[keoson7 28]

the slippery slope is becoming a mudslide,  what freedoms we had, we will have to reclaim