Freeway-blocking Imperial Stars charged with felonies

The Imperial Stars, who blocked the 101 freeway in Los Angeles with a moving truck in October to punish drivers with their abysmal music, have been charged with felonies. "The ~~douches~~ defendants say they pulled off the stunt in order to bring attention to the plight of homeless children (and not to bring media attention -- which they soaked up -- to their crap, "hardcore hip-hop" act)."

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Appropriate punishment for said felonies?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Life imprisonment. In a car. On the 405.
franko

so, what you’re saying is, the system works!
skatanic

Well that clears things up. I guess we owe them an apology.
Anonymous

I’m hoping their punishment somehow involves Imperial Star Destroyers.
kc0bbq

IT’S FOR THE CHILDREN!!!

Whoah, sorry, got caught up in the moment.
knijon

How is it exactly that “authorities have yet to ID the driver of the truck”? I presume they weren’t arrested at the time of the incident, but rather only after the charges were filed?
- Wingo
  
  The dude chucked the keys and split as the cops were showing up. I guess the other d-bags aren’t giving him up.
  
  This is awesome – I say throw the book at these guys. They should also be charged with crimes against humanity just for that ‘music’ of theirs.
zikman

felonies… that’s hardcore.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  The economic losses are in the millions of dollars. Damn right it’s a felony. And it’s not like the cops closed the freeway because of a security scare. These idiots are 100% responsible. They even sent the key away so that nobody could move the truck.
RHK

I’m fine with them doing a few hundred hours apiece of community service work with homeless children, which is what they should have been doing in the first place to bring attention to the plight of homeless children.
IronEdithKidd

It’s a Festivus miracle!
Lobster

That felony is going to make it hard for them to get real jobs when their little band fails.
- johnnyaction
  
  Sadly, no it won’t hurt them that much.
  
  Most felons end up in construction or doing something like pizza delivery.
  
  Sooo many felons work construction it’s not that funny. I worked with a guy that said he did a year in solitary but I doubt it.
  
  They are much more likely to show up for work and recognize someone they dealt to or bought drugs from.
Andrea James

Best news I heard all day! I was stuck that day coming up over Cahuenga pass on the 101 after a shoot. I ended up taking surface streets through Hollywood, which were also clogged because of these dicks. All I could think was how many thousands of hours of human life these guys wasted. I hope there are civil suits, too!
lasttide

The lead singer was quoted as saying: “I r going 2 prison? I told u i was hardcore.”
Anonymous

ouch.

.~.
Kerov

If you drove drunk, crashed your car, and closed the freeway, it wouldn’t be a felony crime.

If you’re a politician, closing the freeway for your motorcade to go from one corrupt fund-raiser to another, it’s not a felony.

But hey, if the prosecutor thinks you’re an unpopular “douchebag”, yeah, let’s make that a felony. And in America, a felony means you are punished socially and economically for life: you will never get any non-menial job ever again.

But at least they’ll be in good company: in America, there are 2.5 million people behind bars on any given day (a prison population 5 times larger than it was in 1970). In America, one out of every 53 adult men is in prison on any given day. No other country has such an incredibly high incarceration rate.

Nice ‘justice’ system you’ve got there.
- flosofl
  
  Wow, do you have an oxygen mask up there on you high horse?
  
  First off, in most states and Cali in particular, prosecturors have the discretion to prosecute DUI as a felony depending on circumstances. The ones you describe would most likely be just that
  
  Second, the ethics of politicians aside, most of those motorcades are planned in advance with police and announced to the public. That way viable alternative routes can be planned and be less choked than if forced off a major traffic artery at more or less the same exit points. Additionally, first responders (fire, police, ambulances) can compensate in advance which always better and more efficient than putting a contingency plan in motion with no prior warning.
  
  These doofi not only cost individuals and companies millions in lost productivity, they also dangerously and recklessly put people needing emergency services at severe risk in large urban environment. You would be shocked at how many of these happen with a population of millions of people.
  
  Do I have problems with some of the so called “crimes” choking our prison system? Sure, but not this time. As far as I am concerned these dorks are learning a valuable lesson. Accountability for ones actions.
  
  But you just go ahead and keep on judging.
  - bhtooefr
    
    Not only that, but our legal system does consider intent.
    
    If you drove drunk, crashed your car, and closed the freeway… yes, you closed the freeway, but that wasn’t your intent. You should be responsible for the problems you caused by closing the freeway, but as you didn’t intend it, you shouldn’t be punished for it. (You should, OTOH, be punished for failing to maintain control of your vehicle, due to being drunk.)
    
    If you intentionally block off the freeway, you INTENTIONALLY blocked off the freeway. Therefore, you should be punished for blocking off the freeway, in addition to being held responsible for the problems caused by it.
John Napsterista

from their twatter: “ok so maybe we pissed a few people off!!! but We need to raise awareness for the homeless children! thats whats important here!”

This is the future of terrorism: Deadly, spectacular attack events meant to raise awareness for/convey a threat on behalf of a certain cause are replaced by merely intensely annoying, financially costly ones. It’s an improvement I suppose, but I still hope these guys get sent to Guantanamo Bay.