ROTFLMAO! You do realize that it's not what it LOOKS like, but the actual THREAT to a person that matters, right? A whole bunch of stuff can look like something other than what it actually was--and the only thing that MATTERS is what it actually was.
Seriously. A bunch of football players are horsing around. Being STUPID. One of them takes it took far, playing whatever game they're playing, and acts like he's patting some guy down. I.E, "looking for weapons". That's what patting down is--by definition. It's a PRANK. A joke. A stupid one nonetheless, especially given current times--but at the same time, who is going to take this seriously, in broad daylight, in the middle of campus--in Ames, freaking Iowa? This is NOT New York, Chicago, or L.A--or even 6th Avenue in Des Moines.
It should have been treated as such. As a PRANK.
Instead, Campus Security (which has sought for the last thirty years to puff themselves up with fancy names) which STILL wants to justify carrying handguns on campus, wants to make an issue of it. And the County Attorney's office wants to make points with on how "tough" they are on "crime".
So they blow it out of proportion. Why? Because they can. After all, they have to do something to justify those unificent salaries--and there's no other ballgame in town.
Technically, by the letter of the law, this can be considered a felony. So they go out and push this, back the poor kid into a corner--where he is essentially taking the heat for several of his teammates as well--and give him a choice. Either you can plead to this, or go to trial--and not only risk the whole sentence, but accrue a whole bunch of expense in legal fees that you can't afford.
So, what does the kid do? He accepts the plea--and I don't know all of the terms, or possible priors (as Berryman had)--thinking that then he can get on with his life. After all, he DID do something boneheaded. Something wrong. He deserves to be punished. And they have him in a corner.
Perhaps that's his reasoning. I don't know. It's my best guess, as someone who was close to the court system in Ames for quite some time.
Honestly? I think this might have been a mistake on his part. Again, depending on the terms. Because if he had taken it to a jury trial, I am reasonably sure that a GOOD attorney could have gotten a jury to laugh at the idea of this being a felony.
But do you know what? GOOD attorneys, with the balls for that, are expensive--and they DON'T hand around Ames, Iowa. Or Iowa period, for that matter.
So, if all of you saints out there want to get down off of your high horses, you might want to take a moment to stop and think about some of the boneheaded things you have done--and what might have happened had you gotten caught, AND someone decided to take things out of context.
Oh wait--my apologies to those of us out there who are as pure as the driven snow...yeah, we know who you are.
Well, hey, I know that I'm not. And that's why I have some idea of what this kid is going through. As well a not only a little bit of empathy--but a little understanding.
