Man wearing body armor with loaded gun arrested in Chicago

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 8:00 pm, Saturday, March 24, 2018



CHICAGO (AP) — A man with a loaded handgun, wearing a bullet proof vest and carrying a bag of SWAT equipment authorities believe was stolen from New York City police has been arrested at Chicago's busiest train station.

Chicago police say 21-year-old Isaiah Malailua was arrested Friday morning at a Union Station ticket counter and charged with unlawful use of a weapon for wearing body armor.

Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke set bail at $100,000 and ordered Malailua, from Redding, California, to remain in the Chicago area.

Lyke says: This is troubling, to say the least, in light of what's happening in our country."

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Man-wearing-body-armor-with-loaded-gun-arrested-12779346.php

[greyl]

1. Must be a sloppily written law for armor to count as a weapon. nt

[demigoddess]

2. I like that law.

[bitterross]

5. I think I understand your first instinct to like that law. But, stop and think.

My first instinct was "Well, he can't be up to any good if he's wearing body armor and has a gun." So I get it.

Then, I stopped for a minute and thought about how the racist DA's like Jeff Sessions have turned house-hold items like possession of a spoon into possession of drug paraphernalia. How they've turned possession of condoms into prostitution charges.

Yes, surely some of those people with the spoons and the condoms were up to no good. But not all of them. I still believe in innocent until proven guilty. Though so often, it is very hard to do so.

[hedda_foil]

7. Do you have links to the spoon and condom things? It's news to me and sounds outrageous.

[mopinko]

15. the armor was stolen, is the point, i think.

[7962]

18. Like seizing cash without any proof of a crime.

[bitterross]

19. Yes! Which, of course Sessions just made easier.

Evil Elf, Jeff Sessions, just made that a thing again. More policing for profit.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sessions-welcomes-expansion-of-asset-forfeiture-i-love-that-program/

[7962]

20. Arrrrggh. Thanks for the link. nt

[JI7]

21. He had stolen equipment

[Igel]

3. A very Russian attitude.

The only reason you'd want defense is if you expect to have to defend against a counterattack.

Never said of the self, of course.

[greyl]

6. hihi хихи (lol)

"The only reason you'd want defense is if you expect to have to defend against a counterattack."

False.

What about if you expect to have to defend against an attack? What if the law is so sloppily written that common animal handling gloves were deemed to be "weapons" by some idiot cop with an agenda?

Nothing "Russian" about fretting over sloppily written, i.e., arbitrarily applied laws.

Edit: To be clear, in the context of the subject of the thread, I'd agree that the armor should add, in some way, to the charges and suspicion of guilt. It's just dumb to classify armor as a weapon, imo.

[bitterross]

4. Same thing happens in the war on drugs and sex workers.

Every-day items become drug paraphernalia and condoms become intent to prostitute.

Our system of justice is nothing but creative and inventive when it comes to making more people criminals. There's a huge profit in it.

[hedda_foil]

8. Okay, now you're repeating it. Can you provide documentation of these abuses?

[bitterross]

9. Yes, I can.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nypd-condoms-20140513-story.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/police-arrest-women-for-carrying-condoms-2013-3

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/condoms-prostitution_n_1819673.html

Here are the ones for the spoon thing

https://www.dailysignal.com/2014/09/29/florida-woman-arrested-possession-spaghettios/

[hedda_foil]

10. Thanks very much, biterrross.

[rocktivity]

22. I think the thinking is that anything that can prevent a cop from killing you

Last edited Tue Mar 27, 2018, 05:19 PM - Edit history (1)

-- but makes it possible for you to kill them -- can be considered a weapon.


rocktivity

[dingosatemyusername]

11. Here in SC,

you can be charged with intent to manufacture crack cocaine if you have baking powder and a clear glass bowl in your kitchen.

[TwistOneUp]

12. He was probably just going out for a coffee and wanted to be safe in Chicago. nt

[maxrandb]

14. He's a terrorist

The white bomber from Austin is just a troubled youth

[rocktivity]

16. He stole equipment from NYPD SWAT? He's GOOD...

But seriously, folks, he was carrying loaded handgun, WEARING a bullet proof vest and CARRYING a bag of SWAT equipment, I think that falls within the realm of suspicious behavior.


rocktivity

[Aristus]

17. 'Malailua'? No wonder he was arrested.

If his name was Whitey Whitehead of White Plains, there would have been no arrest.

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. Wait.....He stole it from the police?

How the hell does that happen? That is not explained at all. I don't see how just anyone can walk in and steal police-only equipment and walk out.

[rocktivity]

24. It might be counterfeit, black market, or have been purchased with phony ID

Amazon has a tactical equipment section.

After reading about a rapist who pulled over women drivers with very authentic-looking lights on his alleged "unmarked" police car, I thought, "But how did he get the lights? You can't just walk into a store..." Half-jokingly, I did an Amazon search, and -- well, there they were...


rocktivity

[LiberalLovinLug]

25. That would be more believable.

But the story clearly states he stole it from the NYPD police.

So...did he sneak in one night. Broke into a police station and then broke into the body armor lockers? That's some feat. And says something about the shoddy security at police stations.
Did he hold up a police station?
Or did he have someone on the inside to help him?

Either way this seems like at least a big a story as him getting caught with it.

[rocktivity]

26. The story says "authorities BELIEVE" that the SWAT equipment was stolen

which suggests an additional motive: unless he can be proven to be in illegal possession of the gun, the charge of his wearing the bulletproof vest might not be enough. Solution: suspect him of being in possession of stolen property!


rocktivity

[EX500rider]

27. More likely taken from the trunk of a SWAT officers car.