March 29, 2012
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“fake” kidnapping
Teenagers at the Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church in Middletown, Pa., were surprised when they attended a youth group meeting at the church on March 21 and were ambushed by what seemed to be real kidnappers.
Adults, including an off-duty cop, brandished weapons and put bags over the heads of the children, ages 13 through 18, and forced them into a church van. The group was driven to the home of an assistant pastor, who was presented before the group with a seemingly bloodied and bruised face, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo.
One of the adults used a real AK-47, though the gun was unloaded, Chardo said.
If the kid gets forced to go somewhere, that isn’t a “fake” kidnapping, it is a kidnapping.
Pointing a firearm at a kid who is being kidnapped is assault, regardless of whether or not it is loaded.
It is a crime. Kidnapping is a crime. False imprisonment is a crime. AK-47, aimed at children and treated like a toy? WTF?!?!
These people should be prosecuted.
what would have happened if one or more of the kids had resisted the attack?
What are your thoughts about this?
Comments (22)
Wow. Yes, all of those involved in the planning and execution of this fucked up idea should spend some time behind bars. Ugh.
o.O
what I think is this is fucked up, but if I had to prioritize, I'd say arrest Zimmerman and all who have covered up for him, THEN go after these assholes.
I think if the kids or their parents present charges this people should be prosecuted. But then we have some weird rituals in our culture that could seem too harsh for an outsider but everything is consensual so no one complains.
Never point a weapon at something you don't intend on destroying. Dumbass fudds.
i am not sure what the reason was for this action. i only briefly read the headlines. if the organizers informed and had the consent of the parents as to the why and etc. then it MAY be ok as schools around here put on a "program" about drunk driving and have the kids and parents involved but it is made to be realistic.
IF the organizers of this event did not inform parents etc. then this could be considered for legal action and was really in very poor taste.
This can become very traumatizing for those young kids. What in the world were those grown people thinking?
WTF?! This might have made sense if the church was located in a third world country and there was an actual possibility of this happening to them at some point, even though it was dimly thought out and poorly executed. However, none of these dumbasses even has the remotest possibility of being persecuted in the US for being christian. They don't have time for it, they're too busy trying to make sure the rest of us don't have any religious freedom, or the right to have no religion at all.
I can not imagine doing something like this as anything other than a law enforcement exercise, with all parties informed and fully participating. To do this to a group of unsuspecting kids is loathsome and worthy of prosecution. It boggles my mind that this group of rabid fundy dumbfucks actually all agreed this was the best way to illustrate a point to their children.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Filling their heads with bullshit about hell isn't enough? Now they have to pretend there's potential for christians to be rounded up for persecution in the US? Horrible parents, the lot of them. Brainwashed and idiotic.
Sorry about the language, Kristen. This pissed me off bigtime. If anyone else did it they'd go to jail. I bet these people escape prosecution because it was a 'church activity'.
They clearly went too far. I get what they were trying to do, teaching these kids to empathize with those around the world who do actually live under religious persecution. But this was definitely not the way to do it. I'm not sure of the specifics of Pennsylvania law, but if it's like the law in other states then the people involved are probably guilty of second-degree kidnapping, which potentially carries a sentence of 1-8 years.
Maybe the adults in question should spend a little time in solitary lockup, with the lights turned on and off at random intervals, with maybe a little speaker action going on, you know random noise, some of the more obscure operas out there.... Either or its messed up. Adults need to remember that the kids COULD be messed up for a very long time, because of this.... Assault is assault, and on a minor makes it double.... Peace
Sure was a dumb idea. Jail time? - not sure about that. I'm sure they learned their lessons and won't ever do it again. Should the girl and parents recieve payment in a law suit? - I'm sure the insurance company will settle out of court and very fast.
that is insane and definitely not right. they should be prosecuted.
Holy crap! I've heard of scared straight, but this is more like scared shitless.
I guess showing the kids some videos never occurred to them...
Something similar to your post happened at the undergrad school I attended. I went to what is known as "the military college of Georgia" where there are half cadets and half civilians that attend the university. Anyway, the cadets were training on the drill field and a car drove to the side of the field filled with a bunch of guys. 2 of the guys jumped out of the car grabbed this civilian girl walking on the sidewalk and pushed her into the car while she was screaming bloody murder. The cadets all saw what happened and reported it to the police. Amber alerts were sent off, the school was on lock down, and it was being reported all over Georgia. Hours later, the girl contacted her parents and the police and said that she wasn't kidnapped and it was just a prank...something about a fraternity joke. Uhh.....what?!
It's all ridiculous. I believe that the people should be punished because they have no idea what kind of panic they're putting the community through. *rolls eyes*
That was so stupid.
How is this making a point about persecution? I fail to see the similarities...
This was a real kidnapping. All involved should be prosecuted, and that off-duty cop should also be fired, and not allowed to ever work as a police officer again.
of course they should be charged.
but they won't, because not only are christians NOT PERSECUTED, they're given SPECIAL TREATMENT.
if any other religious affiliation did this, it would be called "barbaric" or "savage" or a million other words for it.
this is all kinds of fucked up.
They should all be prosecuted, the pastor should be kicked out of the church, and the cop should be fired and never allowed to work in law enforcement or with children again.
This is the kind of crap that happens when the dominant majority in a culture wishes to portray itself as downtrodden. It's one of the first stages of fascism.
Oh my gosh, those people are nuts.
wow, that is messed up!
IF they were trying to make a good point, they should have asked for permission from the parents/kids; explained what was to happen first; explain that they would do a mock kidnapping etc. (it's been done in the school system to do a mock day in the life of a slave, etc.). but even there, they should make sure that kids had option to not participate, AND they should tone it down a whole lot more!