Well, here they come: the “poopy” puns that seem to slowly have America giggling right now. But is it a laughing matter? The story stinks, but I’m not sure it’s for the reasons so many believe. Let’s take a look.

It all began a sunny day on a golf course in Glendale, Wisconsin

I suppose it must have seemed a peaceful day to the golfers just trying to enjoy their day on the green. Little did they know, the police engaged in a high-speed chase nearby. According to police they identified a car as stolen all the way from the state of Minnesota. They attempted to pull over the vehicle but the driver led them in hot pursuit. They rammed two cars. Tragically, but perhaps thankfully the drivers were treated for non-life threatening injuries according to sources. After the resulting crash 4 people were seen fleeing from the vehicle, according to witnesses. They fled in all directions.

Then two stumbled upon the green…

Two people were seen fleeing across the busy expanse of an otherwise quiet golf course. The busy pursuit reportedly frightened golfers who abandoned their tees to watch the chaos ensue. According to some witnesses, a “small child” darted across the field. Then, he fled into the most unlikely of places…an outdoor toilet. Kids these days.

It’s hard to tell from the blurry police cam footage but the individual appears to be an older teen to young adult male.

One golfer stood by, but then decided to take action. A man identified by a friend and witness as “Adam” decided to intervene and assist the police. The press reported in an interview that he attempted to inform an officer the suspect was hiding inside, but the cop ran in hot pursuit of another. Adam decided to take matters into his own hands.

He tipped over the porta-potty, door facing down to trap the young suspect inside. Police eventually arrived and one officer would violently and recklessly tip over the John with further splashing of feces and urine all over the young suspect trapped inside. The officers then shouted down the young man and demanded he crawl out. Reportedly, according to some sources, they then took the suspect to the station for a “smelly arrest”

Ha.

Hero, Vigilante, or Villain?”

This case begs many questions. Through all the chuckling  they’re all I hear in my head, especially weighed up against the views of America’s founders.

“There is nothing more American than pushing over a porta-potty, and saying ‘good luck buddy’ and walking away” said one YouTube commenter on a video that seems to slowly be going viral, body cam police footage that showcases the whole gruesome scene.

But the question? Is Adam a hero or a villain? I wanted to know for myself. What could be going through the mind of an adult man who watched someone flee into a porta potty and decide to tip it over? I asked him myself but he declined my request for an interview, however he did answer my most prying question.

“Do you Regret Your Actions?”

“I regret doing the interview. I do not regret detaining a suspect wanted by the police.” Adam declared after some hesitation.

His answer set me off-guard, but sadly, it did not surprise me. He comes across as a good American, perhaps with a sense of civic duty. He seems a well-to-do man with a good education. I believe he acted with good intent. He really thought he was doing the right thing. He assisted the police and helped secure the capture of a suspect police believed to have committed a crime. He was just being a good citizen.

“The Road to Hell is Paved in Good Intentions”

The Founders of America seemed to understand this quote all too well. They understood the fallacy of popular opinion and “mob rule”

Thus in lieu of a democracy, they created a representative republic that would respect the rights of individuals. They also created a constitution, which protects us all from the violation of those rights as respected individuals “all created equal” according to The Declaration.

The Founders also framed a system to establish the innocence or guilt of individuals, and to determine the proper consequence for their actions. They established a system that would guarantee individuals due process and protect them from the fallacies and viciousness of “mob rule”

They also provided that no citizen should be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

Consider the Following

Imagine you are trapped in a small and confined space. You are tipped over and locked in, stumbling downward onto a hard surface. Then the contents of an actual septic storage system are spilled all over you. You’re covered in urine, feces, and God only knows what else. You are forced to lie down and wait until the police arrive to tip you over, further drenching you in human waste. They then shout at you and force you to crawl out on your hands and knees. Then the entire gruesome scene is recorded, posted online, and you’re taken to jail.

How is this not a form of cruel and unusual punishment? Mind you, you’ve been convicted of nothing, and have not had your day in court.

Did He Deserve it?

It’s easy to observe this as a simple case of a criminal getting “instant karma” but is it that simple? What do we actually know about the facts of the case? That’s the problem isn’t it?

We know he was found riding as a passenger in a car. The car came up stolen in a computer all the way from the state of Minnesota. It’s hard to say if the young man I watched emerging covered in human excrement managed to steal a car and transport it from the state of Minnesota.

He ran from the police after a high-speed pursuit that resulted in a crash. While this will and should result in additional charges, it is not an automatic indication of guilt. It may be a sign of it, but that is circumstantial, especially in a world where the media has bombarded us with images of young black males being brutalized and even killed by the police. One could say the young man, his mind in a panicked state, ran from the police out of guilt. Or…maybe out of fear…fear that led him to hide in the most ridiculous of places…an outdoor toilet.

Ultimately, all this is to be determined by our criminal justice system, as established by the framers of our constitution. It is not to be determined by a lone individual, or even a group of golfers.

Consider the Risks

The police are trained to detain and restrain people hopefully with the intent of not harming them. Citizens are not, as evidenced by Adam’s actions. He could have seriously harmed this young man. He could have thumped himself pretty good in the head during the fall. I suffered from a minor concussion once. It’s not fun. I also suffered from an infection resulting in cellulitis while working in a garden center. It only takes a small cut and a little bit of dirt on the skin. Not treated, I could have lost my leg.

I understand a lot of people are laughing, but they wouldn’t be if they or their child were being treated for a respiratory infection or other life-threatening viruses. It’s shocking to me that in a post Covid-19 world that we are laughing at a human being as he drenched in urine and feces. Whatever he did, no person deserves that. And that begs the question…

Is This What America Has Become?

What happened to the intentions of our founders? What happened to natural and individual rights bestowed by our creator?

Whether you believe in God or not, you must believe in the dignity and value of human beings.

Nelson Mandela once said,

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

Child or not, I think history will judge America not by how rich or powerful we became as a nation, but how we treated our people. The problem here is, this “suspect” wasn’t viewed as a person.

Adam’s Answer Told Me Everything I Needed to Know

He was helping the police. He detained a criminal. A “Suspect”

I strongly believe that Adam believed he was doing the right thing. But this is exactly the problem with America. We have gotten the founder’s intentions so backwards that we have dehumanized the very people our constitution was intended to protect.

While a citizen may act in good intentions to make one’s community safer, no one has the right to play the role of judge, jury and executioner in the field.

So where do we find a balance here? Technically many states have provisions that allow citizens to intervene in a “citizen’s arrest” sadly many like Wisconsin’s are sorely lacking in proper guidelines. Most urgently, I suggest that if suspects are to be detained they should at very least be detained humanely. No matter the circumstances, there is no excuse for detaining someone and forcing him to lie in a deep puddle of human excrement.

The police and their handling of the situation, I also found inexcusable. No excuse existed for the officer to “roll the barrel” over the way he did so callously and carelessly, further drenching the young man in disease-infested excrement. I suppose people thought it was funny. I thought it was a barrel of crap.

On Performing Civic Duties

It’s sad that Americans have developed such a sense of civic duty, but have so tragically misdirected that energy. I would humbly suggest that if people want to aid the police and make their communities safe that they involve themselves in prevention instead of intervention.

Do you want to stop crime? Address the issues that contribute to it. Perhaps we can start by investing in and reaching out to America’s At-Risk-Youth instead of just dumping all over them. Want to be a good American? Get involved in your community. I believe that mentors make a difference more than vigilantes.

Any punk with a pair of arms can push over a porta-potty…it takes a real man to be a role-model.

Adam the Toilet Vigilante: Hero or Villain?

Ultimately, I don’t think the question is quite that simple. I personally believe Adam was a misguided citizen, influenced by a misinformed nationalistic mindset that has made Americans forget their humanity. I strongly believe this mindset is what the founders warned us against.

No number of “crappy puns” put out by the media is going to change that…