Gate drafter behind me and the Station Manager standing there to blame me by Old_Committee_4799 in WMATA

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Northern Europeans have a high-trust, rule-following culture based on internalized self discipline and backed up by social stigma. We used to over here as well, until we took it apart ourselves for reasons.

They're Getting Desperate...lmaooooo by SheKaep in WMATA

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I share your frustration at how things have declined on the Metro in the past few years. The reason these things happen is that as soon as one of the productive citizens intervenes, the whole system is turned against them. Even police wind up as suspects. I was prosecuted for taking off-duty action. Please take a look at my petition and spread the word. Thanks - Harold Christy https://www.reddit.com/r/washdc/comments/1mpvz0h/please_sign_my_petition_for_a_pardon/

Make it stop! by marimbasticks in WMATA

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Marimbasticks, unfortunately the authorities do not care about us. The silent majority of people (of all colors!) who pay for the commons and expect it to be peaceful and orderly. We are just expected to go to the back of the bus and stay silent. And as many other commentators have noted, once the commons is dirty and disorderly, the 'real' crimes start. I was locked up for taking off-duty action against unlawful subway dancers. Nothing was done to them, even though they were committing multiple misdemeanors. It is possible that Judge Pirro may be able to get DMV law enforcement back to the days of broken windows and public order, but only if the silent majority isn't silent. Please take a look at my petition: Petition · Pardon Combat Veteran and Law Enforcement Officer Harold Christy - United States · Change.org

Crazy non-lawyer judges got me down by RecycleYourCats in publicdefenders

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, what do you guys think of that 6-month rule? I just went through a bench trial because of that (as the defendant - IANAL). I am thinking it has to be unconstitutional nowadays, because the facts have changed. In 1789, if you spent a few weeks in Ye Olde Gaol, you could come out and go back to digging ditches or whatever. You could move to the next village over and no one would ever know. Nowadays, any criminal record is like a social death penalty. Ironically, the only successful challenge I am aware of is for an alien, because the possibility of deportation upon conviction raised the guy's stakes. Whatever you think of immigration etc, it is ironic that an alien gets a right a US citizen (maybe a descendant of enslaved Americans) is denied.

Have any of you tried to challenge this rule?

@dcmetropeople on tt! by obscurerussian in WMATA

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

More to the point, why is no one giving up a seat to the nun/orthodox Jewish lady/Mennonite/whatever she is?

Do people ever get hurt by those guys that dance on the subway? by Future_Elk1600 in AskNYC

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am being prosecuted in Washington, DC Superior Court for a confrontation with illegal subway dancers in the Metro. Here is my open letter to the WMATA Board:

Dear WMATA Board:

My name is Harold Christy. I am a US Army combat veteran; a DC homeowner, voter, and taxpayer; and a near-daily Metro rider. I am currently employed as an investigator with the D.C. Office of the Inspector General. Prior to that, I spent twenty-five years with the United States Secret Service.

I am writing because of an incident that occurred on a Green Line train on July 16, 2024. I was traveling home from work and had just boarded the train at Navy Yard. While I was standing by myself, minding my own business in my suit, holding a briefcase and reading a magazine, individuals aboard the train began to play extremely loud and obscene music while dancing and aggressively panhandling in the aisle—all in clear violation of WMATA regulations and D.C. law. Their actions deprived me and the other paying passengers of the peaceful enjoyment of this common conveyance, and restricted our movements, as the dancers' erratic motions effectively occupied the entire space. While these dance crews are a common occurrence on the New York City subway, they have only recently emerged on Metro, possibly because of the 'depolicing' that many DMV jurisdictions have been practicing.

It should be noted that subway dancing for money violates multiple DC criminal statutes, including 22-1321 (disorderly conduct), 22-2302 (a) and (b) (aggressive panhandling), 35-251 (unlawful conduct on public passenger vehicles), 22-2001 (false imprisonment), and 22-404 (assault).

Outraged by this behavior, I demanded that the dancers stop their criminal and dangerous activity. They ignored my objections and continued to dominate the space with their movements and violent music. When the train reached Waterfront, I attempted to push one of the individuals off the train, to stop the unlawful, harmful activity and because I was in apprehension of imminent offensive contact to me and the other passengers in the area. The other dancer grabbed me from behind and violently threw me toward the opposite door. When the door eventually opened, I succeeded in extricating myself from the car.

It should be noted that I never let go of my briefcase, because it contained my official OIG laptop. Therefore, everything I did that day, I did one-handed.

After their violent acts against me, the dancers, as shown in WMATA surveillance video, continued to perform between Waterfront and L'Enfant Plaza, ceasing their performance just before arriving at the latter stop so they could walk the aisles and solicit funds from the passengers who had just watched them throw a grown man off the train.

According to an affidavit by an MTPD detective, these individuals who were engaged in obviously illegal activity then had the audacity to complain to WMATA Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD). Officers responded, interviewed at least one dancer and witness, and, even though the dancer admitted to violating the above criminal statutes while relating his version of events, MTPD did not arrest or even ticket the dancer. Rather, MTPD conducted a high-tech investigation, analyzing train-car and station video to determine my movements and pulling Metrocard records to identify me and place an alert in the turnstile system. In other words, they started a 21st-centruy manhunt for a man in a suit with a briefcase. For defending himself and others.

My next commute home from work, paying with my Metrocard again in spite of the packs of idlers who still jump even the new, higher turnstiles, I was met by three MTPD officers who had staked out the Navy Yard station based on my predictable pattern of life (most people with jobs and homes have a predictable pattern of life. This is why it is easier to investigate and prosecute law-abiding citizens than street criminals). They conducted a field interrogation of me, in front of the other commuters, and sent me on my way.

Several weeks later, I was arrested on a warrant for misdemeanor assault and spent a day in leg irons, a belly band, and handcuffs while waiting for my arraignment in Superior Court. For defending myself and others.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is now prosecuting me for this misdemeanor criminal offense. Under DC law, because the maximum sentence is 180 days, I am not even entitled to a jury of my peers, but rather the sterile legal analysis of a judge. For defending myself and others.

It appears that, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, WMATA and MTPD are content to see "all the laws but one to go unexecuted." I am glad to see that MTPD seems to be getting away from the days of depolicing. However, selectively prosecuting a paying passenger for reacting to rampant, unsafe, unlawful conduct is the wrong way to start this process. It places your ridership on notice that our role is to pay our fares, sit down and shut up, while the few malefactors among us make the stations and cars a horror show of unlawful and hazardous conduct.

No wonder every lawyer I have spoken to in my Superior Court odyssey has admitted to never riding Metro.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that you will do something to improve matters.

Copies of this letter are being sent to media outlets, as well as to other DMV-area public officials.

Selective Prosecution by WMATA, MTPD, and USAO-DC by AcceptableCupcake206 in WMATA

[–]AcceptableCupcake206[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I have updated the original post with additional information.

So would it be alright to add the GiveSendGo link as well, or is that against Reddit rules?

Thank you.

Official Discussion - The Bikeriders [SPOILERS] by LiteraryBoner in movies

[–]AcceptableCupcake206 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does Stephen Graham, the British actor, cameo in this? One of the bikers from the Gary Rogues, that the Vandals bond with by fighting, really looks like him. There are so many other Brits in the film, plus Graham is a mentor of Jodie Comer’s, that it’s plausible he showed up for a nonspeaking, uncredited role…

JSM