Wearing a “Military-Style” Tactical Vest to School Isn’t a Crime
From Evans v. Cabot School Dist., decided Thursday by Eighth Circuit Judge Michael Melloy, joined by Judges James Loken and Jonathan Kobes:
Two high school brothers were arrested for disorderly conduct after wearing {military-style} tactical vests to school. {Kameron’s vest had a “U.S. Army” patch on it. The parties agree that the vests were not real tactical or military vests, nor were they bulletproof. Kameron’s vest was mostly obscured under a large winter coat he was wearing. Noah did not have his coat on over his vest. Kameron also carried a green duffle bag that he used to carry his ROTC equipment. The Officers describe the bag as a “military-style duffle bag,” but the Evanses dispute that the duffle bag was military-style. Kameron alleges that he regularly used the bag to carry his marching band and ROTC equipment, in addition to his Airsoft war game equipment.}
The brothers were acquitted, and sued the school resource officers; the court held that the officers weren’t entitled to qualified immunity on the brothers’ claim that they were arrested without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment:
“Probable cause exists when the totality of circumstances at the time of arrest would lead a reasonable person to think the defendant committed or is committing a crime.” … The Officers begin by arguing they had “probable cause to arrest Kameron and Noah for disorderly conduct based on what they wore to school on that particular day.” The Arkansas disorderly conduct statute states in part:
(a) A person commits the offense of disorderly conduct if, with the purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm or recklessly creating a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, he or she:
(1) Engages in fighting or in violent, threatening, or tumultuous behavior; …
(4) Disrupts or disturbs any lawful assembly or meeting of persons[.]
The Officers argue that the Evanses purposely or, at the very least, recklessly caused alarm by wearing tactical vests on a day when the school was screening an active-shooter video. The Officers do not expressly identify which of the enumerated disorderly acts the Evanses allegedly engaged in, though they seem to contend that the brothers’ conduct disrupted a lawful assembly. For their part, the Evanses deny that they even knew about the active-shooter video.
Regardless of whether the Evanses purposely or recklessly wore their vests to school, there was no disruption of a lawful assembly. The Officers present no evidence that the Evanses were disruptive. The Officers were only aware of Noah’s vest because Ms. Evans informed them, and Kameron’s teacher would not have known about the vest
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