NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a
trail for their offbeat running club inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare
and now face a felony charge.The sprinkled powder forced hundreds to
evacuate an IKEA furniture store Thursday.
New Haven ophthalmologist Daniel Salchow, 36, and his sister, Dorothee, 31, who is visiting from Hamburg, Germany, were both charged with first-degree breach of peace, a felony.
This is silly, are they really going to charge someone for putting flour on the ground. It wasn't done to scare people, that would be different, it was done to mark a course for runners. When they heard that there was a problem, they returned to the scene to clear things up.
If you punish them, you are punishing them based on the reaction from the public and authorities - not a very consistent basis for punishment. You would also be punishing them for coming forward to explain, how many people would do that. Much less if they see that their mistake could land them a felony charge. Charges would be warranted if they had performed this action with the intention to cause fear - or if they were not forthcoming with authorities.
Why would the IKEA in New Haven, Conn. even be a target?
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