At a Walmart store in southern New Jersey someone got on the PA and announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now." It's not clear who made the announcement. Now, an arrest has been made.

Okay waht this guy did was ridiculous and wrong. But what exactly is the crime?

Unauthorized use of a public address system?

Now that I think about it, didn't Roberto Benigni's character do something similar in Life is Beautiful? Didn't he use the public address system in the Nazi concentration camp to send a message to his lovely wife, who was in the women's side of the camp? So, I guess, "unauthorized use of a public address system" could be good (sometimes) and not so good at other times. It depends on what you say after "Attention Walmart customers..."

Update: I've read that the person arrested was a 16 year old boy and he is "charged with bias and intimidation and harassment... If convicted, he could face up to a year in a juvenile detention center, officials said."

I guess I just wonder if he had said "All fat people must leave the store" or "all people wearing sneakers" would he be arrested? What he did was stupid and racist but I'm just not sure I see an actual crime here.

Ok, this kid made a stupid, immature, completely inappropriate, senseless statement (whether it was triggered by racism or not), but there was no crime committed here. I just don't understand how this is a "biased crime". Definitely biased, but not a crime.

Well, I could see some possible angles for the "crime."

One, the racist announcement brought negative publicity to Walmart and may have cost the company lost business. Certainly they were forced to scramble their PR people, issues statements, respond to the media. Meanwhile, news reporters were interviewing shoppers who were upset that Walmart would make such an announcement in their store--and now the whole country knows about this negative publicity incident. If the Balloon Boy dad was responsible for the hoax that had media and air traffic control scrambling, isn't the kid who made this fake announcement also responsible for the damage caused to Walmart's reputation and lost sales?

Two, the announcement could have set off violence or panic among people in the store. People could have been outraged, arguments might have taken place between customers or staff--some who might have found the announcement funny, some who might have found it racist. Employees might have been offended and might now feel they are working in a hostile environment. I'm not saying that those things happened, but like yelling "Fire" in a crowded theatre--if you make a provocative announcement, you don't know what the possible outcome might be.

Imagine you were the manager of that store. Now you have customers and employees getting on your case. The local and national media are shoving their microphones and cameras in your face. The big bosses at Walmart are laying into you. Your sales drop (because who wants to shop at the store with that notoriety, esp. with all the media lurking?) and your job is on the line. Maybe you had to take out an ad in the local paper apologizing for the incident (the cost of which comes out of your budget). You would not be happy.

In the end it was likely just a youthful prank, and perhaps some community service would be in order. But I think you could definitely prove damages (lost sales, media expenses, damaged reputation, etc.). And if you do something that causes damage to somebody else, you are liable. Also, if you don't charge the guy with something, it will encourage other people to do the same thing.

Racism? Really???

Think of the announcement in its entirety, "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now."

It's too absurd to be racist. It's a stupid teenaged prank, and I'd be very disappointed if he does any jail time.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable lawsuits filed by offended customers against WalMart.

I'm sure Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are on their way.

Well ummm Puschkin...why wouldn't it be racist. Perhaps your tune would be different if he got on there and said all fags leave the store. Anyway I don't have time to play legal aide today but exactly what was the crime committed? The kid is an obvious douchebag ass**** but where is the crime? Surely it needed to be addressed but arrested? No. It is offensive and if I were in the store I would've been offended but good grief.

It was racist, no doubt. What a stupid fool. He's got a world of hurt ahead of him, and it's all his own doing.

Well, I'm black (and Jewish and gay), and I've been called a few names in the past, and I know racism all too well. If the stupid kid had said, "All n****rs get out," I would be singing a different tune.

Calling racism here is excessive.

So just because he used a more respectable way to describe black people means that it still wasn't racist overall? Okey doke.

Bad behavior is learned. The kids parents or other role models may have said things in private that condon his activities in public.

We seem to be entering an era of extremist rhetoric. The danger is that it may become routine and lead to more extreme activities.

What the kid said is below my racism threshold. Over the years I've learned to pick my battles otherwise I'd be doing life in San Quentin.