August 24, 2015

"The rapper Wiz Khalifa was handcuffed and forced to the ground by law enforcement officers at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night for, he said, refusing to get off a hoverboard."

"I stand for our generation, and our generation is gonna be riding hover boards."

Either hoverboarding is permitted in the airport or it is not. I've linked to the NYT article, which includes the video showing Wiz Khalifa on the floor, getting handcuffed and engaged in a dialogue with the police that alternates the lines "Stop resisting" and "I'm not resisting."

But I'd like some more context. I'm just guessing that hoverboards are forbidden in the airport (for good reason), that he was told to stop using it and refused, that he was warned he'd be arrested and continued to refuse, that the police proceeded to arrest him, and that he chose to use social media to make a name for himself as the champion of hoverboarding (and one more victim of police excess). And, of course, he's succeeded. I've heard of Wiz Khalifa now.

23 comments:

Rae said...

Praise the Lord!

I've been waiting forty years to join a hoverboard gang!

David Begley said...

The Rule of Law does not apply today; especially true for Obama voters.

Trashing the Rule of Law is Barack's true historic legacy.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I just realized for the first time that "Cheese Wiz" is a play on "gee-whiz," the mildly cornball exclamation.

I guess it's true that you learn something new every day.

Heartless Aztec said...

You've heard of him because you either watch TV or you clicked the story open. As the kids say - "Your bad".

Anonymous said...

Wiz Khalifa is part of the generation who believes they do NOT have to listen to the Police...Then, they get all the publicity of how the police mistreated them for not listening to them in the first place.....Unfortunately, this is becoming to common....Wiz Khalifa needs a good swift kick in the butt. (which he probably should have gotten when he was younger and acting out)

Michael said...

Althouse:"Either hoverboarding is permitted in the airport or it is not. "

Nonsense. Crossing the border without permission is not permitted. Sanctuary Cities are not permitted. Permission is yesterday.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

3 cops yell stop resisting. Only thing to do is let em know. I'm not resisting, I'm doin what I want.

If what you want is opposed to what the police are trying to get you to do as part of the arrest, then yes, you are resisting.

If you watch the video it is clear that he is neither cooperating nor going limp. He is not struggling violently, but he is clearly resisting.

MadisonMan said...

Wait -- you'd never heard of Wiz Khalifa before?

Conclusion: Your kids are old ;)

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I'm just guessing that hoverboards are forbidden in the airport...

I'd be surprised if they were, because they probably didn't exist at the time the rules were written. There may be a general rule against things like skateboards, roller skates, wheeled shoes, etc, that is based on a definition that revolves around wheels.

However, I'm pretty sure that get off the hoverboard constitutes a lawful order, so yeah, arrest him.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I stand for our generation, and our generation is gonna be riding hover boards.

You're 27. You are at least a generation too old to be in the hoverboard generation.

By the time hoverboards are common you'll be yelling Get out of the airspace slightly above my lawn!

Todd said...

How was he "riding it" at the airport? If this is this Lexus Hoverboard (http://www.lexus-int.com/amazinginmotion/slide/), unless something has recently changed, you can't just ride it anywhere. You can only ride it on special tracks. So, how was he riding it at the airport? I can't find any details on that. Did he get a "wheels adapter" for it so that it works like a normal skateboard when not on the special tracks or did they lay the tracks for him at the airport (doubt it)?

Various news articles call it a hoverboard and some name it a "Lexus Hoverboard" but Wiz Khalifa does not specifically name the brand as far as I can find. Anyone know more? Was it a "real" hoverboard and if so, how did it work at the airport?

Anonymous said...

Not sure why the Feds got drug into the article. I suspect that these were 3 Local LAPD or Airport cops.

Federal border and customs agents, who patrol the airport, said privacy laws prevented them from discussing specific cases.

Scott said...

Goes to show, you don't have to be white to be entitled.

Anonymous said...

The Wiz waxes poetic:

Ballin's not a hobby, it's my occupation. Hoes on my dick, that's my confirmation.

s'opihjerdt said...

People try to put us d-d-down, just because we h-h-hover 'round.

Known Unknown said...

"Wiz Khalifa is part of the generation who believes they do NOT have to listen to the Police"

What's funny is as I grow older, I become less enamored with authority.

The police are not always correct.

A lot of the police are well-trained decent upstanding citizens with a just sense of law and order. Some, however, have a mean streak and a sense of superiority that often leads them to over step their bounds as LEOs. The militarization of police is an important issue that threatens the covenant between the police and the citizenry they swear to protect and serve.

The one thing police haven't been doing well with lately is threat assessment. I think 9/11 changed us as a country ... in a lot of ways for the worse.

The article is also very short on information.

If it's not explicitly outlawed, then it's not outlawed. However, had I been Wiz, I probably would have heeded the "order" and then had a discussion with the police whether or not hoverboards were strictly verboten or not.


Known Unknown said...

"Ballin's not a hobby, it's my occupation. Hoes on my dick, that's my confirmation."

Less poetic than the Beach Boys singing "I Get Around"

But you know what they meant.

James Pawlak said...

Let him continue. If their is justice in our world he will break his neck and improve the human genetic pool.

Thorley Winston said...

Let him continue. If their is justice in our world he will break his neck and improve the human genetic pool.

At which point his family would sue the airport for millions of dollars, Black Lives (Sometimes) Matter would protest to disrupt the airport and the lives of thousands of passengers and employees and the Obama Justice Department would launch an investigation and file their own lawsuit making air travel even more burdensome and costly than it already is.

TobyTucker said...

Here he is going through LAX a few days earlier on his "hoverboard":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOqcHO5GiKo

At the very end he is carrying it, something he apparently refused to do this time.

What bothers me about this story is that there is a short video that appears to be from the start of this incident:

https://twitter.com/wizkhalifa/status/635240215498485760

and there is the video of him on the ground "not resisting", but video showing what happened in between hasn't shown up even though both clips seem to be taken by the same person.

There is a one minute difference in the timestamp, but that missing minute is crucial to determining whether the actions of the police were appropriate. We're left with the general impression that the cops were the bad guys here, oppressing the black man once again, but seeing as that footage IS missing, it's likely that Wiz did something to provoke the response, but until it surfaces we're needlessly left guessing.

320Busdriver said...

Pretty sure it was a mini segway(scooter).
I saw this story on Drudge last night and lo and behold I spied two people using them this am in JFK's terminal 4.

Todd said...

Yes, it appears to be this or something like it:

http://www.amazon.com/Muzeli-Two-wheel-Balancing-Electric-Scooter/dp/B00VTAMAUS

NOT a "hoverboard" but what can you expect from an MSM that knows less about tech than the corner pan-handler...

Fred Drinkwater said...

Does not the Wiz realize that, by using this device, he is 1) oppressing the honest unionized folk who currently operate the passenger transport vehicles at the airport, and 2) violating who knows HOW many OSHA and Cal-OSHA regulations regarding safety lighting, strobes, buzzers, etc? I'm sure there's some EPA, Cal-DOT, and DMV issues in there too, but I don't get paid to investigate this stuff...