From: stephen@sprunk.org

On 16-Apr-14 22:57, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Stephen Sprunk  wrote:
>> On 16-Apr-14 08:58, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>> conklin  wrote:
>>>> It seems that when local officials tried to look into a
>>>> derailment in Westford, MA, they were threatened with arrest.
>>>
>>> So what? The town manager and fire chief would have told the
>>> police that they were there to investigate the incident and
>>> determine what local emergency response was necessary, and
>>> wouldn't have been arrested.
>>
>> They might have been questioned by the feds, but I doubt they would
>> have been arrested for asking questions themselves.  OTOH, "look
>> into" might mean more than just asking questions.
>
> What are you babbling about? No railroad calls FBI on a trespassing
> complaint.

No, but they might call the feds about a suspected terrorist.

>>> Any company official can make a police report for trespass, but
>>> that doesn't mean someone would have been arrested. If you don't
>>> want to be intimidated, don't let yourself be intimidated.
>>>
>>> It's not like these two people wouldn't have been known to their
>>> own police department.
>>
>> But they wouldn't be "known" or "untouchable" to railroad police
>> or federal agents; they'd be potential terrorists.
>
> Last I looked, making a false police report

Who said the report would be false?  If someone is trespassing on a
railroad and asking questions about hazmat, and I correctly report those
facts to the police, that report is not false.  It is up to the police
to investigate whether a crime has occurred.

> is still a felony.

Whether it's a felony or misdemeanor depends on state law, and a
conviction generally requires the knowledge that it is false _and_ the
intent to disrupt a criminal investigation.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

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