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Arresting photos of naked guy swimming across the Charles
By adamg on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 9:09am
Mark Garfinkel was on scene yesterday for the dramatic take-down of a man who dared display his derriere (among other things) as he swam from Cambridge to Boston. Here's hoping there weren't any stinging nettles where the staties made him lie down.
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To quote the Simpsons:
To quote the Simpsons movie:
"Listen kid, no one likes wearing clothes in public. But, you know, it-it's the law!
but why o why, if being naked
but why o why, if being naked is such a crime, they handcuff him and get him down naked; why not first dressing him somehow?!
do they secretly like his body?
If he was swimming to Cambridge, it would be "Performance Art"
If he was swimming the other way, would there be as much of a fuss? I doubt it.
As said by a dear friend on the subject:
"if you are doing something morally questionable it's far better if you are heading towards Cambridge"
Not according to the state's highest court
Which ruled you can't simply dance naked in Harvard Square, not without posting prior notice, at any rate.
not necessarily
Sounded like it was someone on the Cambridge side who alerted the police.
And I think the state troopers have jurisdiction along both sides, so it wouldn't be Cambridge PD letting him off easy.
Poor guy. He might have just been drunk, or thinking that a naked swim across the river would be a good way to de-stress. Now he's going to have to spend five figures on a good lawyer and hope that's the worst that happens to him.
trouble
I bet this guy didn't realize how much trouble that could get him in in MA. Being arrested might just be the start of much worse things.
Indeed. Like contracting
Indeed. Like contracting something awful from swimming in the Charles!
The Charles is the least of his problems.
In MA the over-reactive DA will charge you as a sex offender for simple nudity or urination in public.
Because if you naked, it must be sexual. The horror, the horror.
This just in...
Reports that William Weld was retrieved form the river Charles with no clothing.
Nice buns.
But seriously, I still don't understand why swimming naked or being naked in public against the law? I mean, you are not hurting anyone right? And why did they have to handcuff him?
I wish the USA would not be so, um, uptight regarding nakedness.
But.... Think of the
But.... Think of the children?!?! They could be scarred for life or worse, turned gay and have evil impure thoughts!!
//sarcasm
Meanwhile ...
While the joggers just ignored him, people snapped photos, and all of that police presence underscored the general regional terror over the human body, did they catch that rapist?
bystanders yawn, smirk
That news photog probably did the guy a favor by documenting a distinct lack of shock and alarm from bystanders.
Balances out the harm to the guy of publicizing the embarrassing event and distributing photos of it.
If you're gonna be naked in public ...
I think "people taking pictures" is a given.
Unwise
I don't think it's a wise idea to swim in the Charles River.
I don't think
It takes too much time.
I'd rather react based on something I heard 30 years ago.
There's a swimming area on the Cambridge side that has been open for a few years now at Magazine Beach.
I don't think it is a wise idea to not bother checking on the water quality situation for a major river in your area now that such information is readily available.
Magazine Beach swimming area?
Really? I didn't think swimming in the Charles was officially encouraged.
There's an awesome public pool, too ...
But the Charles is much more swimmable than it used to be. In fact, swimming it is now an annual event (although often postponed if there is a heavy rain or other pollution event). http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinio...
When I rowed the Charles in college, we had to put betadine on any open blisters or cuts when we pulled the boats out. People did get sick from falling in or getting soaked and not scrubbing down.
Swimming naked in the Charles may not be a wise idea, but,
the guy wasn't hurting anybody or breaking any laws. Why can't the cops treat him with a bit more respect, instead of just handcuffing him and roughing him up.
arresting the naked guy helps nobody
Yeah, who would be worse off if the cops just told him to put some pants on, and sent him on his way?
BPD staffing and funding has never been better.
Perhaps the fellow took the silly comparison of Boston to San Francisco too far. Apparently no one told him that in Boston the worst crime is public nudity. Murders, negligent motorists who kill bicyclists, negligent bicyclists who kill pedestrians, all pale when compared to the horrific crime of a man's willy flapping in the Charles without a rag covering it.
Maybe they feared the man would urinate without a fabric filter requiring a complete emptying of the Charles?
Why does it always have to be a guy?
I was drivingdown Cambridge St at 2am a few years ago and saw a very large and very naked man lumbering along the sidewalk.
I saw a cop working a detail a few blocks away and informed him.
He had a great BoPo response:
"Why does it always have to be a guy?"