Why did Emanuel Smith, 60, of
Cleveland, Ohio go to the casino last week? To avoid his
Ebola-stricken ex-wife, he allegedly joked. It’s not very funny,
but nor is the fact that he got hit with a felony charge for
inducing panic.
Nevertheless, “police arrested Smith at his home about 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday,”
reports The Plain Dealer. More:
Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ed Wade set Smith’s bond Friday
morning during a felony arraignment. Smith is also charged with
criminal trespassing, accused of “entering a place of amusement to
cause a disturbance,” according to the casino commission. Both
cases are bound over to common pleas court. …Commission agents temporarily closed the casino pit where Smith
gambled and reported the incident to Cleveland police, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and local health
departments.
Smith allegedly cracked the his joke the same day “news broke
Wednesday that a Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola had visited
Cleveland.” The court set Smith’s bond at $10,000.
Smith’s attorney Kathleen DeMetz thinks the response is
overkill. “People were having a general discussion about the
current situation. He made a comment regarding his former wife who
had traveled to Africa sometime in the past and that he tries to
stay away from her.”
There are some reasonable limits on speech. As the old saying
goes, you can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater. But does joking
about avoiding someone with a disease that has infected only
eight Americans fall into this category?
Read about the guy who pulled a prank with a Los Angeles Police
Department officer, only to end up in the department’s
sniper scopes the next day for that prank.
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