From the Files of "The Incredibly Stupid"

Sometimes people do things that actually define the word stupid!

An man in Arizona filmed his 16-year-old nephew walking up and down city streets dressed in a sheet and carrying a fake rocket propelled grenade launcher to test police responses after the theater shooting in Denver.

Michael David Turley, 39, was arrested on Monday over the making of the video, in which an unidentified narrator says he aims to "find out how safe I really am" in Phoenix following the July Denver shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 58.

The video depicts a man with a fake grenade launcher walking around a Phoenix intersection in what appears to be a blue sheet with dark material covering his head and face. The filmmaker said it took 15 minutes for police to respond. The video was broadcast on YouTube and titled, "Dark Knight Shooting Response, Rocket Launcher Police Test."

Turley was charged with knowingly giving a false impression of a terrorist act, endangerment, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and misconduct involving a simulated explosive.

Police said officers reached the scene about three minutes after receiving numerous emergency calls from passers-by who said the person was pointing a weapon as they drove by.

The 16-year-old has not been arrested, yet. But charges against the young man are being considered.

Turley claimed that it took police 15 minutes to arrive on the scene, police say they arrived in 3 minutes. I tend to believe the police version in this case. It's hard to believe that if that 16 year old, dressed as a terrorist and pointing what looked like an RPG at people in cars passing through the busy intersection, was able to do that for 15 minutes and no one decided to go vigilante and try to take him out. He was walking in the crosswalk, in the street, so even an 'unarmed' passersby could have simply run him down, fearing for their lives -or trying to be a hero, or whatever.

Turley has been charged with several crimes and will likely be fined and jailed for a up two years. But I think he should be charged with a new crime I have been proposing for several years now: "Criminal Stupidity". Conviction on that charge would send the culprit to a secure mental institution where they would remain until they were able to pass 2 consecutive IQ tests with scores over 70.  Then they could be released only after "I do stupid things" is tattooed across their forehead.

Live Long and Prosper....