Heroic (?) vigilante arrested for blocking cell service on trains

[Luger]

http://nypost.com/2016/03/13/chicago-vigilante-arrested-for-disrupting-cell-service-on-trains/

This picture from reddit cracked the case

He’s a silent avenger.

Dennis Nicholl, a financial analyst at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, was arrested this past week for fulfilling the dreams of many commuters worldwide: silencing cellphone conversations.

The epic saga began in late 2015, when Chicago residents noticed their calls being dropped or lacking service altogether while traveling on area trains. Chicago IT worker Brain Raida outed Nicholl as the cause after sharing a photo on Reddit of the man with the jammer in one hand and a can of beer in the other. The illegal device is capable of shutting down cellphone and radio signals throughout the vicinity.

“I think he liked the feeling of being in control of the car,” Aaron Robison, who witnessed Nicholl in action, told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s kind of a digital, ‘Stay off my lawn, you young people with your cellphones.’ ”

The Chicago Police Department, Chicago Transit Authority and the Federal Communications Commission conducted an undercover sting operation on March 8 to catch Nicholl in the act. He was charged with a felony, as jammers can shut off police radios and block emergency calls. He faces jail time and a fine of up to $100,000.

“He’s disturbed by people talking around him,” Nicholl’s attorney, Charles Lauer, told the Tribute. “He might have been selfish in thinking about himself, but he didn’t have any malicious intent.”

Like a very mild version of Ted Kaczynski.
Social media seems to be vocal about taking it easy on him.
But I can see the danger of it being able to shut off police radios and such.

 

[Michaelangelo]

Lol he should have just got noise cancelling headphones.

 

[FinalFight]

This old fart needs to find a hobby.

 

[trolololol]

Has this man never heard of an iPod and headphones?

Boo this man.

 

[uppercutbus]

Guy was asking to be caught holding it out like that roff.

Probably a cry for help.

Gives people ideas though about blocking comms. Is it true some medical centers use this technology to block calls? Schools use it too?

 

[Ruprecht]

Not exactly being surreptitious about it.
Looks like malicious intent to me, not sure how his lawyer defines it.

 

[Luger]

Is it true some medical centers use this technology to block calls? Schools use it too?

Some movie theaters do it.

 

[Capt Lunatic]

 

[DevilsLettuce]

He should be put in front of a firing squad.

 

[ISWThunder]

So old people hate that young people replace socialization with social media and are becoming isolated from the world, but they are also mad when young people talk to others on the phone?

 

[Ruprecht]

So old people hate that young people replace socialization with social media and are becoming isolated from the world, but they are also mad when young people talk to others on the phone?

I guess I'm old, because people having loud telephone conversations in public shit me to tears.

 

[Dayman1984]

Sounds like a curmudgeon. Sad that he felt the need to sit with this contraption on his lap like a weirdo. Loud cell phone conversations bother me too, but I've found that the people who are excessively loud are the exception, not the norm.

 

[AnGrYcRoW]

This old fart needs to find a hobby.

He had one , needs to find a new one lol

 

[KnightTemplar]

 

[Fawlty]

That moment when the cops inform you that your clever idea is actually a felony. Shitty day for an asshole.

 

[Deleted member 429137]

Guy was asking to be caught holding it out like that roff.

Probably a cry for help.

Gives people ideas though about blocking comms. Is it true some medical centers use this technology to block calls? Schools use it too?

I know some restaurants and theatres use it. of dubious legality.

 

[Deleted member 429137]

There's a radio host in this city who always pretends to get cell service deep in the subway. He'll be talking away into his phone in a fake conversation while everyone else is bored as fuck. People are always coming up to him to ask who his provider is because his reception is great.

It would be amazing for him and this guy to sit in the same car together.

 

[jefferz]

And he built it because of people like this

 

[7437]

how exactky could this be considered heroic?

 

[fbgn]

this guy's tight. i hope this catches on and ppl start irl trolling

and lol @ the rustled phone-addicts itt

View attachment 84129

dude, all the pics you post always turn up tiny as fuck. just sayin