National Review writer Kevin Williamson has an interesting post up at The Corner right now. The post describes his trip to the theater Wednesday night, which was disrupted by a woman next to him who kept using her phone throughout the performance. He asked her several times to stop, and she refused, telling Williamson to mind his own business. So Williamson did what any petulant child or criminal would do: he grabbed the phone from her hands and threw it across the room.

Or, as Williamson put it, “he minded [his] own business by utilizing [his] famously feline agility to deftly snatch the phone out of her hand and toss it across the room” which caused the woman (whom Williamson describes as “of a certain age”) to slap him before storming “away to seek managerial succor.” A security guard then kicked Williamson out of the theater.

Williamson ends his post with this: “There is talk of criminal charges. I will keep you updated.”

Based on Williamson’s own description of his actions, he may have committed criminal mischief in the third degree, which is a class E felony:

A person is guilty of criminal mischief in the third degree when, with intent to damage property of another person, and having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he or she has such right, he or she:

2. damages property of another person in an amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars.

He may also be guilty of menacing in the third degree:

A person is guilty of menacing in the third degree when, by physical menace, he or she intentionally places or attempts to place another person in fear of death, imminent serious physical injury or physical injury.

Of course none of that is of any concern to Williamson. When asked by a commenter why he didn’t just report the woman to the theater’s manager, he responded, “I believe in direct action.”

[National Review]

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