Meet the "Silent Man" who mysteriously blocks traffic without uttering a word

[frauenfelder]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/15/meet-the-silent-man-who-mysteriously-blocks-traffic-without-uttering-a-word.html

…

[Kilkrazy]

I was going to say you can now get serious jail time in the UK for standing in the road, but then I read that this guy already has.

I wasn’t under the impression that it was worth going to prison for the free meals. However we have millions of people relying on food banks. Maybe it’s a viable strategy now.

[cannibalpeas]

@frauenfelder

Hampson’s bizarre ritual involves standing silently in the middle of De La Beche Street, just yards from the Swansea Central police station, disrupting traffic and confounding authorities.

Wow. I can’t even drive on the highway without some psycho crawling up my rear bumper going 20+ mph over my speed. This guy would have been an obituary within minutes in the USA. And half the reader comments would be that he deserved it for daring to challenge the sanctity of American car supremacy.

[Shuck]

@frauenfelder

Hampson’ s brother considers him a “spoiled brat” who goes to prison on purpose for the free meals.

That… does not feel like a convincing explanation for someone who stands in the middle of traffic and then doesn’t speak for extended periods of time afterwards…

[Mercenary_Garage]

@frauenfelder

Hampson’ s brother

[BadgerFrank]

I think this is brilliant, it seems impossible to tell whether this is passive resistance or the guys just an arsehole. Either way he doesn’t seem bound by convention.

[fuzzyfungus]

@frauenfelder

The British court has labeled Hampson “Mute by Malice,” (great band name) suggesting his silence is deliberate rather than a result of an inability to speak.

He’s lucky that common-law jurisdictions have considerably chilled out about that particular case(or, more specifically, taken a more expansive view of their own authority, so obtaining a plea one way or the other is no longer procedurally critical). “Peine forte et dure” sounds like it was a real downer.

[fuzzyfungus]

The brother’s interpretation seems…particularly uncharitably worded; but the existence of some number of people who are poorly adjusted to the outside and get on better with the hostile-but-structured environment of prison seems likely enough.

What seems odd is the chosen method: maybe he’s upholding some sort of personal code where increased risk of motor vehicle injuries and fatalities and much disruption is less bad than theft or the like; but “stand silently in the street, repeatedly, until the situation eventually becomes problematic enough that the authorities find a reason to take you into custody” seems like a really weird way of getting sent to prison when there are relatively weaksauce property crimes against unsympathetic insured targets you could do instead.