Conservative neighbor reported me as an "Antifa bomb maker"

[ripcord]

A couple of sheriff's deputies showed up to my place to investigate a report that an antifa bomber is working out of my house. I build my own rocket motors, I have all the requirements, a California pryrotechnician level 2 certification and a low explosive use permit from the federal government, since it would be illegal to test motors at my place I test at a place it is legal. Seems my neighbor saw some hazmat packages marked explosive and added that to me being liberal and he got antifa bomber. The cops looked at my permits and said they couldn't tell me who made the complaint but they doubt whoever it is will take their word that I am safe and to report any harassment, then they spent 20 minutes asking me about rockets and motors.

[Hekate]

1. Just for good measure I hope you and the deputies waved goodby in the front yard in a loud ...

…and friendly manner, so the whole neighborhood could see.

That is some scary shit, though.

[ripcord]

2. I live in a rural desert area

There is only one neighbor who could have seen the hazmat seals on the packages. Believe it or not I have been doing fire clearance for him with my tractor when I do mine just to me a good neighbor, maybe I should have phrased that in the past tense.

[MLAA]

6. Oh yes, you don't want to make the idiot uncomfortable having a card carrying antifa

explosives expert in his yard. File under cut off nose to spite one’s face!

[LeftInTX]

24. Antifa of the desert!

[Grins]

73. Remember right after 9/11....

…when the Reich-wingers were screaming about ‘sekret’ Mooselim terrorist training camps?

Antifa = the new Mooselims!

[reACTIONary]

80. +100 nt

[reACTIONary]

81. Would be funny if...

... IRL ripcord's name is Laurence.

[BGBD]

41. I'd keep doing it

Keep doing it...but mention in passing that you have to hurry because you have a call with some comrades up north you have to be on later

[RobinA]

66. How About

a delivery person? I just hate to see you get on bad terms with the neighbor is it wasn't him.

[cadoman]

3. shame they didn't bother to get to know you instead

They'd know a cool neighbor with a fun hobby and instead they decided to make an enemy.

[ripcord]

4. We used to be friendly but I laughed at Trump

[dchill]

12. Guess you should have cried.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

70. Of course you laughed at

The stupid, ignorant, corrupt, immoral, incompetent, narcissistic, pathological liar. Any true American would. Heck, any real conservative would.

[stillcool]

5. we had someone call the cops on us...

because of a telescope. A big old reflector, that I guess they thought was some kind of rocket launcher. Kind of funny, more than scary...probably because of where we live...in the middle of nowhere.

[rpannier]

16. Jewish Space Laser

[Evolve Dammit]

42. Good one!

[AllaN01Bear]

59. a friend of mine whom moved to oregon w fam, used to be called the

telescope guy here . hed have star parties on certain lookout points in my area . i used to listen to a police scanner . reports would come in like " man sighted with a rifle on 108." lance the telescope man at it again. im sure in todays climate hed probably be "swatted " and or worse with the stoopidity going round .

[stillcool]

63. yea...we were in our yard

which we are all the time, but we move around depending on what we're looking at. Someone just caught a peek, saw something and said something. I am amazed at how many people call the police for nothing.

[OAITW r.2.0]

7. Doing science stuff with highly reactive elements, heh?

Sounds like an antifa plot....if you were a moron.

[blm]

8. 😬

[RockRaven]

9. Being called an "antifa bomb maker" is a fucking compliment in my book...

If some shitbirds want to be on the other side of that, that's up to them. They've shown who they are, and we shall believe them.

[AllaN01Bear]

60. ive been called communist pinko pig by my hs rop instructor.

and wear that badge still. what a compliment.

[NoSheep]

69. ooooh!

[maxsolomon]

10. Planning on confronting him?

Asshole should be coming over to apologize.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

30. I would fire off a V1

But I’m passive aggressive.

[Dial H For Hero]

55. Hm...the V1's accuracy was, at best, somewhere at random in a circle 7 miles wide.

Not, perhaps, the best choice for launching at an annoying neighbor.

[AllaN01Bear]

61. sometimes they detonated right on the pad in the begining.

[ProfessorGAC]

76. Nearly 25% Blew Up...

...on the way to London due to engine malfunctions.
It was a nasty strategic weapon, but a "wonder weapon" it wasn't.
Well, maybe it was a wonder weapon. As in, "I wonder what happened to that 4th rocket."

[Dial H For Hero]

77. Not to mention that the British Meteor jet fighter (one of the very first) was able to catch it and

tip it over by gently knocking it over with a wing.

The V-2 was, of course another matter.

Still and all, while the V weapons killed thousands of civilians, the resources put into them could have been used instead to produce many conventional weapons.

[ProfessorGAC]

78. Especially The V2

That program was EXPENSIVE! Even using slave labor, it was cripplingly costly.
But, when they would let their own people starve before they quit fighting the war, cost was no object.

[Dial H For Hero]

86. Yup, much more so than the V1. Hitler was obsessed with his wonder weapons, though.

The most absurd one to reach prototype status may have been the Panzer Mk VIII (Maus) tank.



188 tons! By way of comparison, the heaviest tank actually fielded in WW2 was, if I'm not mistaken, the Panzer VIB (King Tiger) at 70 tons.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

64. Meh. All those other neighbors are probably annoying too.

[Wicked Blue]

71. Launch the neighbor

Save a step in the process

[Dial H For Hero]

75. Actually, there was a manned version of the V-1 rocket.

It was successfully* flown by Hanna Reitsch on a few occasions before being cancelled.


*"Success" being defined, in this case, as surviving the experience.

[orleans]

11. please invest in some security cameras (if you haven't already)

those people are fucking nuts

[Sentath]

22. Local storage, not the recent online junk

if you want remote viewability and offsite storage I can appreciate that, but having cams that die with the internet is no bueno.

[cinematicdiversions]

48. All I have seen do both. NT

[NBachers]

13. Tell him to Blast Off!

[rdking647]

14. i did that a long time ago

never made my own motors but had my leup and tripoli level 2 cert.
stopped after 9-11 and the whole tripoli lawsuit against batf

[SeattleVet]

35. Tripoli and NAR won the suit against BATFE.

The judge was Reggie Walton, who has been making some GREAT decisions against some of the more egregious tRumpista crap.

(My wife and I only had a Level-1 cert, but still had a great time. Went to NARAM in 2000, held on some property owned by Vern Estes, and got to meet Jay Apt, the astronaut that carried an Estes Scout on board the Space Shuttle.)

[hibbing]

15. Side note - Sounds like an awesome hobby

Used to do the Estes rockets back in the day quite a bit.

Peace

[Arazi]

17. Ugh. The very definition of an ugly neighbor

[Renew Deal]

19. Especially when this blows up in their face.

[Renew Deal]

18. I was wondering who got that job.

[AZLD4Candidate]

20. So much for facing your accusers.

[chwaliszewski]

21. Not any more.

Obama was right when he said they cling to their guns and bible.

[AZLD4Candidate]

27. The police said the OP had no right to know who accused them.

So much for that part of the Constitution.

[Sympthsical]

31. That only has to do with due process in things like trials

Otherwise there would be no such things as anonymous tips.

Neighbors anonymously report things to police all the time.

[AZLD4Candidate]

32. Teachers get that all the time with students, and it's still not right

That idea is what brought Karen around who call the police on black people who breathe in public.

[Sympthsical]

33. Depends how it's used

Sometimes you want to report something without fear of retaliation.

Sometimes people use it vindictively.

We can't asshole-proof the entire country.

[AZLD4Candidate]

37. "If you can't crush the (enter name here), you can nail a neighbor: - Modern day thinking

Straight from the 1950s.

Roy Cohn and Joe McCarthy would be proud.

[Mariana]

28. I think that only applies if you're charged with a crime and prosecuted.

They don't have to tell you much of anything during an investigation - in fact, they can and will lie to you outright.

[snort]

23. Paint a barrel red and stick a piece of rope in it.

Place the giant firecracker where its sure to be seen. Be the terrorist.

[JHB]

39. I'm thinking one of those big black ball thingies...

[BidenRocks]

25. What are the degrees needed

for a horizontal launch?

Oops! My bad!

Fore!

[Gore1FL]

26. May I suggest

You name your next rocket Antifa?

[Rocknation]

82. Why not? Antifa isn't a four-letter word

and THEY made rocket motors, too!


rocktivity

[mrsadm]

29. People have a lot of fear.

[grantcart]

34. Isn't this the second time?

[MissMillie]

52. Yeah, I thought I heard this story a while back

But if it has happened again, why haven't the police explained things to this guy?

Then again, considering you've been so helpful to him, he shouldn't need to have anything explained to him.

[ripcord]

85. I moved recently to a more remote area

It isn't easy living in the red part California.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

36. Perhaps place a sign in your front yard that says.....

"Proud Anti-Fascists Live Here".

or....

"Anti-fascist Glitter Bombs for Sale".


KY........

[Dial H For Hero]

38. Do you make any as powerful as class "O"?

And good luck with the asshole neighbor.

[VWolf]

49. O motors are freaking expensive

I'm Level-2 certified, and I've been saving up (for far too long) to purchase an M for my Level 3.

I think an O goes for about $2k these days

[Dial H For Hero]

54. I knew it got expensive at the level, but....yikes!

Still, rockets powered by "just" an L class engine are pretty impressive to me, never having launched anything bigger than an E!

[VWolf]

57. I did an L only once so far

It was an Aerotech L1300R on my 1/2 scale Black Brandt, which is about 12.5 ft tall.

Nice flight to about 4100 ft.

[Dial H For Hero]

74. Beats the heck out of the Estes rockets I was launching 40 years ago!

[tavernier]

40. What are rocket motors?

Sorry about the question but I am a girl, raised in big city. Are we talking rockets into space or fireworks type of rockets? I’m just interested because I’ve never heard the term.

[cstanleytech]

44. Rockets have motors to provide the energy needed to lift off in a controlled manner.

As for what it might be is probably for detailed controlled model rockets that people do build and then launch though not into space but rather a few hundred to a few thousand feet into the air.

[VWolf]

50. It's basically just a mass of propellant, plus a nozzle and a few other elements.

It provides the thrust to propel the rocket skywards.

Most high-power rocketeers send their rockets to altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 30,000 feet, and all rockets are designed to return softly, usually under parachute.

More colloquially, a motor is the part of the rocket that costs the most and burns up the fastest

[LeftInTX]

84. I thought they were more like fireworks rockets, but then I saw the second video

My sons did rocketry in boy scouts. Their rockets went up about 50 feet are so..LOL
But it looks like home rockets have gotten more sophisticated

[cstanleytech]

43. If it happens again I would get try and get lawyer to find out who is doing it and probably

see about filing some sort of lawsuit as well as a restraining order.

[Hugin]

45. Yeah... What ever happened to the 6th Amendment?

" ... they couldn't tell me who made the complaint."

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

[ruet]

46. That Would Depend on How "Prosecutions" is interpreted.

A "complaint" is not a "prosecution".

[Hugin]

47. If the deputies show up on the porch with the expectation of guilt.

It's prosecution.

[VWolf]

51. I think we're a rarity in the hobby

Most rocketeers I know are RWNJ's, unfortunately

[Submariner]

53. He could have got SWAT to raid and kill you

A close call. Be safe around the 74 million racist scum we're up against.

[h2ebits]

56. If it was truly your neighbor, imagine how scared he must be. . . .

I'm sure that you are angry just as I am sure that many of the people posting comments here are upset and/or entertained by your issue.

Here's my thought: He, or someone else who handled your hazmat packages, reported you. "If you see something, say something." has become a commonplace comment.

If it was your neighbor, physically confronting him will only terrify him that much more.

I suggest that you write him a note explaining that someone reported you as a possible bomb maker and the police came out and checked. That if it was him (since the police wouldn't tell you who had filed the report), you want to assure him that you use the materials for your hobby. Explain a little about your hobby in your letter.

Invite him over to see what you do. Invite him to go with you the next time you go to test the motors.

He's your neighbor and I imagine that neither of you is interested in moving. Please don't let the shitty politics of the day ruin your life. Making peace is much better than making war.

[Baitball Blogger]

58. Have a lawyer do a FOIA for you. That information shouldn't be confidential, unless

they can quote a law.

[jaxexpat]

62. So the cops grilled you for 20 minutes.

Did you break? Did you tell them the secret of which way was up? Many have tried but I've yet to reveal which end of the nail to use the hammer on. Though they threaten with "nail guns", I'm not telling. I just can't escape the mid-week tendency toward attempted .

[Backseat Driver]

65. Good grief, when Gramps became ill

we necessarily moved him out of his home. Cleaning out the detached garage, what did we find, post-OKC no less? In the day, he was a floor supe at a stamping plant and, from time to time, brought home materials from work, scrap steel for wallpapering straight edges, shop rags, solvents, etc... Later, as his illness progressed, he'd buy lots of extras of stuff he used to maintain that perfectly manicured front lawn (his passion) just because it was on sale. So...there it sat - the naptha used to clean stamping materials and pieces/parts in the glass mason jar right next to piled old hard-as-rock fertilizer bags. Ha, he just winked at us when we'd asked him if he had voted for Reagan...

Our neighbor, a security supervisor and trainer at the newly opened NRC facility near us, called us over one evening. He was excited to show us his newbies' new training "show and tell." Small little poof packages of gunpowder and wired detonators, that he was building for his class's enlightenment re dismantling same.

[NoSheep]

67. A box shipping an iPad has a explosive hazmat label. Keep an eye out for your neighbor's deliveries.

I think anything with a rechargeable battery has one.

[SWBTATTReg]

68. Nosy neighbor...what business is it of theirs to be spying on you, your mail, etc.? I'd watch my

mail/package deliveries a little more carefully, or at least have diverted to a safer delivery point, where you can go and pick up yourself. At least the police officers were respectful and didn't come barging in...things could have turned serious in a second...and by the way, how did this idiot supposedly know that it was an 'antifa' bomber? How in the world does one ID such a person? By their long hair, crazy clothes, etc.?

[2Gingersnaps]

72. He mentioned laughing at Trump.

I lived for thirty years in Gym Jordan's district. My neighbor across the road was an animal rescue, uh, fanatic may sound inflammatory, but she was extremist even by my extremely liberal standards. We were the only two houses for a quarter mile in either direction, but I was a fairly stand out liberal.............so according to my neighbor down the road, I was the one with the stray dog. Fortunately, the local Sherriff's department considered me a harmless true believer, I said "you've met my neighbor Sue right? LOLOLOL! People drop off here all the time because it's cheaper than taking them to the pound!" (four horses, four goats, 12 dogs, and 30 cats-and those were hers, not her rescues, and yes, she did take care of them) Would have been nice if he had knocked on the door and asked, but if he thought I was bad, never having met me, poor Sue would have really gave him the vapors! Neither of us live there anymore. But there you have it, they think we are dangerous, and we know they are.

[SunSeeker]

79. You were basically swatted. You had reasonable cops. But this could have been a deadly encounter.

https://www.kannlawoffice.com/swattinga-california-mans-prank-that-turned-deadly

In California, swatters bear the "full cost" of the response which can lead to fines up to $10,000.

[RussellCattle]

83. Amateur rocketry is a great hobby. Google "Richard Nakka" for a good website.