23-year-old Jonathan Michael Campbell of Uniontown got caught posing as military veteran...and trying to use his "status" to get into a middle school. Because apparently, being disrespectful wasn't good enough for him and he had to go and make it creepy, too.
Seriously, posing as a veteran for any reason--be it attention or in an attempt to get discounts or whatever other misguided reason these fools have for doing it--is downright disrespectful and wrong no matter what, to put it quite mildly, but my biggest concern here is what his plans were and why he wanted in there. I really feel that if not for smart, vigilant school employees and the cops, we would've been hearing about a kid getting abducted instead. Fortunately, it didn't come to that.
He went to Laurel Highlands, unannounced and unscheduled--which, duh, is a red flag to anyone. Geibel grads, remember how they always told us never to open the door for anyone, even if we knew them? This is why.
He claimed to be an Army veteran who wanted to talk to the kids about Veterans Day--again, unannounced and unscheduled. When I was in school, you know what they did when they wanted someone to talk about the military or veterans? They asked a military parent. Or teachers just talked about my dad like 1,000 times at assemblies until no one cared anymore.
“His appearance, behavior, and showing up unscheduled shed doubt on his claim to be who and what he claimed to be,” Wallace said.
Man, what factor in an impostor's appearance could possibly tip off civilians that he wasn't who he said he was?
Props to Guardians of Valor for drawing attention to this story and posting this information on Campbell.
While I'm glad they were able to charge him with two crimes, I do feel something stronger needs to be put in place for those impersonating the military--Obama signed the Stolen Valor Act into law last year, which makes it a crime to lie about having received military medals or decorations, but we need to punish those who pretend to be in the military at all. As Guardians of Valor put it, people tend to inherently trust those in uniform, especially the military, which also comes with an added degree of respect. If you're going to abuse the public's trust, you deserve to be held accountable.
And as always, if something seems off, trust your instincts, research what you can, and notify the proper authorities.
Campbell claimed to be from the Army but was wearing an Air Force uniform, police said.Yeah, that'll do it. So, in addition to being disrespectful and creepy, he's also an idiot. He was then escorted off the property and the authorities were alerted, leading to him being charged with impersonating a public servant and disorderly conduct. Oh, and he was on his way to another school when they caught him. Creepy. He said he "wanted to feel important," and while I'm sure this is a factor--especially considering he's also pretended to work at hospitals--his criminal background, which includes domestic violence and the sexual assault of a 10-year-old when he was a pre-teen himself, concerns me.
Props to Guardians of Valor for drawing attention to this story and posting this information on Campbell.
While I'm glad they were able to charge him with two crimes, I do feel something stronger needs to be put in place for those impersonating the military--Obama signed the Stolen Valor Act into law last year, which makes it a crime to lie about having received military medals or decorations, but we need to punish those who pretend to be in the military at all. As Guardians of Valor put it, people tend to inherently trust those in uniform, especially the military, which also comes with an added degree of respect. If you're going to abuse the public's trust, you deserve to be held accountable.
And as always, if something seems off, trust your instincts, research what you can, and notify the proper authorities.
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