Great.

Let the Salem Witch Hunt begin.

'Fraid you're probably right, Lani.

Yoiu kidding? The Salem Witch Hunt was dignified compared to this. This is character assassination by rumor.

*points at Vicky*

SHE'S A WITCH!!! ^^

YOU BETCHER ASS!

But seriously...it doesn't make any sense.

Why would two people suddenly do that, and in broad daylight in front of people, on something as presentable as the hood of a car?

If you want my honest opinion, these two "furries" weren't furries at all, maybe people trying to cause trouble. Maybe they weren't even invited!

Anyone looked at the anti-furry people lately? Aren't there a few anti-furry organizations out there?

If we can find out the names of these individuals, and we can trace them back to one of these coalitions...it could spark a serious war.

Depends on how drunk/stoned they were. Plus a fur suit does give one a feeling of anonymity. They might have thought that since their identities weren't obvious, they would never be caught. So what the hell?

And people do dumb stuff all the time. They don't need a reason or an alterior motive. They just need to disengage their brains for a moment. That's all.

Well, sadly the NJ courts see it differently. You cannot hide yourself behind a furry mask, they WILL find out who they are.

Razorwulff did hint that alcohol might have been involved; before they cancelled the whole thing, they were going to just ban alcohol. (That was before the used food encountered the ventilator, of course.)

No one can blame anyone yet because no proof has been released.

It's true, the town council hasn't released the photos yet, (probably because they're evidence for the trial of those two goofs), so nobody knows who they really are yet.

He lives but a few blocks from me, is a good friend. I really don't know why someone would even say this about him.

Well, stripekazama says it's trolling. If so, then it's for the lawlz; they're trying to spread mutual hate and distrust so they can watch us tear each other apart because they'll think it's funny.

Do you know what he was doing May 26th?

I have very far and few contact with him due to his and my work times.

Oh, so THAT'S where I left my Jump-to-Conclusions Mat. I swear, it's such a popular item right after a controversy! I really wish people would stop using it...

All joking aside, people should put down the torches and pitchforks at the moment, anyway. Wait until actual news comes out, not rumors, and in the meantime see if they could at least write a letter in support of the chief. He needs that far more than rumor-mongering and trolling.

Office Space?

God, I love your knowledgeable self!

Thanks for helping out and reposting this :).

One little thing though, i'm his boyfriend :P. Not his girlfriend. *giggles*

SORRY! I'll fix that ASAP.

A couple of people have pointed out that the lack of certain details (e.g. the names of the furries involved, the photos of the alleged incident) suggests the possibility that the incident may not have happened anything like what it's made out to be. Maybe it did, but until we get this information more reliably verified I'm taking it with a grain of salt.

To elaborate, it's entirely possible the councilman in question may have had an axe to grind with furries from the get go even before the incident, or was opposed to the cause they're trying to raise money for, or both, and may have sought any sort of negative publicity for the event or its cause. Like many politicians know well, people often remember the charges that come out initially and the impression they leave, and forget or never find out if the details that come out later don't bear out the initial headlines. As such, while it's quite possible the incident was real, involved two furs from the event, and occurred more or less as described, but it's also possible they were doing something much more innocent that got wildly misconstrued by someone predisposed to seeing furries as sexual deviants. It's also possible the perps weren't even attendees at the event and were simply assumed to be by virtue of proximity. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they were furry haters/trolls who staged the incident to give furries a bad reputation (it wouldn't be the first).

Just some things to keep in mind as we wait for more details to emerge.

Well, I have to confess that what you suggest is a measurable possibility. Razorwulff, who posted the notice, is one of the NJ-FurBQ organizers, so I take his word as good. He mentioned in one post, however that neither he nor the rest of the organizers, (all of whom work for the Rescue Centre which was the site of the event and the recipient of funds raised thereat), had seen the photos themselves; they are in the hands of the police and mayor's office. They were seen publicly only once, on that Community TV "Town Hall" forum, (which I assume the organizers were unable to watch; perhaps they only heard about it afterwards.)

As to the scandal having been staged by trolls, that, too is a measurable possibility, but I think it unlikely. First, there really are idiots in Furry who are stupid, ignorant and/or socially clumsy enough, (especially if alcohol is involved), to do such things without trolls doing it for us. Second, trolls tend to do their work online where the police can't easily catch them; acting in the open as agents provocateur would be unlike their style. It's far more like the trolling community to take advantage of the situation to stir up still more suspicion and hostility among us; for instance by spreading false accusations, as above.

I think you're right to mention that there is room for doubt, however. If it only cools peoples' tempers, it will have served a good purpose.