A male prankster has been arrested in connection with a social media post involving the spraying of pesticides on produce and other foods at a Mesa Walmart store.

According to police, Charles Smith, 27, entered the Walmart at 1955 S. Stapley Dr. on Dec. 19 intending to film pranks for social media platforms.

Instead, police said Smith grabbed a can of Hot Shot Ultra Bed Bug and Flea Killer from a shelf without paying for it and then sprayed the pesticide on various vegetables, fruit and rotisserie chickens that were available for purchase.

Smith recorded his face, the pesticide can and the act of him spraying its contents. He later posted the recording online.

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.worldEnglish
    98·
    13 hours ago

    I mean, I get your point…but not every story has to be compared to other stories. In this case Luigi. I also see other people bring up politics during stories that have nothing to do with politics.

    And I wonder why people do that. Why talk about an unrelated topic when there’s already an interesting topic?

    I guess it’s not as bad as reddit, where they would instead just post a random unrelated quote from the office, but still…

    • Ookami38@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      11·
      8 hours ago

      It’s quite simply what’s on people’s minds right now. It was a major event, it outlines some of the systemic inequalities, and people are interested in the subject.

      • MajorHavoc@programming.devEnglish
        3·
        7 hours ago

        Yeah.

        It’s also just fun to talk about because it probably makes US healthcare CEOs nervous.

        After all they’ve done to the rest of us, it’s nice to think of them feeling nervous. If they’re not going to feel our grief, or appropriate remorse, or empathy, at least they can feel nervous.

        • thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          3·
          3 hours ago

          There’s a good book about capitalism and what happens when the CEO class gets nervous about the underclass getting tired of their shit. It’s called The Iron Heel by Jack London. It’s what inspired 1984 and is the start of the dystopian future sci-fi writing.

          The basic premise is it never ends like the French Revolution when the workers revolt because the regular person has too much invested in the status quo.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      13 hours ago

      It’s a current event being compared to another current event. One about a murder, and the other potentially attempted homicide, depending on the pesticide used. Seems to be pretty related to me, regardless of any politics.

      Just because they call it a “prank”, and the media uses the same shitty term, that doesn’t make spraying pesticides on food for unsuspecting citizens to grab any less dangerous.

      • AA5B@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 hours ago

        One has a potential villain above the law and a moral purpose in removing him, or is at least a sympathetic figure striking out at one of the many causes of our misery, and who we can applaud. There is a root cause in desperate need of fixing but corporate voices in search of profit who are somehow more important than people’s lives

        The other is threatening people’s lives and health by contaminating food, and dismissing as a “prank” for clicks. He needs plenty of time in jail and to forfeit whatever cash those clicks might bring. There is no morality play, no political difference, only exploiting the worst of humanity for cash

    • AmidFuror@fedia.io
      2·
      12 hours ago

      Corporate needs you to find the difference between this story and this story.

      (They’re the same story)

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      13 hours ago

      It reminds me of the dupes on Facebook that comment “must have been a Kamala voter” on every video of someone doing something stupid.