What we have here is your classic case of a Star Wars fan taking their love of the franchise to excessive lengths. A student in Wisconsin wore a Darth Vader costume to class in celebration of May the 4th, known as Star Wars Day, (if you don’t get it, say today’s date out loud again) which caused the evacuation of his school after a parent mistakenly identified the costume as body armor. So, the answer is “no.” No, we can not have nice things anymore.
Ashwaubenon High School was put on lockdown as authorities searched swept the campus in search of any potential danger. In the end, all they found was a kid in Vader-attire that may-or-may-not have included a bulletproof vest. Ashwaubenon Public Safety quickly alerted everyone that the entire incident was the result of a single student breaking the school’s no costume policy.
A student came to school wearing a Star Wars character mask for "May the Fourth Be With You Day"
— Ashwaubenon Public Safety (@AshPublicSafety) May 4, 2017
Their was no actual threat at the high school a student came to school wearing a Star Wars costume with a mask.
— Ashwaubenon Public Safety (@AshPublicSafety) May 4, 2017
An unidentified police officer on the scene addressed the media after the lockdown was lifted:
“The student was wearing a Darth Vader outfit with a plastic mask and was carrying a bag with him, and that outfit looked like he might be wearing a bulletproof vest or a flak jacket. That, with wearing that mask and walking into the back door of the school, made a person very concerned. And we expect that to happen. We sure hope that people would call when this stuff takes place. We believe it was an innocent mistake right now.”
You can watch the video, including the officer’s statements, below.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter and ABC2WBAY)