Rick

I stopped playing when they threatened permabans for "misgendering characters." So I call a robot "him" and not "them" and can get banned? Yea, you know where you can insert that.

This is an area I have a LOT of expertise in. I have hosted over 100 cosplay meetups and shot over 120,000 cosplay photos as a convention photographer. #1 - the cops KNEW he was AT a convention with cosplay events. I guarantee this venue has had them in the past. Local police are aware of these events and the schedule. #2 - the "weapon" had the orange tip. I have dealt with cosplayers who insist on removing them or putting gaffing tape over them. That's simply dangerous. #3 - back to police. Cops could have dealt with this a LOT better. Rosemont, IL is home to probably 50 conventions a year that have a lot of cosplay. They have a heavy police presence at all the cons, but don't bother anyone. But this year they changed the law - realistic looking weapons, even with the orange tips, are now banned. Why? People were bringing REAL weapons, accurate replicas that fired airsoft rounds and modified paintball weapons that looked like SciFi props.

Many of these cosplayers spend hundreds of hours creating their costumes. Some spend thousands of dollars. Probably 30% of Anime and Manga has rifles or guns. So about 30% of the cosplay reflects this.

I was soooo careful when I had my photo gatherings. We were always in groups - so there was no lone guy with a sniper rifle wandering around. I made sure our cameras were visible and we even carried a portable lighting stand that we never used because it screamed "photo shoot, don't panic." But one of our cosplayers was almost arrested going home. He was dressed up like Negan from the walking dead. Baseball bat wrapped in plastic barbed wire, covered in fake blood. The bus driver called it in, saying he has some guy on the bus that looked like he just assaulted a bunch of people. Cops stopped the bus, took him off. One of them was a Walking Dead fan and instantly recognized him.

After that day I insisted that all props be in bags that fully covered them - I thought that would be common sense.

Yea, no. Sounds good and he needs a PR boost since all his bad press. "Look at me. Oh woe is me. I'm so poor...." $1 billion net worth - he could cash out and sell it all for $2 billion. I'd love to be that broke.