Star Wars Vs. Star Trek Argument Ends in Arrest

Which legendary sci-fi franchise is best: Star Wars or Star Trek? Well, two Oklahoma men took the age-old argument to its extreme. The pair’s debate – Star Wars Vs. Star Trek – quickly devolved into violence, ending in arrest. That’s fan dedication for you.

Star Wars Vs. Star Trek

On 1^st of July, two acquaintances – Bradley Burke and Jerome Whyte, inhabitants of the same emergency housing building – debated the merits of the two franchises. Their Star Wars Vs. Star Trek discussion soon turned ugly, and Whyte attacked Burke by attempting to choke him. Burke defended himself by grabbing a nearby pocket knife and warning his assailant off. Whyte cut himself trying to grab the knife before retreating. Police later arrested Whyte, charging him with assault and possession of marijuana.

The Assault

Though we make light of the petty basis of this altercation, the police report makes clear that it resulted in a serious assault. The chronology of the event, via the police report (edited for clarity):

• While in the living area, the assailant and victim argued about which is better: Star Wars or Star Trek.
• During the argument, the victim became so frustrated. He returned to his room and told the assailant: You’re just a trick”. The assailant took exception to the comment and followed the victim into his room (the assailant and victim have separate rooms and each pay rent).
• The assailant followed the victim into his room. He shoved the victim to the ground, wrapped his left arm around the victim’s neck, and choked him.
• Both the assailant and the victim fell to the ground, where the assailant applied pressure to choke out the victim. The victim partially lost consciousness and vision.
• The victim, fearing for his life, reached for his pocket knife on his nightstand. He opened the knife and warned the assailant to retreat.
• The assailant reached for the Victim’s knife and cut his hand. The assailant then left the victim’s room.

The arresting officer determined “that the AR was the aggressor in this altercation”.

“You’re Just a Trick”?

There’s a bit more background to the strange “trick” insult mentioned in the police report. Ars Technica’s Cyrus Farivar writes:

“Before the altercation broke out, the two men had been playing a Batman game on Xbox. Burk had asked Whyte how he did a particular trick on the game.

As they played, they were ribbing each other, dishing out insults like “joker,” and other names.

Eventually, some other friends of Whyte’s came over. The entire group got to talking about the two science fiction series. Burk, who preferred Star Wars, was arguing his side.

“He was saying Spock was the s*** and I was saying Yoda was the s***,” he told Ars.

Burk then reprised the “joker” moniker, to which Whyte took offense, and felt that he had been disrespected in front of his friends. At that point, they broke out fighting.

“After that everything went to hell,” he added.”