“You can’t do that”: Man was operating his RC boat at a boat launch in Madisonville, then an officer seemingly threatened him over his “little toy”

An interaction between a police officer and a man over a radio-controlled (RC) boat launch has come to light. According to the Daily Dot, the man was about to launch his RC boat when a police officer allegedly intervened. The person apparently recorded their conversation and posted it online.

Brennan Frederick, the boat’s owner, published a video of a seemingly odd interaction with an officer in Madisonville on YouTube and TikTok. It was also reposted on Twitter/X by @HistorianUSA1. In the video, the police officer could be seen stopping his SUV and telling Frederick, “You can’t do that” because it was “a real” boat launch. Frederick asked him if he could go a distance to get the boat going, and the police officer seemed to agree. But then he apparently made a sarcastic remark about the RC boat, calling it a “little toy,” saying that something would run over it, and that might displease him. 

Apparently, the situation escalated as Frederick returned the sarcasm with a remark, saying, “Officer must be bored” for bothering him over a small RC boat, but still affirmed that he would change the location to avoid any issues. But the officer allegedly threatened Frederick, saying,  “I’ll tell you what, you’ve gotta have a permit to launch a boat,” before adding, “I’m going to write you a ticket for no boat launch permit.”

The conversation continued…

After a police officer allegedly threatened him with a ticket, the RC boat owner replied, asking whether he was issuing a ticket for a toy, and declared that the officer was apparently trying to make a big situation out of nothing. He then reportedly said to the officer, “Go mess with someone who’s doing dr*** or something.”

The interaction with the police gained considerable attention; over 45,000 views, viewers shared their opinions. One of the commenters said, “Ok, an RC toy at an actual boat launch could be a nuisance. But, politely asking a citizen to leave shouldn’t be all that difficult. Has the vetting process for LEOs become too arduous? Don’t keep giving “them” a reason to defund. Professionalism rules the day.”

While some seemingly sided with the officer, one claimed, “Don’t argue with law enforcement. You sound childish in these videos. This is what you say. “It’s a toy. So to be clear. You’re not kidding? You will write me a ticket for launching a toy boat?” If he says yes, respond, ‘okay then write it.’” It appears that the incident has left the audience divided. The man’s claims are not independently verified.