How can they just “limit the fines”? Aren’t they set by a court?

Yes, so that they can drop them on themselves when USA attacks

What more you should ask is precisely that it’s not owned privately. Otherwise, soon the next Elmo comes along and buys this one too.

Why don’t you call the police? Serious question, not sure how it works in the US, but there should be some institution where you can report someone on suspicion of committing a crime. They would then need to investigate.

I recommend void. It’s rock solid, “stable rolling release”, no systemd, amazing package manager. The installation is a bit more “advanced”, but I guess coming from Arch that should not be a problem for you.