Want to Record The Cops? Know Your Rights

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Nadia Kayyali

There are some very disturbing videos circulating the Internet right now, depicting the deaths of unarmed civilians at the hands of trained, armed men. Many of these videos even show individuals being shot in the back, or as they try to flee.

These are videos of police officers in America killing unarmed black men like Oscar Grant and Eric Garner. And, as the most recent case shows, without these recordings, much of America might not have any idea exactly how much of a problem this is.

Citizen videos of law enforcement encounters are more valuable than ever. And for those who are wondering—it is legal to record the police.

Watch This Cop Try to Destroy Video Evidence of Police Brutality

Joshua Krause

Last year, students from the University of Massachusetts were celebrating their annual pre-St. Patrick’s Day holiday known as “Blarney Blowout.” As you might expect, when thousands of kids gather to get drunk before spring break and St. Patrick's Day, they can get pretty rowdy. What most people didn’t expect at the time, was that the police would respond with a cadre of riot cops to disperse the crowd.

A total of 73 people were arrested for disorderly conduct, violating liquor laws, and inciting a riot. However, there was one student among them who didn’t appear to be doing any of those things. His “crime” was merely filming the police arrest one of the revelers. For this, he was knocked down, pepper sprayed, and arrested, which led to his suspension from the university.

What’s most chilling, is the fact that one of police officers attempted to destroy the evidence of the encounter, by stomping on his cell phone. Fortunately, the cell phone was protected by a shock resistant case, and the video managed to survive.

School Cop Inflicts Brain Damage on One Kid, Punches One Who Cut in Line

Amanda Warren

It took investigation into security camera footage to prove that indeed, a Louisville, KY school officer was terrorizing and assaulting children. Unfortunately, it also took two different incidents before the situation was taken seriously. 

This is worrying on many levels. The school resource officer at Olmsted Academy North Middle School was 31-year-old Jonathan Hardin, of the LMPD. He was not removed from the position after the first assault - another soon followed.

In January he pushed and punched a 13-year-old in the face, knocking the kid to the floor, whom he believed had cut in line in the cafeteria. He charged the student for menacing and resisting arrest (!) and acted on it under lies. The middle-schooler then had to be treated at Kosair Hospital.

Cop on Tape: “You Must Be Doing Something Wrong if You Need to Invoke Your Rights”

Melissa Melton

It has been upheld time and time and time and TIME again that the First Amendment protects one’s right to film police officers in public. Period.

That is it. End of story.

It is also not illegal to film locations from public property, even those that have been designated as “secure.” A sign is not a law and does not negate the Constitution. It just isn’t and it just doesn’t, despite an apparent effort to make it seem that way.

Now listen to what this cop says to these guys who recently decided to film prisoners being transported in and out of the Duval County, Florida courthouse’s sally port without identifying themselves:

NY State Candidate for Governor Arrested For Filming Police

image source

Brandon Turbeville 

Despite the Supreme Court having ruled that videotaping police is legal and protected by the 1st Amendment, citizens all across the country continue to be arrested, charged, and abused by police for doing so. 

Generally speaking, those videotaping and subsequently subjected to police harassment or brutality are activists or otherwise concerned and “average” citizens. However, the police state grows bolder and bolder every day in its attempt to crush dissent and instill the concept that challenging the power of the state will not be allowed, regardless of social standing. 

Such is the case with the recent arrest of Randy Credico, a Democratic primary candidate in the New York State Governor’s race who is challenging corrupt New York Governor Cuomo. 

Credico was arrested on August 13, 2014 while on his way to a campaign interview. 

Bizarre Confrontation With Toledo Cop Caught on Video

Amanda Warren

An incident with one policeman in Toledo, Ohio escalated over the weekend and was caught on film in Washington Township, Lucas County. Already chaotic, the scene gets more heated as more angry words and swearing are interchanged; and finally, after a few minutes, other bystanders start appearing.

According to the description, the couple in question, who are flat face forward on the road with their hands behind their backs in cuffs, wound up there after asking the officer to move his car because it was blocking their driveway. He had apparently parked there while ticketing another person.

[Language Warning]

 

"This is not Toledo - Buddy!" and "Shut-up!" can be heard from the officer pointing a weapon at their heads. According to a witness calling for backup, it looked like he was about to taze one of them.

Journalist Arrested For Filming Police Checkpoint

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Luke Rudkowski Defends His Rights Against NYPD

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CopBlock founder faces 21 years in prison on "wiretapping" charges for filming police

Activist Post

According to court documents, Adam “Ademo” Mueller, journalist and co-host of nationally syndicated radio talk show Free Talk Live, has been indicted on three counts of felony wiretapping. The charges are a result of a vlog Mueller posted on CopBlock.org about an incident involving alleged police misconduct, which featured recorded interviews of on-duty public officials.

Mueller’s report focused on video recorded by a student’s cell phone at Manchester’s West High School, which depicted Officer Darren Murphy slamming a 17-year-old boy into a cafeteria table in October of 2011. Although public officials told the student to delete the video, it ended up in Adam Mueller’s hands instead.

Filming Police is a Constitutional Right Despite Harassment

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‘Ag-gag’ bills face tough row to hoe

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Tom Laskawy
Grist

Big Ag is having trouble installing its Iron Curtain. I am referring, of course, to the various "ag-gag" laws proposed in Florida, Minnesota, and Iowa that would make it illegal to produce (and, in some cases, possess) undercover videos from within factory livestock farms. The latest state legislature to pursue this dubious goal is New York's -- but the fate of ag-gaggery in other states makes success in the Empire State seem unlikely.

Florida's bill died a few weeks ago when legislators withdrew the bill from consideration as the legislative session ended. And now the Humane Society of the United States reports that the Minnesota bill -- in some ways the most egregious, not to say ridiculous -- has suffered the same fate. Perhaps this will teach state legislators that self-dealing isn't the best way to approach their jobs; several cosponsors of the bill stood to personally gain from the protection the bill offered factory farm operators.

As for Iowa, its legislative session is still going on and passage of the bill is considered a priority with Republican Gov. Terry Branstad on record as believing that such undercover videos represent "a problem that should be addressed." According to this report in Iowa's Globe Gazette, the major problem isn't finding a majority to back the bill, but rather trying to get around sticky constitutional issues, specifically the concept of "prior restraint." In America, at least, it's very difficult to stop someone from doing something they haven't done yet, especially when we're talking about First Amendment issues. Iowa legislators are rewriting furiously as we speak -- and I wouldn't be surprised if they pass something just to see if it sticks.

Peace Activist and Vet Adam Kokesh Victim of INSANE Police Brutality (Video)

Adam Vs. The Man

Television host Adam Kokesh and several other activists participating in a flash-mob were arrested at the publicly-funded Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Their crime? Silently dancing, in celebration of the first amendment’s champion; a clear violation of their right to free-expression. In an excessive use of force, video was captured of Adam being body slammed and placed in a choke for his non-crime.

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Minor arrested for filming a police officer (Video)

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Police Chief Beats the Hell Out of Defenseless Old Woman — She Gets the Video and Posts it to Youtube

By Chris
Information Liberation

You’re concerned with the way a death is being handled by the police in your small town of only 1000 people. You go to City Hall to complain. Instead of having your voice be heard, the town Police Chief beats the hell out of you and slams your face into the ground. His assault results in you dislocating your knee, bruising your ribs, and leaves you with a black eye and $1500 in medical bills.

That is exactly what happened to 50 year old Brenda Martin of Le Flore County Florida,according to a NewsOK report:

Martin said she confronted Police Chief Chris Ford in his office that afternoon. He asked her to leave.
[...]
As she was leaving, a security camera in town hall captured video of Martin being pushed, her legs quickly swept from beneath her and Ford holding her arms behind her back as he pushes her into the floor.

According to the Police Chief’s lawyer, his actions were perfectly justified because she was “cursing in an extremely loud voice.”

Clearly being cursed at is just too much to handle for a trained peace officer, perhaps he was having flashbacks to his time in the middle east while he was “serving in the Oklahoma National Guard.” Doing his patriotic duty, he shoved her around before tripping her and slamming her face into the ground. Of course, he says he tripped her and she simply “went to the ground.” The laws of physics dictated her fall, not his direct actions.

Luckily for Brenda Martin, it was all caught on tape. She got the tape after multiple requests and posted it to the ultimate arbiter of justice, Youtube.

Video:

Interestingly in order to justify his abuses the police officer claimed it was all done because she was being arrested. And yet, according to the new acting Police Chief Randy Liles, “There is no arrest or incident report on file at the department.” Despite it all, Liles assures us once Ford’s unrelated leave of absence is over “he’ll be reinstated.”

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Police Harassing Citizens Who Film Them

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Facing prison for filming US police

Comment:  The audio is disabled until the end of the video which captures the police abuse.  We have included an "Update" video, as well.


Chris Arsenault
Al Jazeera
August 27, 2010

When police arrested Anthony Graber for speeding on his motorbike, the 25-year-old probably did not see himself as an advocate for police accountability in the age of new media.

But Graber, a sergeant with the Maryland Air National Guard, is now facing 16 years in prison, not for dangerous driving, but for a Youtube video he posted after receiving a speeding ticket.The video, filmed with a camera mounted on Graber’s motorcycle helmet designed to record biking stunts rather than police abuse, shows a plain clothes officer jumping out of an unmarked car and pointing a pistol at the motorcyclist.

It does not portray the policeman in a positive light.

After he posted the video on Youtube, police raided Graber’s home, seized computers and put him in jail.

“The case is critical to the protection of democracy because I don’t think you can have a free country in which public officials are able to criminally prosecute people who film what they are doing,” David Rocah, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union in Maryland who is representing Graber, said.

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UPDATE VIDEO: