ktlight
1st August 2011, 09:43
FYI:
In recent years an unsettling pattern in law enforcement interactions has emerged. American citizens, innocent of a crime, filming a public servant performing their duties in public, have been targeted and had their constitutionally protected rights destroyed.
The cases continue to pile up, some more disturbing and egregious than others. One of the most shocking examples is the case of the Las Vegas man, Mitchell Crooks, who was brutally assaulted by an on-duty police officer for filming the officer from his own property.
There is video of the event and while you cannot see the beating, the sound and pictures of Crooks after the fact are unsettling enough. This represents one aspect of this disturbing trend: some of these innocent people film the police from their own property.
In another instance of individuals being arrested on their property, a young woman named Emily Good was forcibly removed from her property and arrested for filming Rochester, NY police performing a routine traffic stop.
To make matters worse, the police harassed the supporters of the woman who was wrongly arrested by giving frivolous tickets. While real crimes are going on in Rochester, the police prefer to spend their time ticketing innocent people who are supporting a member of their community.
In 2009, Father James Manship of New Haven, Connecticut, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for filming police officers in a store run by Ecuadorian immigrants. Father Manship claimed he was recording a case of police harassment which was part of a campaign of “systematic intimidation and racial profiling” against Latinos at the hands of police.
The evidence presented by Manship supporting the alleged campaign of harassment, violence, and terrorism carried out against Latinos in his community is compelling and the video evidence of his arrest is damning.
The following video, which clocks in at less than 30 seconds total, captures the moments before Father Manship’s arrest.
First the officer says, “Sir, what are you doing? Is there a reason you have that camera on me?”
To which Father Manship replies, “Yes.”
The officer asks, “Why is that?”
Father Manship replies, “I’m taking a video of what’s going on here.”
The officer then says something that is unintelligible as he quickly approaches Father Manship.
Manship says, “Hm?” and the video ends.
One of the police officers involved, David Cari, falsely reported that he witnessed Father Manship holding an “unknown shiny silver object” which made him fear for his safety.
We can clearly hear in the video that Father Manship declares exactly what he is doing in a calm and friendly manner to which the officer responds aggressively. The video provides irrefutable evidence that officer Cari filed a false police report, a crime for which he needs to be held accountable.
However, in direct contradiction to the visual evidence you just witnessed, the East Haven Attorney Hugh Keefe responsible for representing the East Haven police department claimed the video was “clearly inconclusive.”
Keefe claimed that the video did not discredit the police report as Cari’s police report alleges that Father Manship fought with the officer when he tried to see what Father Manship was holding.
In April of this year, a man was arrested for “interfering with a police officer in the performance of his duties” when he was filming a cop from his own property.
The police officer trespasses onto the man’s property then illegally demands the individual’s phone as “evidence.” When he refused to give his phone to a police officer when it was completely unnecessary to do so, he got arrested.
Another individual, this time a young female high school student, was arrested for refusing to turn off her cell phone which she was using to film police on a city bus. Before the police released her from her illegal detention, they erased the video evidence from her phone.
After 16-year-old Khaliah Flitchette refused to turn off her phone and stop filming the officers, one officer grabbed her by the wrist and forced her off of the bus. She was then handcuffed and taken to two detention facilities, both a juvenile and adult facility, while one of the officers destroyed the evidence on her phone. Due to the fact that the officers had absolutely no legal grounds to arrest or detain the teen, they simply dropped her off at her mother’s place of work.
This 2010 incident was the third time the Newark Police had been accused of abusing citizens for attempting to film them in only three years. One CBS cameraman sued special police officer Brian Sharif after he claimed he was put in a chokehold and handcuffed for filming an anti-violence protest in Newark in 2008.
In 2007, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a man named Brian Kelly was arrested for filming police during a routine traffic stop with his friend, Tyler Shopp.
This is a case of the “we can record you, but you can’t record us” mentality of some law enforcement, because after the officer, David Rogers, announced that he had been recording the traffic stop, he noticed that Kelly had been recording him as well. In an example of near-absurd hypocrisy, Rogers then claimed that Kelly was in violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control act. Rogers then demanded Kelly’s camera, which Kelly complied with. Rogers called the Assistant District Attorney to get advice on the situation. However, Rogers only gave a part of the picture and didn’t mention that Rogers had been filming the encounter as well.
Based on the incomplete picture presented by Rogers, the ADA said he thought it appropriate to arrest Kelly. Three units were called to the scene to arrest the completely compliant Kelly.
During sworn testimony, Kelly revealed that while being transported from the scene of the arrest, one officer commented, “When are you guys going to learn you can’t record us.”
Kelly was held for 27 hours in Cumberland County Prison and after several weeks the District Attorney dropped all of the charges.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ySYxlp9fa_k
source to read more
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/07/disturbing-trend-many-innocent.html
In recent years an unsettling pattern in law enforcement interactions has emerged. American citizens, innocent of a crime, filming a public servant performing their duties in public, have been targeted and had their constitutionally protected rights destroyed.
The cases continue to pile up, some more disturbing and egregious than others. One of the most shocking examples is the case of the Las Vegas man, Mitchell Crooks, who was brutally assaulted by an on-duty police officer for filming the officer from his own property.
There is video of the event and while you cannot see the beating, the sound and pictures of Crooks after the fact are unsettling enough. This represents one aspect of this disturbing trend: some of these innocent people film the police from their own property.
In another instance of individuals being arrested on their property, a young woman named Emily Good was forcibly removed from her property and arrested for filming Rochester, NY police performing a routine traffic stop.
To make matters worse, the police harassed the supporters of the woman who was wrongly arrested by giving frivolous tickets. While real crimes are going on in Rochester, the police prefer to spend their time ticketing innocent people who are supporting a member of their community.
In 2009, Father James Manship of New Haven, Connecticut, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for filming police officers in a store run by Ecuadorian immigrants. Father Manship claimed he was recording a case of police harassment which was part of a campaign of “systematic intimidation and racial profiling” against Latinos at the hands of police.
The evidence presented by Manship supporting the alleged campaign of harassment, violence, and terrorism carried out against Latinos in his community is compelling and the video evidence of his arrest is damning.
The following video, which clocks in at less than 30 seconds total, captures the moments before Father Manship’s arrest.
First the officer says, “Sir, what are you doing? Is there a reason you have that camera on me?”
To which Father Manship replies, “Yes.”
The officer asks, “Why is that?”
Father Manship replies, “I’m taking a video of what’s going on here.”
The officer then says something that is unintelligible as he quickly approaches Father Manship.
Manship says, “Hm?” and the video ends.
One of the police officers involved, David Cari, falsely reported that he witnessed Father Manship holding an “unknown shiny silver object” which made him fear for his safety.
We can clearly hear in the video that Father Manship declares exactly what he is doing in a calm and friendly manner to which the officer responds aggressively. The video provides irrefutable evidence that officer Cari filed a false police report, a crime for which he needs to be held accountable.
However, in direct contradiction to the visual evidence you just witnessed, the East Haven Attorney Hugh Keefe responsible for representing the East Haven police department claimed the video was “clearly inconclusive.”
Keefe claimed that the video did not discredit the police report as Cari’s police report alleges that Father Manship fought with the officer when he tried to see what Father Manship was holding.
In April of this year, a man was arrested for “interfering with a police officer in the performance of his duties” when he was filming a cop from his own property.
The police officer trespasses onto the man’s property then illegally demands the individual’s phone as “evidence.” When he refused to give his phone to a police officer when it was completely unnecessary to do so, he got arrested.
Another individual, this time a young female high school student, was arrested for refusing to turn off her cell phone which she was using to film police on a city bus. Before the police released her from her illegal detention, they erased the video evidence from her phone.
After 16-year-old Khaliah Flitchette refused to turn off her phone and stop filming the officers, one officer grabbed her by the wrist and forced her off of the bus. She was then handcuffed and taken to two detention facilities, both a juvenile and adult facility, while one of the officers destroyed the evidence on her phone. Due to the fact that the officers had absolutely no legal grounds to arrest or detain the teen, they simply dropped her off at her mother’s place of work.
This 2010 incident was the third time the Newark Police had been accused of abusing citizens for attempting to film them in only three years. One CBS cameraman sued special police officer Brian Sharif after he claimed he was put in a chokehold and handcuffed for filming an anti-violence protest in Newark in 2008.
In 2007, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a man named Brian Kelly was arrested for filming police during a routine traffic stop with his friend, Tyler Shopp.
This is a case of the “we can record you, but you can’t record us” mentality of some law enforcement, because after the officer, David Rogers, announced that he had been recording the traffic stop, he noticed that Kelly had been recording him as well. In an example of near-absurd hypocrisy, Rogers then claimed that Kelly was in violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control act. Rogers then demanded Kelly’s camera, which Kelly complied with. Rogers called the Assistant District Attorney to get advice on the situation. However, Rogers only gave a part of the picture and didn’t mention that Rogers had been filming the encounter as well.
Based on the incomplete picture presented by Rogers, the ADA said he thought it appropriate to arrest Kelly. Three units were called to the scene to arrest the completely compliant Kelly.
During sworn testimony, Kelly revealed that while being transported from the scene of the arrest, one officer commented, “When are you guys going to learn you can’t record us.”
Kelly was held for 27 hours in Cumberland County Prison and after several weeks the District Attorney dropped all of the charges.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ySYxlp9fa_k
source to read more
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/07/disturbing-trend-many-innocent.html