Tag Archives: civil rights law

I Help YouTuber(s) Arrested Over Lego Videos (Part 2)

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Since I talked with Reckless Ben about the stolen Lego situation and the ensuing harassment and retaliation he received from the American Fork Police Department in Utah, a lot has happened. I got the chance to talk to the other guy with Ben in the videos, Tyler Shaw, who was the one driving the car – the same guy the cops falsely accused of being on drugs. And most importantly, I now have access to the full set of unredacted bodycam videos, that believe it or not, make the American Fork Police Department look even worse than before. Whatever the truth is about the underlying dispute about the Legos, one thing is for sure. This police department chose to take sides in that dispute, and abuse their authority and trample constitutional rights in the process.

37 Days in Jail For Posting a Meme | County Pays $835,000 | Sheriff Gaslights Public

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A couple of months ago I told you the story of Larry Bushart, who spent 37 days behind bars simply for posting a meme in a Facebook group. That video was a collaboration with FIRE, a national nonprofit First Amendment advocacy organization, who had just filed the civil rights lawsuit against Perry County, Tennessee, Sheriff Nick Weems and Investigator Jason Morrow, for multiple constitutional violations. That case just settled. Despite costing taxpayers in his county almost a million dollars due to his total disregard of Larry’s constitutional rights, Sheriff Nick Weems remains defiant, blaming everyone but himself.

Cop Pepper Sprays Drunk College Kid Begging for Help (Part 3)

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As promised, here is the footage showing Officer Michael Bell, formerly of the Grayson Kentucky Police Department, arresting 19 year old Caleel Ware, a baseball player at a local university. Bell, along with another officer, angry because he thought Caleel was embarrassing his baseball team, used force on him, including tasing him, pepper spraying him in the face multiple times, and then shutting him inside this contaminated interview room for an extended period of time, as he begged for help. Also, the City of Greyson has now publicly responded to the first two videos.

Blows a ZERO, Gets Arrested Anyway – WINS in Court (part 2)

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Nathan Stephens was arrested on a fake DUI in Kentucky. It was all caught on bodycam, which shows him blowing a zero on the breathalyzer and also passing all the field sobriety tests, and then him being arrested anyway. Nate knew he wasn’t drunk. Officer Bell of the Grayson, Kentucky Police Department claimed he could smell alcohol on Nate. He agreed to a breath test and blew a zero – no alcohol in his system. Nate then passed all of the field sobriety tests, which Officer Bell admitted, initially telling Nate he would not be going to jail for DUI because he had agreed to take the tests. But then, after Nate said he would have sued the officer had he arrested him, the two cops covered up the bodycam and had a private conversation, ending with them then changing their mind about arresting Nate, and throwing him in the back of the police cruiser, handcuffed.

All of this we covered in the last video – Part 1 of this story: In this video, I’m going to tell you everything that happened next, including what happened when it went to court, as well as the latest update from Nate’s lawyer (as of yesterday).

‘Welfare Check’ on Couple Sleeping in Car Ends in Arrest

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Cops get a call: two people are sleeping in a parked car in Lakeland, Florida. The caller requests a welfare check. No crime was even suspected. Cops arrive and confirm, yep, just a young couple and their cat, sleeping in their car. But instead of letting them go back to sleep, or even asking them to leave, the cops start barking commands at them, demanding ID. Knowing that they had done nothing wrong, the couple does not want to be detained and interrogated by these officers. So they assert their constitutional rights and they ask questions. But the officers mock them and curse at them, and they detain them anyways, and even arrest the husband, just because they got a call  – even though that call didn’t allege any criminal suspicion. Who was right here? Did they have to ID? Or should they have been left alone, or allowed to leave?

Cops Use Drug Test Kit on Innocent Man’s Prescription Pills

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Bryan Getchius is on a road trip, headed back to Florida, where he works. He gets pulled over by the Greenwood County (South Carolina) Sheriff’s Office. It begins as a routine traffic stop. They ask him if he has anything illegal in his car. He knew he had nothing illegal, so he consented to the search. They search his vehicle and they find his perfectly legal IBS medication that is prescribed to him. Despite having all legitimate markings, the officers claimed it was fentanyl – or maybe cocaine (they didn’t know), but they really wanted to arrest and charge him anyway. It would take Brian 1 year, 4 months and 28 days from the date of his arrest, to clear his name. And at no point during that period of time was Brian ever in possession of any illegal controlled substances.

The lawsuit:

ComplaintDownload

Man Driving His 3 Year Old Daughter Ends Up on Pavement With State Trooper – TRIAL RESULTS

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7 months ago I showed you the video of Kentucky State Trooper Seth Owens arresting Devin Langsdorf during a traffic stop, as Devin’s 3 year old daughter was in the backseat. After beating him, Trooper Owens charged Devin with speeding, reckless driving, failure to produce insurance, failure to maintain insurance, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, no registration receipt, and endangering the welfare of a minor. Trooper Owens really threw the book at Devin. At the time I covered the incident 7 months ago, the charges were still pending. But now, just a few days ago, these criminal charges went to a jury trial. And rather than hear it from me, I want you to hear from the actual lawyer who tried that case – and he’s a good one.

Complaint-2Download

Content Creator Arrested Exposing Town’s Sewer Disaster

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This well-known content creator (Michael Bowman) goes deep into the hills of West Virginia, where locals are upset about a small-town sewage disaster (Worthington, WV). They ask him to come document what’s happening. So he does. He drives there and he begins to document what they show him. And it’s terrible. You have raw sewage basically coming into people’s homes and going other places it shouldn’t be. It’s literally forcing people out of homes they’ve lived in forever. This is a failure of their local public officials. So Michael goes to a public meeting seeking more information. But it doesn’t go well. The public officials aren’t interested in discussing this ongoing disaster that is harming their constituents. But he doesn’t give up. The next day he comes back and tries again, and ends up getting arrested.

The “police report” slash charging document:

The dismissal order:

BowmanGrantedMTDDownload

SWAT Raids Wrong Home Looking For Guy They Already Arrested (3 Months Earlier)

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On June 14, 2023, the United States Marshals Service listed Joshua Smiley on the “15 Most Wanted” list. He was the 26 year-old male suspect in an August 2021 shooting death of a man in Mobile, Alabama. On June 20, 2023, about a week after Joshua Smiley was put on the most wanted list, he was peacefully apprehended in Avon, Indiana – a suburb of Indianapolis. It was no big deal. They found him in just a couple of days, called him out, he came out and was arrested with no issues. It was a success. So why did the US Marshals raid Cathy George’s home in Sandy Springs, Georgia three months later?

GA-Botched-Raid-Amended-ComplaintDownload

Cop Gets 5 Years in Prison For This Video

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A Kentucky State Trooper (Hayden Kilbourne) was just sentenced to 5 years in prison. His former employer, the Kentucky State Police just released the bodycam footage from the incident that caused him to lose his career and his freedom. What did this trooper do that was so bad, or even different from so many other videos I’ve shown you? Is this a rare example of the system actually working as intended, or is there more to the story here?

The complaint from the lawsuit:

KiddComplaintpdfDownload