My last video, about the Special Olympics Medalist who was followed, and then violently arrested, by a Clearfield, Utah police officer, made the TV news in Utah. A reporter actually went to the bar and interviewed Shawn, as well as the bartender, and others, which was fantastic. The Clearfield Police Department responded. But is their response adequate?
Teton County Sheriff’s Deputy Ashley Hayes detained a woman and her boyfriend because they “were at a gas station an abnormal amount of time.” They were ultimately held for over 90 minutes, while a drug dog was brought to the scene, unsuccessfully searching them for drugs. The boyfriend was arrested for refusing to sit on a curb during the detention, despite the fact that no crime had even been alleged to have occurred. The video went viral locally, with many residents calling for the termination of the deputy. The sheriff acknowledged the existence of the video, but has refused to comment on the situation due to the pending (bogus) charges against the boyfriend. So basically, a couple went to the gas station, and then got harassed by some cops for no actual justified reason.
Media report here.
More raw footage found here.
This video was submitted by a guy who was pulled over in Pflugerville, Texas for an allegedly broken tail light. For 45 minutes, a police officer asked the man questions entirely unrelated to the reason for the stop. Apparently this officer received some sort of interdiction type “training,” and he concluded he was able to find drug smugglers otherwise disguised as law abiding citizens. Meanwhile, the drug sniffing dog was en route, and after it arrived, the dog smelt nothing.
Here’s the man’s explanation about his experience:
A passenger and I were driving within the speed limit on Pfleugerville parkway. At 14:24 officer Z. Tatum #436 did a u-turn and got behind my vehicle. He remained behind me through three stoplights and engaged his emergency lights at 14:32. He approached the passenger side of my vehicle and explained the reason for the stop was that my third, center, brake light wasn’t functioning and he intended to give me a written warning for that. He collected my drivers license, registration, and proof of insurance, then returned to his cruiser. At 14:35 he returned to the driver’s side and asked me to exit my vehicle. I asked why, and he said “I just want to talk to you”. At this point officer Adkins #391 and another unidentified officer were on the scene. Officer Tatum explained that he had called a neighboring jurisdiction and had requested a K9 officer to report to the scene. He repeatedly asked if there were drugs in the car, by name, and each time, I honestly answered that there were no drugs in the car. I also offered that there were no weapons in the car and voluntarily surrendered my pocket knife, placing it on the roof of the car.
I asked officer Tatum what reasonable suspicion he had that there were drugs in the vehicle but he only gave me vague responses. I asked about the legality of extending the stop beyond the scope of writing the warning for the infraction that was the purpose of the stop, and he insisted that it was within his authority to do so. I know it is not in his authority to do so, and extending the stop was a violation of my fourth amendment protections. I asked again about what reasonable suspicion he had and he responded with “I’m trained up and have been to a few classes” and that my behavior somehow indicated something to him. The K-9 unit, Round Rock officer Garmong #5160 didn’t arrive on scene until 15:11. They arrived at my vehicle at 15:13 after a brief conversation with the Pflugerville officers, did an open air sniff of the car, circling it four times as well as into the open passenger window, and returned to their vehicle at 15:18 without indication or further incident. After finally printing the written warning, officer Tatum handed it to me and I was released to return to my vehicle at 15:20. However, officer Tatum had not returned my driver’s license, and I had to go pick it up at The station later.
His timeline is as follows:
14:24 officer makes u-turn to get behind me. 14:25 stoplight 14:27 stoplight 14:31 stoplight, left turn 14:32 lights, contact 14:35 officer returns to unit 14:38:02 returns to my car 14:38:30 I exit car second unit on scene, 3rd officer on scene 15:11 K-9 unit arrives 15:13 K-9 at car 15:15 K-9 returns to unit 15:18 K-9 unit leaves 15:20:30 I return to my car.
Link to his videos here and here.
Here’s my earlier video on a similar experience, discussed in today’s video as well:
This officer has now been indicted for the violent illegal arrest of Michael Scurlock over two years ago. But initially, rather than being punished, he was promoted from officer, to the rank of sergeant. Scurlock had been hit by an SUV while riding his bicycle. Instead of allowing him to leave the scene after the incident was over, the officer violently attacked Scurlock, leaving him unconscious for nearly three minutes. Instead of taking him to a hospital, they took him to jail, processed him, and drove him home – ignoring the obvious signs of head trauma. It would ultimately lead to his death nearly a year later.
Media report here.
Media report on the officer’s past here.
A New Mexico law student, who has already been featured in an Audit the Audit Youtube video for cops harassing him at the entrance to his dorm room, has now been arrested in another unrelated incident. However, once the supervisor showed up, the student was quickly released with an apology. They ended up arguing back and forth on Fourth Amendment law. Who was right?
Joel Martinez Youtube channel is here with the original raw footage of both incidents.
The Audit the Audit video I reference is here.
Video from Texas shows a guy being pulled over based on the allegation that his mud flaps were too short. But then, the officer opens the passenger side door on his own, while holding his pistol. He orders the driver out of his truck, making the new allegation that he smells marijuana. Then he frisks the man and searches his vehicle. During this entire ordeal, the driver is filming with his phone and questioning/accusing the officer. He actually did a really good job of completely destroying the alleged justification for the officer’s conduct.
This footage was submitted by Rhet. It involves the Manistee Police. Rhet is a DJ. Earlier in the evening, he played the song “Bad Boys” when this officer walked into the club. Well, later in the evening, the same officer pulls him over for what was seemingly not an actual traffic offense. One thing leads to another, and Rhet ends up arrested.
Rhet’s original video is here.
This happened in Texas. Brittany Trevino was driving down the road, when she saw a police officer whom she really disliked, so she gave him the middle finger. In obvious retaliation, the officer jumped in his police cruiser, sped down the road, and stopped her – allegedly for failure to signal a lane change. The only problem was, however, the officer was lying, as indicated by not one, but two, of his own cameras.
The protections of the First Amendment are not limited to spoken words, but rather include gestures and other expressive conduct, even if vulgar or offensive to some. For example, in Cohen v. California (1971), the Supreme Court held that an individual wearing a jacket bearing the words “F**k the Draft” in a courthouse corridor could not be prosecuted for disturbing the peace.
Consistent with this precedent, although “the gesture generally known as ‘giving the finger’ … is widely regarded as an offensive insult,” Bad Frog Brewery, Inc. v. N.Y. State Liquor Auth. , (2d Cir. 1998), it is a gesture that is generally protected by the First Amendment. See, e.g. , Cruise-Gulyas v. Minard (6th Cir. 2019) (“Any reasonable [police] officer would know that a citizen who raises her middle finger engages in speech protected by the First Amendment.”); Garcia v. City of New Hope (8th Cir. 2021) (“[Plaintiff’s] raising his middle finger at [a police officer] is a rude and offensive gesture but nonetheless, under current precedent, is a constitutionally protected speech activity.”); Batyukova v. Doege(5th Cir. 2021) (same); accord Swartz v. Insogna (2d Cir. 2013) (holding that giving the middle finger could not support arrest for disorderly conduct); see generally Ira P. Robbins, Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law , 41 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 1403, 1407–08, 1434 (2008) (observing that the middle finger can express a variety of emotions—such as anger, frustration, defiance, protest, excitement—or even “possess[ ] political or artistic value”).
Brittany Trevino’s original videos, including her update, are posted here.
Ring doorbell video surfaced showing the arrest of a man at his own front door, after he refused to provide identification to police officers in Clayton County, Georgia. The footage showed officers arresting the man without a warrant. After the footage went viral, the police department then made their own Youtube video responding to the footage, as well as the allegations. But the issue remains: can cops constitutionally arrest a homeowner at his own front door without a warrant?
The Fourth Amendment guarantees the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The constitutional protection of people in their houses extends to the “curtilage” of the home, which is “the area ‘immediately surrounding and associated with the home.'” Collins v. Virginia, 138 S. Ct. 1663, 1670 (2018) (quoting Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1, 6 (2013)).
Subject to a few exceptions, the Fourth Amendment prohibits law enforcement from entering a home or its curtilage to conduct a search without a warrant. United States v. Walker, 799 F.3d 1361, 1363 (11th Cir. 2015). United States v. Stephen, No. 19-12172 (11th Cir. Aug 06, 2020)
The original video used by the “We The People” Youtube channel here.
I literally received hundreds of requests for my take on this outrageous bodycam footage that was originally uploaded by Lackluster, showing a lady being arrested in Kentucky, after she attempted to criticize a police officer for his poor driving skills. Well, you were right that I would be interested in this incident. Here’s my take on it.
Here’s Lackluster’s original video. It’s fantastic, by the way.
Here’s the police report narrative:
Here are the relevant Kentucky statutes (I mistakenly used disorderly conduct in the first degree in the video, but the operative portions are identical):
Here’s her GoFundMe link.