Remember the video I did back in July of 2023, with attorney Chris Wiest, about the lawsuit that he had just filed for a guy named Demetrius Kerns? Kerns was almost hit by a police officer who was driving recklessly. Then when he stopped to get her information afterwards, and she apologized to him, her supervisor then showed up and began to escalate the situation, demanding Mr. Kerns’ ID and ultimately putting him in handcuffs – and later falsely charging him with obstruction, in retaliation for the fact that he was filming and being critical of the police. As Chris and I discussed, eventually he would have the opportunity to take the depositions of these two officers.
Well, it’s been a couple of years now and I have an update for you. The case isn’t over yet. It’s still pending. These things can take years. But I actually have the full video depositions of these two officers, and I’m going to go through them with you so that you can hear exactly what they had to say when confronted under oath. First, part 1 – the sworn testimony of Officer Carly Lewis. And then in Part 2 we’ll get to the rather-unbelievable video testimony of her supervisor, Sergeant Naftali Wolf.
Two officers with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources set up a sting using a decoy deer in a field next to a road. They saw a guy just stop and look at the decoy deer. He didn’t shine a light on it; he didn’t shoot at it; just looked at it, and then drove away. He did nothing illegal. But, he was an irresistible target for the two officers, because his truck was new and expensive; he had valuable gear they wanted for themselves. He hired a lawyer; she obtained the bodycam, and she was shocked at what she saw. She got the charges dropped and has now filed a lawsuit on his behalf. I got a chance to interview her and review all of the bodycam footage. It shows an out of control government agency, harassing law abiding citizens and trying to steal their stuff.
Imagine if cops showed up at your front door, banged on the door and demanded that you come outside and answer their questions. Why? Because the contractor working next door says you yelled at him and hurt his feelings… Knowing your rights – that the police cannot just stand on your front porch, detain you, force you to answer their questions, and shout things at you without your permission – you tell them to leave. You even call the cops on the cops. I mean, they don’t have a warrant, and they don’t have your permission. Right? But even though the courts have said this violates your constitutional rights, what if the cops just don’t care? What if the people at 911 don’t care? What if the supervisor doesn’t care? What if they just ignore your constitutional rights?
This involves the Coolidge, Arizona Police Department. Here’s the Police Report and Dispatch Log:
As the Supreme Court held in the 1980 case of Payton v. New York, absent valid consent or exigent circumstances (i.e., an emergency actively occurring) law enforcement may not cross the threshold of a residence without a warrant.” Either to search or arrest.
As the Supreme Court held in the 2018 case of Collins v. Virginia, police cannot enter the curtilage of a home (which is the area close to the home that is treated as a part of the home, such as an enclosed yard, garage or driveway or porch) to search a vehicle parked within that curtilage of that home without a warrant, even where they have probable cause. The Courts (including the 9th circuit) have held that it is “commonsense” and “easily understood” that area “an arm’s-length from one’s house” is curtilage. (citing Morgan v. Fairfield County 6th circuit 2018)).
A so-called “knock and talk” exception to the warrant requirement isn’t really an exception at all. But it allows police to enter the curtilage of a home to ask questions of its occupant “precisely because that is ‘no more than any private citizen might do.’ (Florida v. Jardines (2013). So while police, like “the Nation’s Girl Scouts and trick-or-treaters,” can approach a home to speak with its occupant, nothing in the implied license to have that consensual interaction suggests a visitor can restrict the movements of a homeowner next to his own home any more than she could force the resident to buy cookies or hand out candy. (U.S. v. Lundin (9th Circuit. 2016)).
There is no right to detain, arrest, or otherwise seize the homeowner implied by the license to perform a knock and talk. To the contrary, that implied license may be revoked by the homeowner. (Davis v. US (9th Circuit 1964)).
An autistic father was playing Pokemon Go with his 10 year old son. A police officer with the Canandaigua Police Department (in Canandaigua, NY) interrupts their game, detains the father, questions him, mocks him, searches him, and interrogates him, accuses him of being on drugs or drunk – even though he was very clearly autistic. He not only violates his rights, but humiliates him in front of his son. And humiliates his son as well. And then just walks off into the sunset, like he just performed some great service…
A cop walks up to the front door of a family’s home. Nobody answers the door, so he just lets himself in and begins to look around. About a minute later, shots ring out from inside the house. He just shot the family dog. The husband was at work. The wife was out of town. The 4 kids were at school. It was just Zelda, the family’s beloved Belgian Malinois, being a good girl, doing her job protecting their home from intruders. Then the cop walks back outside.
Does he call the family to tell them what happened? No. He calls more cops and basically an army of police officers arrive at this home in this quiet neighborhood, and they begin to circle the wagons. They then proceed to go all through the family’s home, garage and backyard, for a period of about 40 minutes – all without even notifying this family, or obtaining their permission to do so. Oh, and also – without a warrant. Surely they made this right with the family? Apologized? Compensated them in some way? Surely they fired the officer and prosecuted him for unlawfully entering the family’s home and killing their dog?
Police report excerpt:
Raw surveillance footage:
Raw bodycam from one of the officers (not the shooter):
Raw bodycam from another officer (not the shooter) at the Briggs home:
Raw surveillance footage of Paul Briggs leaving the home about an hour earlier:
About two weeks ago I posted a video showing cops in Owensboro, Kentucky responding to a guy’s house after he butt-dialed 911 by accidentally pressing the “emergency” button on his iPhone. But when officers from the Owensboro Police Department arrived, they claimed that officers had the “right” to detain the guy and enter his house, despite not having a warrant. The reason they gave is the alleged smell of marijuana. As I explained in the video, that was completely wrong – a violation of the important protections our Founders gave to the privacy of our homes. These were constitutional violations captured on the officers’ own bodycams. That video ended up making it into both the TV news, as well as the local newspaper there. Which was fantastic, because that, in turn, then prompted the Owensboro Police Department to publicly respond to my video.
A man in Owensboro, Kentucky accidentally butt-dialed 911 by pressing the emergency button on his phone’s Lock Screen. Then, some of the most constitutionally ignorant cops I’ve ever shown on this channel, arrive at the guy’s front door. He tells them it was a butt dial; that he’s alone in his house and there’s no emergency. But sensing something other than complete and total submission to government authority, the cops claim they smell marijuana, stick their foot in the door, and detain him without a warrant. Even worse than that, they tell him that they’re about to come in his house – also without a warrant, just due to the alleged smell – just completely disregarding longstanding and clearly established constitutional law saying that they can’t do that. He asks for their supervisor. But when the supervisor shows up, he’s even worse than they are.
Over two years ago I showed you a video about a 62 year old grandfather named Kevin Hinton. He was driving late one night on a road trip, returning from meeting his brand-new baby granddaughter in Oregon. He was too tired to continue driving. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. So he pulled over in a public parking lot in Spokane, Washington to take a nap. He was awakened by the arrival of Sgt. Clay Hilton with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. Three minutes later, he would have 8 broken ribs, a punctured lung, a severe concussion, a shoulder injury, and a disfigured lip. Why? Because Sgt. Hilton thought this 62 year old grandfather was rude to him. Now, over 2 years later, there’s a huge update on my original video. Sgt. Hilton has been fired, and is now facing federal criminal charges.
This video was recently posted on the Sgt. Pepperspray YouTube channel, titled “Cocky Teen Driver Gets Chewed Out by Dad After Fleeing Police.” It shows a 19 year-old girl’s father confronting her on the phone (in front of the police, as they were in the process of illegally arresting her) and insulting and berating her (for all to see/hear), helping Officer Scott Riera of the New Smyrna Police in his attempts at ruining the young girl’s life over what should have been traffic citations. Instead, she’s facing a felony charge, due in court tomorrow.
This police officer’s ego just cost the taxpayers of his county $80,000. He saw a man videoing him from a distance… and he just couldn’t deal with it. That man was actually also a police officer and had a reason to video this deputy. But because of his ego, or perhaps ignorance, the deputy abused his authority, retaliated against the man, arrested him and placed him in the back of his police car. But within 20 minutes, the man would be out of handcuffs, out of the police car, and receiving an apology. So what changed?
