Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Good Citizen, Bad Arrest: New York Woman Arrested After Videotaping Police — From Her Own Front Yard

There is a new report of police arresting a citizen because she videotaped them (below) — this time from her own front yard. According to his report, a woman named Emily Good was arrested after videotaping an arrest of a man at a traffic stop in Rochester, New York.

What is most disturbing is that the officer is clearly manufacturing a reason to stop her from videotaping and arresting her. They clearly can see that she is not armed and she responds clearly to their statements, including saying that she will step back a foot as demanded by the officers. From the fact of it, it appears an abusive arrest and another case of punishing citizens for filming police — which is not a crime.

After the woman correctly states that she has a right to videotape the arrest. The officer then thinks about it and says “I don’t feel safe with you standing behind me, so I’m going to ask you to go into your house.” The police officer is identified on some sites as Officer Mario Masic.

Notably, at this time, the man was already in cuffs and being put into the cruiser. This exchange occurred after he was put into custody. The officer then adds “You seem very anti-police … due to what you said to me before you started taping me.” When she asks what statement he is referring to, he then escalates further to say that she will be arrested for failing to obey his commands.

We have seen continued arrests of citizens for videotaping police — viewed as a more resource in addressing police brutality and abuse. This trend has continued (here) despite court rulings in favor of citizens. Politicians have done little to reaffirm the rights of citizens in these cases and officers are rarely subject to discipline for such arrests.

There is no report of any investigation by the Rochester Police Department in light of this disturbing video. Clearly, other officers and presumably at least one prosecutor participated in bringing this charge, which appears both meritless and retaliatory. We will continue to follow the story to see if any action will be taken.

Source:
WHAM

Jonathan Turley

84 thoughts on “Good Citizen, Bad Arrest: New York Woman Arrested After Videotaping Police — From Her Own Front Yard”

  2. i thought the officer was quite bold to tell Ms Good to go in her house. Apparently he expects people to obey him regardless. This is clearly intimidation and a lack of respect for people rights. Hope your suit is successful.

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