We recently saw a video of a New York woman arrested in her own front yard for videotaping officers in the course of an arrest. Now, a video has been released of a Jonesboro, Arkansas man who arrested after filming police conduct a search of a neighbor’s vehicle and body. The video was taken last year.
The man is heard yelling “Nazis” and accusing the police of violating the 4th Amendment.
Police officers then confront the man for calling them Nazis and demand his identification. They then threaten him with a variety of possible charges from disturbing the peace to disorderly conduct to obstruction. Since when is it a crime to swear at officers?
The man is rude and clearly hostile to police. However, I fail to see the basis for the stop and eventual arrest. Police are trained to deal with obnoxious and hostile people which is an unfortunate reality of the job. The response is not to demand identification when insulted and threaten arrest.
We have been following the disturbing trend of police arresting citizens for videotaping them in public. There remains no significant response from elected officials to stop this abusive trend.
One site is reporting that after arresting him and searching his garage (and finding a gun), the prosecutors dropped the charges.
cHAz SAID “Lastly, in my state, the law clearly says that I do not have to tell the people why I pulled them over or ask for their identification. Out of courtesy, I always tell people why I pulled them over, but I don’t have to”
seems to be a damn good reason for a Jonathan Turley piece all by itself.
If true, a stupid law as it will certainly lead to antagonistic attitudes and suspicions of racial profiling or other unwarranted harassment. Combine that with legal concealed carry of weapons except in Illinois, thankfully, and yet another reason for cops to wear those vests.
I believe the Illinois state law refers to audio recording without express permission. How to prove to some irate cop that the little red light on the camera means audio on mute could be a problem.
cheneywatch,
Thanks for the link — http://www.cheneywatch.org/
Mr. Turley or others…how does this case compare with the Chaplinsky – New Hampshire “goddamn fascists” case that helped start the “fighting words” view? Chaplinsky was arrested for disturbing the peace (yes he was in very public place) and yet the language of the verdict seems to indicate it was the “goddamn fascist” comment that clinched it.
It would be good to see an examination of those cases against each other.
Otherwise, time to dust off the camcorders.
ChaZ,
Even the local sheriff and prosecutor now seem to disagree with your so-called professional judgment about the recorded video where you wrote, Puzzling, After viewing your video that you have posted, I sadly would have to point out that it is not an example of police abuses.
Charges Dropped Against Man Beaten by Deputies
Any my “layman’s” intuition about the treatment of this citizen in jail, where I wrote above “… the citizen will continue to be abused in jail where he sits for aggravated assault on these officers as a result of the incident…” may sadly turn out to be quite accurate. From the same article:
chaz i read your posts and i must disagree with you Overall, I think that if he calmly videotaped them without trying to provoking them, perhaps they wouldn’t have arrested him? I don’t think it was because he was “videotaping police on his front yard” but more of “provoking police for heck of it” that got him arrested. I’m glad the charges were dropped and police should have known better to ignore that. what about the woman who was calmly videotaping the cops from her front yard? she didnt say a word to them. and when asked questions she responded nicely. it was the cop who decided to get nasty when he told her to go in her house. and she refused.
suddenly he claims he doesnt feel safe with her standing behind him. even though he was facing her and she was in her front yard. not all cops are bad but they are getting there. and im sure you know why. just a couple weeks ago i watched my neighbor get arrested for trespassing and loitering
while going inside of his home. he had the key in the door and was about to walk into the building. when the cops stopped him and his brother and demanded id they were given the id’s. then the cops proceeded to search them. they found nothing. it wasnt until my neighbors wife and kids came outside and asked what was happening. that the cops decided to get nasty. and arrest them for trespassing and loitering. what does that say about the cops of today???
ChaZ wrote Puzzling, After viewing your video that you have posted, I sadly would have to point out that it is not an example of police abuses.
There is an update on that case today. The citizen was released from jail:
Humphreys deputies placed on administrative leave
In the latest case of police overreaction, a former NFL running back was executed for assault with a couple of cans of beer:
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x481155738/Man-dies-after-early-morning-fight-with-Sheriffs-officers?utm_source=widget_56&utm_medium=photo_entries_teaser_widget&utm_campaign=synapse
@Mike Appleton
Um, you you found that user’s post “informative and sensible”? Take a look:
“2. If you look in your state law, police officers or authorities have right to ask you for your identification for any reason or no reason. So, please don’t argue about police having no reason to ask for identification, that’s moot point.”
I looked in my state’s law (Mont. Code Ann. §46-5-401) and the law in Arkansas [among others]. The offhand, link-free “check the law” is as valid as it usually is (i.e. bullshit). That’s not “informative”, nor is an assertion of police officer/authorities “rights” in most contexts. But you know that.
ChaZ’s post is 9.8/10 otherwise, but we need to pay attention to the deets, no?
These LE officers breached the threshold of the subject’s garage. Demanding a driver’s license[???].
I was wondering about the Fourth Amendment status of a garage (attached/unattached to the “castle”). Is my garage part of my house or part of the publicly-available curtilage? My garage is not attached to the house, but (with countless dangerous instrumentalities in reach) is not a place where LE can make a good-faith argument about obstruction or fear. The “danger” is apparent from the driveway–chainsaws pegged on the wall etc.
Wouldn’t the (curtilage) driveway make more sense? Inside the garage is a really bad place for any sort of interpersonal conflict as, y’know, a practical matter.
Pardon me, these officers had a(n apparent mid-day, dude at his own house) disturbing the peace charge to investigate. Why didn’t they just deal with the associated vehicle stop (across the street) and move on to something less objectively dangerous and more subjectively able to produce a lawful arrest? Anyone?
Er, or Ninth Circuit.
I used a .gov as a link with my username the other night. I’ll try again; FYWP.
ChaZ: “If you look in your state law, police officers or authorities have right to ask you for your identification for any reason or no reason. So, please don’t argue about police having no reason to ask for identification, that’s [a] moot point.”
Anyone, law enforcement or not, has a “right to ask you for your identification for any reason or no reason”. That’s free speech, and also a moot point.
That doesn’t oblige–say, a douchebag in Jonesboro, AR–to provide a police officer with a driver’s license while she or he is puttering around the garage. So, yes, I will argue about police asking for “papers please” in Arkansas or Montana (or anywhere in the 9th District).
If you look in Arkansas law (or the law in my home state of Montana), you’ll see that no one that isn’t operating a vehicle on a public right-of-way has to produce identity documents on LE demand or be jailed. Full stop.
Link the law in your jurisdiction that would compel this, please. Also the statutes in other [or any, or all] jurisdictions. Hiibel, anyone?
tmartin
Buddha Is Lauhging
I have encountered a great many Ignorant Bigots in my day, but you are clearly among the most Ignorant of the lot.
Anyone who would slander millions of people based on an obviously simplemind observation, is nothing short of pathetic.
It is childish narrow minded Racist Bigots like yourself that need to grow-up.
Puzzling,
Yes, he was naked and handcuffed. You have to realize that it was he who was making it very hard for police officers to arrest him. The police officers obviously tried to grab a hold of him by grabbing his clothes but he snaked out of them.
Did you see those snow on the ground? It must have been very wet and slippery. That would explain why police officers had difficulty trying to control him after handcuffs were put on him.
The whole point is… he resisted by not cooperating with the police officers. Once you resist, the whole deal is off. Police can no longer assume that you will be cooperative and not hurt them so they have to tighten their grips on you, be more forceful toward you, and take extreme measures to control you before you could hurt yourself or others.
Puzzling, why don’t you talk with other police officers and ask them questions about this situation? I am sure that they would be more than willing to explain to you how injuries have happened to prisoners, police officers, prison guards, etc because violence does happen all the time. Resistance toward police officers does happen all the time and unfortunately we have no choice but to use pain as a means to make them comply with us.
Please don’t use the words “tortured” loosely. I think you have been watching too much Alex Jones’ video blogs. Not all police officers are jack-booted thugs, so give us a break.
I guess this will fit here:
”
AUBURN, Wash. – Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn. He’s only 28 years old.
“I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.
Njoku qualified for the first time home buyer rebate on his tax return.
“It was really important, I had a vehicle I was looking on paying off,” said. Njoku. And it wasn’t just any vehicle. “It was a 2001 Infinity I-30, silver…just like my favorite car, “he said.
Njoku signed up to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase Bank account. But when the IRS rebate arrived, there was a problem. Chase had closed Njoku’s account because of overdrawn checks in the past. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed them and mailed him a cashier’s check for the difference–$8,463.21.”
http://www.king5.com/news/125105599.html
there wasn’t a problem until the photographer started the name calling.
what’s fun is when you’re getting pulled over and your passenger starts acting like that.
Chaz,
So the torture of a naked, handcuffed citizen is “proper police procedure”?
The victim has four broken ribs and a punctured lung from the beating.
The citizen is on their side and handcuffed at frame 61346 near the start of the video. The beating and repeated tasering happens after that. Few are capable of coordinating their body motions while restrained and being subjected to electroshocks. Even if the victim had control over his motions, he is told simultaneously to “roll over” and “don’t move or you’ll be tasered”.
The incident is now under investigation by the TBI. No doubt the police will be cleared or wrongdoing, and the citizen will continue to be abused in jail where he sits for aggravated assault on these officers as a result of the incident.
More coverage here:
http://www.wsmv.com/video?clipId=6030659&autostart=true
OFF TOPIC — Re: Mexican citizen executed in Texas.
Shouldn’t the President have sent in federal marshals to prevent this execution?
Professor Turley, could you please address this issue?
Puzzling,
After viewing your video that you have posted, I sadly would have to point out that it is not an example of police abuses.
If you look at the video carefully, the person that they are trying to arrest is not cooperating with them. That person was still laying on his back and would not turn over on his stomach as ordered by police officers.
It is not safe to arrest anyone who are still laying on their back. Per department policies set forth, police officers are authorized to use any forces necessary to make other person comply to arrest. They are authorized to use batons, tazer, pepper sprays, or kicking with their feet or hitting with fists to make them comply.
If you observe the video, they are only hitting on body parts that are allowed per department policies: arms, legs. Kicking or hitting with baton on head, torso, or groin are not allowed unless absolutely necessary for self defense. You will also see that they are not kicking THAT hard. You will also observe that the police officer with baton is taking his time and hitting at right time so not to miss and hit other wrong body part.
When that person turned over on his stomach, all hittings, sprayings, kickings, and tazings suddenly stopped! They promptly put handcuff on him and to me, it’s not an example of police abuse but good example of following department policies on proper arresting procedures.
Of course to laymen, it looks extreme, unwarranted, and unnecessary but that is how police usually reacts if anyone resist being arrested.