A Youtube video is going viral showing an Inglewood (CA) man, Avel Amarel, confronting police officers who were demanding to enter his home without a warrant. He recorded the encounter with his cellphone and the incident captures the growing concern of some regarding police powers. It also reveals the level of animosity that can arise in such cases between officers and citizens.
On the video below, one of the officers orders Amarel to turn off the camera. The officer says that they are searching for a wanted felon who allegedly beat his girlfriend nearby. The officers demands Amarel’s name and he refuses and says “I don’t have to tell you that.” He then demands three forms of identification since they could be “anybody dressed up in a uniform.” That leads one officer to respond “You want to play games? I’m gonna drag you out if you . . . ” Ameral tells the officers to get a warrant if they want to search his house.
Nonetheless, the officer repeatedly asks “Will you allow us to check your house?” Ameral repeatedly says “Get a warrant.” Finally, the officer leave with a “thank you.”
A news report quotes Ameral as having some very anti-police views from his Facebook page, including
Police think they can do whatever they want nah not today not with me I’m never ignorant of The law tawmbout they gone drag me out my house making empty threats to a boss! You gotta kno ya sh*t out here cause these devils scanless out here
And another entry later saying “F*** the police… they give us no peace.” A third entry on September 1st reportedly says that he will be “shooting back” if the police shoot at him “like they did Mike [Brown]” in Ferguson, Missouri.
Neither side comes out necessary well in the video and its aftermath. It is an illustrative video of these types of confrontations.
“How do we know you’re not him?” Now that comes from a police you can be proud of.
Cops need to have lapel video while on duty….
TL, this is why the Chinese Government fears the internet’s social power.
Very amazing! I read story above, Betty Kath. These people have guts! For the most part, we do not, and when we do we just get mad, not effective.
Very amazing! I read your first story above, Betty Kath. These people have guts! For the most part, we do not, and when we do we just get mad, not effective.
Let’s hope our cops wise up. Very graphic images at the link.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-21/furious-chinese-rioters-beat-corrupt-policemen-death
It appears, based on these extremely graphic images, that the Chinese people has a different way of dealing with corrupt officials. As Shanghaiist reports, a riot involving around 1,000 people broke out last Saturday in Cangnan county of Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province, resulting in the hospitalization of five chengguan, China’s notoriously abusive and under-regulated urban enforcement officials. The alleged cause for the riots was the five’s brutally killing a civilian. According to reports, the chengguan “hit the man with a hammer until he started to vomit blood, because he was trying to take pictures of their violence towards a woman, a street vendor.” This man later died while being rushed to the hospital. Given the following images of civilian retribution; is it any wonder, the powers that be in China fear social unrest?
[Background: Chengguan is a name given to the City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau, a municipality police that exists in every Chinese city. Chengguan are notorious for their brutality and generally hated far and wide for it. Their purpose is to enforce municipal bylaws, but they like to resort to violence and often use it against those with no means to fight back.]
The incident began…
Recently, a man noticed Chengguan abuse a local female vendor in Cangnan County of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and pulled out his cell phone camera to document their notorious brutality.
Chengguan didn’t like it and since they enjoy almost limitless impunity, they had the man hit in the head with a hammer.
The man was taken to a hospital where he succumbed the following day.
As Shanghaiist reports,
The following report by SCMP describes what happened immediately after the five’s act of violence:
“Angered by their violence, the crowd surrounded the officials and prevented them from leaving the scene. The tension further increased after internet rumours [sic] began circulating that they had beaten an onlooker to death.
Eventually the officials were forced to seek refuge in a van, according to eyewitnesses at the scene. Members of the crowd carrying sticks and stones then smashed the van and assaulted them through windows, they told South Metropolis Daily.”
According to eyewitness accounts, the crowd — which was growing at an alarmingly rapid pace — was shouting for the chengguan to be murdered on the spot for what they did, yelling: “Kill them! Kill them!” They proceeded to beat the five until they were bloodied and unconscious, and later collectively tipped over the ambulance that had arrived to provide medical treatment.
Bailers, a lack of training does not help establish a qualified immunity defense. The question is whether the right was clearly established–the individual officer’s knowledge does not factor in.
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2014/27533/texas-man-indicted-killing-cop-knock-drug-raid/
http://ppjg.me/2012/06/13/indiana-affirms-4th-amendment-right-to-self-protection/
Should be national law.
Time for Law 101 here: can someone give me an example of an exigent circumstance? And thanks for the reminders of what to do or not do when the officers come knocking at the door.
as for the behavior of the victim vs the cops the victim was well within in his rights no matter his diction or language the cops were obviously lying thru their teeth., this is what happens now that the cops who are trainers are being sent over to russia to receive their training. im sure many dont realize or will refuse to believe it
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/26/massachusetts-swat-teams-claim-theyre-private-corporations-immune-from-open-records-laws/
These cops definitely did NOT behave. i.e. illegal conduct for sure.
David Walters
Can one really upload cell phone camera video real-time to YouTube or to any other location?
Yes there is a very good app named stop and frisk and soon as you hit record it begins downloading the video to a aclu server so even if the cops erase it off your camera they cant erase it off of the aclu server there is also bambuser which is pretty good to but i like stop and frisk better as its made specifically for interactions like this with the cops
I think this guy and his family were brilliant. He said the right things. He communicated well under pressure. He stood up for his privacy. If I were forced to be cop I would sit in a doughnut shop all day.
I saw a nice doormat which says: Come Back With A Warrant. All Amercans should buy one of these. And a trap door just inside the door so that intruders go directly past Go to the cellar– where the snakes are.