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Sources:
United States v. Robinson- https://bit.ly/38DJAau
Whren v. United States- https://bit.ly/3gX0kyJ
Yick Wo v. Hopkins- https://bit.ly/38NBVXY
Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney- https://bit.ly/3kwePdc
Illinois v. Caballes- https://bit.ly/3aYrksV
Rodriguez v. United States- https://bit.ly/2LS1sqc
Michigan v. Defillippo- https://bit.ly/3ycKfNU
Kolender v. Lawson- https://bit.ly/3F5ep7j
Florida v. Harris- https://bit.ly/3y315Pk
Efficacy of drug detection by fully-trained police dogs- https://bit.ly/39yEFez
Court Records (2018-TR-123713-A-O)- https://bit.ly/3FfATm3
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByoL5…
Real World Police’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChaE…
Comments:
Look at the zeal with which he seeks to find suspicion in an ordinary person’s response to being approached with his level of aggression. Look at how thoroughly his desire to enforce drug busts—which are both profitable and valuable to him as a career move—corrupts his ability to to do his job properly. This entire situation is a ruse to bust someone for drugs. It has no legitimate traffic-enforcement purpose.
On top of that, there’s no actual complaint or meaningful indication of drug activity. This cop just pulled over some guy for a common, minor traffic thing and decided to turn his day into a nightmare, on the excuse that he reacted in a totally reasonable way (nervousness, invoking his rights) to a trap the cops manufactured to go fishing. The truth is that it wouldn’t matter how he reacted. They’d find an excuse to run the dog either way. This young man did exactly the right thing by invoking his rights.
On the cop’s own word, he doesn’t care about the traffic offenses in the least—even though he should, as traffic control is an important function that protects the public. He also doesn’t care about the rights of private citizens—arguably the most important function of his job—as evidenced by his willingness to play out this pretext to bully people into vehicle searches that contravene the spirit of the Fourth Amendment.
I know it sounds extreme, but if the justice system itself won’t fix problems like this, our only peaceful option as individual citizens is to document the abuses and then avoid cities with police like this at all costs. It’s a slow bleed, but it will work. Starve them of taxes, tourism, and fines. Pressure the local government to fix the problem or watch itself gradually turn into a ghost town.
- As a law abiding citizen, I’ve always resented that fact that I feel intimidated every time I see the police, LEO’s need to learn that their job is to protect and serve, it seems these days they’re more concerned with being sneaky and trying to shaft anyone they can because they noticed your brake light burned out before u could.
- I hate seeing this happen to people. I have been pulled over a few times in my life and each time I get extremely nervous and get a bad adrenaline rush. So much so that isn’t visible to the officers and I have been asked “why are you so nervous” it’s one of the most terrifying questions I have ever been asked by a police officer and even though I didn’t have anything to hide I still couldn’t explain to an officer why I was freaking out so bad, and IM WHITE, and I grew up with a father for a cop. If this is how I feel during a traffic stop then I can’t even begin to image how people of minorities, or other races feel during police interactions. My heart goes out to you and I truly hope that the police in this country get a serious reconstruction because this system is messed up.
- “Roll your window updown.” “You got your license and registration? Why you reaching around all crazy?” Can’t even go 15 seconds into the encounter without cops doing things to intentionally confuse the citizen so they can make a mountain out of a molehill.
- “You’re making me nervous” -the fully armed and armored person with another identically outfitted guy on his side talking to the unarmed guy he just detained for “reaching around” after being asked for his registration.
- this encounter hasn’t “tainted his view towards police officers”. It has set it straight, once and for all.
@kareem Spaulding I’m so sorry you went through this, but I know I not alone in my admiration of you; the way you handled these fucks – and especially the way you handled yourself – would take some serious strength, self-control, and a calm and knowledgeable mind.
- Don’t forget that the cop (I’ll edit the timestamp in) admitted that Spalding’s refusal to answer questions played a part in his decision to search the car. That’s a violation of his fifth amendment rights.
- @Tom Orr Dude do you fucking live in the same world we do? As soon as those cops got out and approached from both sides at once I was terrified for this man. They behaved like predators from zero, escalating at every opportunity until they had him out of the car and on the sidewalk.
“Fruits of the Poisonous Tree”
As a retired Police Officer, I can tell you that the speeding citation will be tossed. I don’t care about his “well calibrated” Police cruiser, because you’re still required to pace the speeding vehicle at least one mile without losing or gaining distance. I heard a Judge once ask a state Trooper who tried to pull this stunt,;
“you’re telling the court…. with your calibrated eyeballs you clocked him at this rate of speed?!”From the aggressive bullying by these officers, I’m fairly sure that the pacing did not happen. Improper Lane change in the intersection? Their PC for stopping this man is suspect at best.
This foolishness of pulling people over just because you can is dangerous! This traffic stop is pregnant for a disaster. He could have shot them or vice-versa.
Wow, they are intentionally escalating everything they possibly can. They are playing, I’m the Good Guy, and I’m Your Friend. Neither is true. This is a guy with power, and he knows how to use it, so he’s going to twist everything he can, to get what he wants. You have no rights while this guy is near you, and I would imagine police hq would agree with that, and with everything he does.
The driver has every reason to be scared of these guys, and yes, they have guns, and it’s takes a second to have that gun out, and killing you. So, the fact that it isn’t in their hand means nothing at all. Just the fact that cops are still acting like this, after everything that has happened in the last few years, is really a problem.
They are actually using the fact, that anyone would be nervous of cops as reason to invade your privacy, and do what they want, in the guise of your being suspicious, because your nervous. Like anyone can really stay completely calm around cops acting like they are. It’s a really shady way to do justice.
The ones actually acting suspicious, are the cops. They are screaming, Don’t Trust Us!!!
This was a fishing expedition, like most police stops like this. They do their best to Escalate anything they can, to give you a ticket, or take you to jail. Either way, they want you feeding money into the system, to fight the system. They want to get you in front of a judge. Nothing else matters, because police do no wrongs, and they never lie.
Sadly, talking to lawyers this is EXTREMELY common. Where cops will try to delay something as much as possible to get a drug dog out there to harass someone.
What they told me is if something like that happens. Tell the officer “am I free to go”, and “I do not consent to stay here longer than a reasonable time for you to do your investigation.” Another is if they say you’re not free to go, say “please tell me when I’m free to go so I can leave. Thank you” Basically, it shows you didn’t voluntary stay there longer than needed for a normal traffic stop. It is likely, if he brought it to court with this body cam and a good lawyer. He wouldn’t have to pay a dime, and he could’ve sued for the extended time being stuck there.From what they told me, if they pull a I smell x. You say, “can you prove in court that you smell x?” They might get PO, but basically it signals that won’t fly in court. They will most likely try to pull a drug dog, and mention “your lawyer will pull up the record of the drug dog training, and all officers involved.” Like they and others will pull BS that saying that forces them to do it. But in reality, by the time they are pulling a stunt with a drug dog or threatening it. They are going to do it no matter what you say, and fear of it not being held up in court is the only way to get them to back down.
#1: I’ll help you- the young Black man (that’s what this is all about) gets an A+++ as he did what a Judge (a relative of mine) told us to do: keep your hands on the wheel or up in plain sight, no movements unless asked to do so, simply ask why you’re being stopped, try to remain calm, let the cops know you’re going to exercise your rights, & that you don’t consent to any searches or seizures. Despite clearly doing this, he is assaulted, handcuffed, harassed, & subject to numerous rights violations during this course of racial profiling.
#2: This is the modus operandi for these cops (seen it & been thru it enough myself) and they clearly stated what their real intentions where while they used the plethora of tricks afforded them by the Courts.
#3: I thought this was going to be another young Black man murdered by cops during a traffic stop for nothing. IF you couldn’t tell, the young man was literally frightened for his life. He was confused by what they really wanted from him/their actions. Their approach, tone, & attitude let him know that “road piracy” wasn’t what this was all about. He did NOT know if he would survive this encounter.
#4: He probably can’t afford a $750/hour attorney (if he could find one) & how many of us can? He paid the ticket as he wanted to be through with this system as much as anything else. Besides, the Courts ain’t gonna listen to him even if these 2 regularly planted drugs on innocent citizens. Period.
#5: He is permanently scarred by this treatment from “those sworn to serve and protect” & will do his best to avoid them forever.Oh, but the system loses as well. He will return to his community & add his fear and humiliation to that of his community which will continue to not trust law enforcement (exactly why should they?).
So, forget about expecting virtually any cooperation when law enforcement needs help from them.
- Why anyone would believe that this type of “law enforcement” is either fair, okay, or sustainable is beyond me. People are beyond tired of this crap…..
- I find it disappointing that when a person doesn’t jump through their hoops in assisting the officers in finding evidence to arrest them on, and politely says they won’t answer questions: the officers assume he’s some “extremist sovern citizen”.
- I’ve encountered cops talking to me like that, too, except for the narcotics stuff.
- Cop “Your acting all nervous, reaching around, rolling up your windows..” Later same cop “You’re making me nervous.”
- This video just infuriates me….this is THE definition of a pre textual stop…..this driver was absolutely mistreated and the only reason the cop didn’t catch an a$$ whoopin is because he IS a cop…..disgusting law enforcement overreach
- The footage is from the bodycam footage of the cops, which was continuously edited, as the breaks are clearly noticeable… The footage did not show the driver’s actual violation, as would have been captured on the cop’s car dashcam… There is not any footage showing anything to the claimed traffic violation… Clearly there is a lawsuit in play, being that we are seeing this on Audit the Audit… The cops violated an array of the driver’s rights, creating false narratives and outright lying… The crooked and racist courts of that jurisdiction will drag the lawsuit… This is police gang behavior, at the expense of taxpayers.
I get a laugh out of the cops that say, “you’re shaking. Why are you nervous?” Idk, maybe because ARMED men are escalating what should be a routine traffic stop for no other reason to try and pin an actual crime on me.
Seriously, cops like this drive me insane. For the record, I’m a law-abiding citizen and even I’ll admit that I get nervous during traffic stops, even though I know I’m not doing anything wrong. Why? Just because you’re innocent doesn’t mean a cop won’t try anything funny, like planting evidence. It does happen and I actually fear the long-term repercussions of such an action more so than the “in the moment.”
There’s also one more factor to consider. It was very obvious from the search that the “suspect” drives for Uber. I can say this as a former Uber driver. I have had clientele accidentally leave and spill drugs in my vehicle that I didn’t see until the end of the day when I was done driving. What would happen if I was pulled over and they ended up calling a K-9 unit? I would get in trouble for my own clientele’s illegal behavior. I did get pulled over once while driving for Uber and it was an absolute baloney stop. Officer claimed I failed to yield at a stop sign at a right turn and I called him out on it because I HAD to stop. There was oncoming traffic coming from the left and I had to wait for that vehicle to pass through the intersection. Cop let me off with a warning but honestly, if he did site me, I would’ve FOIA’d the dash cam footage and taken it to traffic court. The cop had absolutely nothing. I had a passenger at the time too and she actually felt bad for me because she knew I didn’t do anything wrong either.
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Fishing Expedition ends in Retaliation?
“Can I leave?”“No”“You’re loitering”
- This happens a lot especially when it’s a female officer being observed by a male officer. She has to show she can throw her authority around. And make citizens afraid of her.
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>> He never should’ve handed over his ID.
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The Absurd Case against the Coronavirus Lockdown
An irony of the coronavirus debate is that the more successful lockdowns are in squelching the disease, the more vulnerable they will be to attack as unnecessary in the first place.
A growing chorus on the right is slamming the shutdowns as an overreaction and agitating to end them. A good example of the genre is an op-ed co-authored by former Education Secretary William Bennett and talk-radio host Seth Leibsohn. It is titled, tendentiously and not very accurately, “Coronavirus Lessons: Fact and Reason vs. Paranoia and Fear.”
They cite an estimate that the current outbreak will kill 68,000 Americans. Then, they note that about 60,000 people died of the flu in 2017-18. For this, they thunder, we’ve imposed huge economic and social costs on the country?
This is obviously a deeply flawed way of looking at it.
If we are going to have 60,000 deaths with people not leaving their homes for more than a month, the number of deaths obviously would have been higher — much higher — if everyone had gone about business as usual. We didn’t lock down the country to try to prevent 60,000 deaths; we locked down the country to limit deaths to 60,000 (or whatever the ultimate toll is).
By Bennett and Leibsohn’s logic, we could just as easily ask: Why did we adopt tough-on-crime policies when crime rates are at historic lows? Why did we work to find a treatment for HIV/AIDs when so many of the people with the disease now have normal life expectancies?
Of course, it was precisely the actions we took that caused those welcome outcomes.
Consider the perversity of their reasoning a different way. If we had shut down the country a month sooner and there had been, say, only 2,000 deaths, then on their terms they’d have an even stronger argument, i.e., “We did all this, and there were only a couple of thousand fatalities?”
In other words, the more effective a lockdown would have been, the more opposed Bennett and Leibsohn would be to it.
As for the flu comparison, it isn’t as telling as Bennett and Leibsohn believe. The 2017-18 season, with 60,000 flu-related deaths, was particularly bad. But the coronavirus might kill a similar number — with the country on lockdown.
In the 2011-12 season, 12,000 people died of the flu in the entire country. New York alone has eclipsed that in a little more than a month (again, while on lockdown). In 2018-19, there were 34,000 flu-related deaths in the U.S. We’ve already surpassed that number nationally (yet again, while on lockdown).
Why have people reacted so dramatically to this virus? Bennett and Leibsohn have a theory: “New York City is where the epidemic has struck the hardest. The media is centered in New York City.”
New York certainly gets disproportionate media attention, but it is also, as all of us had no hesitation recognizing on Sept. 11, 2001, part of America.
If the disease struck smaller heartland cities such as Omaha and Wichita, would Bennett and Leibsohn hope that the story got ignored?
Bennett and Leibsohn neglect the key fact that the economy began to shut down before there were widespread official orders. People voted with their feet because they were fearful of a highly transmissible, virulent disease. And they acted rationally. If everything had gone on as normal, the outbreak would have been worse, and we would have eventually had shutdowns anyway.
The most objectionable part of the Bennett and Leibsohn posture is its sneering attitude toward “frenzied, panicked” ordinary Americans who have sacrificed so much to protect their families and co-workers (and complete strangers).
By all means, let’s open up the economy as soon as we can, but it will require more careful thought than the most fervent critics of the shutdowns have demonstrated during the peak of this pandemic.
China is Losing the New Cold War
In contrast to the Soviet Union, China’s leaders recognize that strong economic performance is essential to political legitimacy. Like the Soviet Union, however, they are paying through the nose for a few friends, gaining only limited benefits while becoming increasingly entrenched in an unsustainable arms race with the US.
When the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, the Communist Party of China (CPC) became obsessed with understanding why. The government think tanks entrusted with this task heaped plenty of blame on Mikhail Gorbachev, the reformist leader who was simply not ruthless enough to hold the Soviet Union together. But Chinese leaders also highlighted other important factors, not all of which China’s leaders seem to be heeding today... But overseeing a faltering economy was hardly the only mistake Soviet leaders made. They were also drawn into a costly and unwinnable arms race with the United States, and fell victim to imperial overreach, throwing money and resources at regimes with little strategic value and long track records of chronic economic mismanagement. As China enters a new “cold war” with the US, the CPC seems to be at risk of repeating the same catastrophic blunders... China spent some $228 billion on its military last year, roughly 150% of the official figure of $151 billion... the issue is not the amount of money China spends on guns per se, but rather the consistent rise in military expenditure, which implies that the country is prepared to engage in a long-term war of attrition with the US. Yet China’s economy is not equipped to generate sufficient resources to support the level of spending that victory on this front would require.If China had a sustainable growth model underpinning a highly efficient economy, it might be able to afford a moderate arms race with the US. But it has neither... China’s growth is likely to continue to decelerate, owing to rapid population aging, high debt levels, maturity mismatches, and the escalating trade war that the US has initiated. All of this will drain the CPC’s limited resources. For example, as the old-age dependency ratio rises, so will health-care and pension costs... while the Chinese economy may be far more efficient than the Soviet economy was, it is nowhere near as efficient as that of the US. The main reason for this is the enduring clout of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which consume half of the country’s total bank credit, but contribute only 20% of value-added and employment... the CPC is that SOEs play a vital role in sustaining one-party rule, as they are used both to reward loyalists and to facilitate government intervention on behalf of official macroeconomic targets... Dismantling these bloated and inefficient firms would thus amount to political suicide. Yet protecting them may merely delay the inevitable, because the longer they are allowed to suck scarce resources out of the economy, the more unaffordable an arms race with the US will become – and the greater the challenge to the CPC’s authority will become... The second lesson that China’s leaders have failed to appreciate adequately is the need to avoid imperial overreach. About a decade ago, with massive trade surpluses bringing in a surfeit of hard currency, the Chinese government began to take on costly overseas commitments and subsidize deadbeat “allies.”.. Exhibit A is the much-touted Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a $1 trillion program focused on the debt-financed construction of infrastructure in developing countries... An even more egregious example of imperial overreach is China’s generous aid to countries – from Cambodia to Venezuela to Russia – that offer little in return... from 2000 to 2014, Cambodia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe together received $24.4 billion in Chinese grants or heavily subsidized loans. Over the same period, Angola, Laos, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela received $98.2 billion... Like the Soviet Union, China is paying through the nose for a few friends, gaining only limited benefits while becoming increasingly entrenched in an unsustainable arms race. The Sino-American Cold War has barely started, yet China is already on track to lose.