It took 45 minutes, 6 police officers, and 5 office staff to field a FOIA request.
The police wanted to solicit a disorderly conduct charge because he swore and talked back to them after the clerk invocked his mom.
Comments
how many helpful cops does it take to get a signed copy of a FOIA request?
I know some people will give this auditor a hard time about professionalism but the female clerk mentioned something about the auditors mother. The disrespect and unprofessionalism by the clerk was uncalled for and the give what you give approach is what this auditor did. Some people do like this style while some do not.
If you give an inch they take a mile. This guy shows the power of knowing your rights. He completely mentally disarmed about 6 different police officers in a 20 minute video. People get the same respect they give and that clerk is rude as hell.
I don’t understand why so many people in the public think this guy isn’t trying to protect their rights? People will say “ oh he’s just trying to be trouble” when in reality if the public workers treated the way they do everyone without a camera nothing would have happened but paying getting his copy and leaving. Why does a camera mean he doesn’t get served or cops called on him?
these cops were just there to help this guy 🤣🤣🤣 kinda like when i paid $197 jaywalking fine in pennies
Another example of a “under resourced” dept that can spare 6 officers to stand and do nothing, for no legitimate reason
4:53 Cops will always interrupt, or turn their attention elsewhere whenever a member of the public tries to educate them on case law…
many ignorant cops in one place who ask questions and do not listen to so they just keep harassing this law abiding citizen
I love this guy. It is so crazy that people want to work for the public, but hate the public. She needs to be fired and the officers re-educated on the law and Constitution. They called the cops over hurt feelings and the idiot cops showed up and tried to enforce the “feelings”.
“don’t you want us to help you?”
“no”
that question backfired on that cop lmaooo
Not to be as dramatic as John Filax but any time a cop says “okay” they know the game is over and all they can do is save face by escalating.
Funny how all these incidents start from people being in their feelings.
As a retired police officer, with over 20 years of service. This video is 100% correct. I was constantly, battling my “alleged” superiors (they hated me), over what the law states vs. their personal opinion. So many times, I was told/ordered… “Do as I say, not as I do” Ad-nauseum! That’s why I retired early. I worked for three separate departments and they were “ALL” the same! The only thing I learned I was going to continue to do, what was right (follow the law). Not what was popular by a bunch of ignorant/god complex supervisors. Supervisors who were the first to put an officer under the bus to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions! That’s known as… A FACT! I speak from over 20 years of dealing with that CRAP!!!
the only way this will stop is if it is MANDATORY that all cops state the actual law that is being broken when first contacted. Then if your recording you have the so called law on record.On traffic stops the first thing out of the officers mouth should be why he or she pulled you over. If not stated then the driver should be let go.Also needs a law that cops cannot touch your vehicle at any time during the stop. Always seemed to me of planting evidence on personal property.
When cops start losing the argument they go straight to open ended questions in the hopes that if they do it long enough you will eventually lose patience and THEN they get you for disorderly, etc.
he is well known to the police there. he has the right to get the video anonymously and thats why he asked for it anonymously , not because he need to stay anonymous. the video he asked for is from a police station where police attacked him without he doing anything wrong. (they ambushed him also on the streets, crazy ambush without warning) thats why it took so long to get this video, the police fucked up big time there and he has all on video. the whole town conspires against this man, the city attorney, the police ,… i went in rabbit hole on his channel the other day and thats one crazy ride all his intereactions with public servants on this matter. i can say you this man has absolutely no fear and this story will be a good one, because he documents every step and he does his law suit and complain every time and he will win in the end-
I cant believe it takes that many people for one simple request.
This is what happens when people take the attitude of: “we talk; you listen”. If instead one or two of these employees had spent a little more energy listening then they would not take an hour to produce a copy of a piece of paper.
They tactically surrounded you. You should’ve questioned them on their hostility. There was no need for that.
I would strongly advise the auditor to always bring a friend, and have that friend be completely silent while recording
“Give what you get” is one of the first principles that kids learn in kindergarten. As they mature, some kids learn that they can better accomplish their goals by not playing or joining in that game.
He should have at least let the cops know the clerk was talking about his mother, and so he was returning that vibe.
How many cops does it take to screw with a photographer? The world may never know
The best part is you had six police officers ask you if you needed help and not one of them helped you.
This is why there is a disconnect between the police and the public.Respect is earned not given and government has never earned respect
I love how that woman sitting down looked at him the entire time like he’s trash. Spectacle!
How many cops does it take to copy a piece of paper,…we still don’t know
I’m not sure what annoys me more, the blatant waste of time, the lecturing of officers, or the $40 cost for a public record to hold government accountable… time wasted and paywalls to accountability… this is why government is failing…
He is lucky he wasn’t arrested for not letting them help him 🤣
Qualified immunity needs abolished. That’s why cops just laugh &/or cuff you when threatened w a lawsuit. Bc the taxpayers are the only ones punished for bad cop behavior!
This guy has a mouth. I’m surprised that they didn’t try to recruit him on that alone.
If it wasn’t for the video’s you wouldn’t believe how these public servants act toward we the people ( citizens ) they were rule, disrespectful and out right ignorant acting. And for her to bring up your mother’s name. Their treatment of you was outrageous, and should be fired, who do they think they are. Pure tyrants and 6 police officer’s for what? Keep videoing and exposing, you have my vote….Stay safe
The worst part of interactions like this is that the private citizen is citing laws that are actually being broken by public servants and the public servants are citing bogus charges against the citizen.
Perfect example of how police escalate in every situation. Great video exposing public employees that think it’s their building & they actually think that WE the people have to serve & cater to them.
I think he handled it very well the only thing I don’t understand is he said he filed the foia without his name because he wanted to remain anonymous and then he used either a credit or debit card that makes no sense
I have to honestly say I don’t know if I could control my temper with these officers are trying to create a situation that would allow them to throw me out!
11:00 FREE HELP?! Are they all volunteers today? There is probably more than $500,000 worth of LEOS just standing around harassing a citizen!
For all the help they claimed to want to provide, they just couldn’t get over their egos. Their disdain for the public and transparency was on full display.
There are 27 cameras back there. Why is mine the issue. “LOL”
Imo they act like this because they are hoping that the person will lose their patients to justify them making a hands on arrest? The person behind the counter is the one the Cops should of been talking to and observing as they were the one that started to make unjustified personal comments. Very good auditor who keeps his cool and explains things very well.
Overstaffed police department that’s for sure
A great example of how there isn’t any Law Enforcement, but Feelings Policing and Revenue Generating by today’s undereducated overpaid Governmental Welfare Recipients.
“That’s disorderly conduct sir..”
🤦🤦🤦🤦 They always try and pull that BS because most people don’t know their rights and will roll over for them.
One thing these videos show is the overstaffing of all these police forces. They are all sitting around doing nothing until they see an opportunity to hassle a citizen. Budgets should be slashed.
To charge a person with disorderly conduct there has to be a threat of imminent danger.
In NC there’s a law thst says if ya cuss a cop you can be charged with assault on a cop.
In this case, the cop could ask the man to stop cussing, but not demand it. Or call it disorderly conduct. That’s suppression of free speech. So is the law in NC.
Bring up my Momma & we gon tangle.“They’re back there working on your request.” WTH? Do they have 6 monks back there copying the 10 Commandments for the last 45 minutes?
Look at the tyrannt who keeps covering his body cam!
He missed a few opportunites to say “You work here AND want to help me? Go get my stamped and dated copy of my paperwork… Why aren’t you moving to help me?”
This auditor went way too far with the verbal abuse. This is obviously all about getting clicks.
Will they ever get tired of pulling out old faithful “ disorderly conduct “ I doubt it it will be used to intimidate and threaten till the end of time.
Courts have ruled multiple officer s is a show of force and may constitute a detention
This auditor could learn a few things about professionalism by watching Battousai for a while.
I kinda dont like it when auditors get deliberately rude. I mean… I get it…. My mother is dead so if she said that to me I’d get a bit upset so…. I get it.I know “she started it” but we really shouldn’t be propping up auditors who act like this. He CLEARLY heard something he could take and run with to ratchet up the confrontation and went 10x beyond what her little transgression reasonably called for, let’s be real. The overly-confrontational type of auditors make it about themselves instead of the big picture and even when they’re TECHNICALLY in the right, end up harming their own cause acting like jack-offs. Yes, the police sucked, so this is just immaturity on BOTH sides.
They actually believe they help people out 🤡
Seems like harrassment just to get public service
Why did he pay by card? They can now find out who he is!
>> Because they already know him from previous battles they lost.You have to go at these lions like a lion. They are no longer public servants they are public predators. Reason and logic is not a flower that grows in any of their Gardens. They prey on the weak stand your ground be adamant about exercising your constitutional rights. Keywords are lawsuit and ending their qualified immunity. You made it clear you know you’re constitutional rights and the consequences that they will incur for violating your constitutional rights. FTP
Fun with FOIA: How MuckRock Is Making Public Records Requests Cool
Now in its fourth year, FOIA March Madness works a lot like the US college basketball version of March Madness, where participants bet on teams in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, except in this version, instead of basketball teams, the brackets consist of 64 federal agencies. MuckRock sends the same request to all the agencies — this year, it asked for data about the agencies themselves — and participants bet on how quickly agencies will reply. MuckRock puts the agencies in brackets, and each week, advances them based on if they get back to them and whether they release any information.
“Agencies repeatedly tell us that FOIA March Madness is their favorite thing, and that they look forward to it every year,” Brown says. “Some agencies take it super seriously — the SEC [Securities and Exchanges Commission] actually made their own award for themselves after they won. Of course, some of the agencies are always going to be bad sports about it, like the CIA and the FBI. But a lot of people [at agencies’ FOIA offices] are actually in this line of work because they want to be doing it.”
The agency that came out on top of FOIA March Madness in 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission, created a plaque with a rock on it. They have pledged to give it to this year’s winners. Photo: Courtesy of MuckRock
FOIA March Madness isn’t easy, says David Cuillier, who is president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition: “I used data, crunched it and picked agencies based on past performance. But it looks like I didn’t do that well, which tends to confirm my thinking in that it’s kind of hit-and-miss depending on which FOIA officer you get that day!”
Participants whose picks came out on top win packs of MuckRock swag, which is not just your typical tote bags and mugs. Well, they do have mugs, but they’re magical unredacting mugs. MuckRock’s merchandise is full of jokes for public records aficionados, like T-shirts bearing the major US records laws’ acronyms; stickers that read “Always Be Filing”; and “Black Bar” T-shirts (a spin on the logo of punk rock band Black Flag).
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.. “MuckRock’s process for submitting requests is probably the easiest out there for someone just getting started,” says Nate Jones, Director of the Freedom of Information Act Project for the National Security Archive, a nonprofit that collects declassified records.
.. MuckRock operates with a staff of seven full-time employees. According to Morisy, its budget for 2017 (the most recent year for which finalized financials were available) was just under $300,000. About half of MuckRock’s funding comes from grants from the Democracy Fund, the Knight Foundation, the News Integrity Initiative, and the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Initiative. A quarter comes from payment for MuckRock’s services, and the remaining quarter comes from miscellaneous sources like individual donations and merchandise sales (including the sales of two books they’ve authored about the FBI files of writers and scientists).
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