The nearly deadly encounter between an unarmed teen and an off-duty Baltimore police officer still haunts the family, but the recent controversy involving the city’s civilian review board may leave them with nowhere to turn
A cop tried to keep him from recording a traffic stop, but now he’s fighting back to change the law
The battle over the right to record police is far from over. That’s because a case pending over a routine traffic stop in Lakewood, Colorado, where police interfered with a citizen journalist recording, could have a huge impact on a controversial legal precedent which shields cops from legal liability.
End Qulified Immunity Protections, & Civil Asset Forfeiture. Hold Cops Accountable.
Cops who break the law must be held accountable for their illegal actions !!!
This is also why you need to tell the cop that he is about to violate your rights and will lose his qualified immunity. Otherwise he can claim he didn’t know that law or right and use the qualified immunity as a defense.
Get it right in your heads people. “To protect and serve” means themselves.
Qualified immunity isn’t a matter that will be addressed by police reform. It’s part of the holding accountable of elected officials.
If cops didn’t break the law. These people who record them would not need to record the cops
In “this day and age…” Why do cops NOT know the law?
That cop who try to obstruct them from recording definitely has more issues under the radar and he’s a ticking bomb.
this is America cops should lose their pensions three strikes and they’re out!!😎
That would be three justice systems.
One for police, one for the wealthy, one for the rest of us.And PlEASE leave a comment for copwatcher Abade aka Liberty Freak, his law suit may become case law that protects your right to record the police! So make sure to give him some kindness and support as he will be turning himself into law enforcement and will be incarcerated for a few months. So this is your chance to share your thoughts with him before he goes inside. Thank you! -taya
What an incredible episode!!! I especially love it when you break things down and illustrate clearly how our system has “run amuck” and been abused to undermine & sabotage itself.
“Qualified Impunity” is such a clever, creative and accurate play on words. I would love to see that term widely adopted because I would hope that this shift might become a catalyst for reform by bringing a better understanding of just how broken our system is; and how close we may be to losing our democracy itself! It is being attacked and undermined in so many ways right now from so many sides…
If ignorance of the law is no excuse for civilians ignorance of our rights should be no excuse for the law!
Since this video was from Colorado it would make sense to mention that, at the time of this report, a new police accountability law was about to go into effect. Since then several cops, notably Loveland PD, have been held accountable with this law. As for my opinion I would like to say, no one has done more to end qualified immunity than corrupt cops all over the US.
If cleaning up neighborhoods changes the culture by changing the way people feel, then cities have an interest in leaving them neglected to justify dumping more money into police presence. It’s business as usual.
There are three types of versions of laws, the one for the poor aka the “criminal class” and then the one for government officials/LEOs, and finally the one for the elites/the rich who line the pockets of said govt officials & LEOs
I think we now know why the police are no longer required to learn the law before claiming to “enforce the law”.
Not knowing the law lets the police officers claim “I didn’t know the law” and the courts say it was an “honest mistake” and let them off with a warning to do better.Oh and…….”qualified immunity” sounds like a “Jim Crow” law. It’s sickening that such a perversion of our Constitutional Rights is allowed!
Something to keep in mind. Until privatized, for profit, publicly traded prisons are done away with none of this tyranny will end.
I’ve always said that one of the main goals of 1st Amendment auditor’s is to remove the sovereign from the state 👍💯👍
Driver: I’m just defending myself here. You really have nothing to fear from me. I’m not out to get you. So can you kindly just cite or warn me and we can go on our way?
Wait, qualified immunity gets it’s power by proving that the law enforcement officer was ignorant of the law? Make it make sense somebody please.
Officers Respond to Man holding a sign protesting the Governor
As a 32 year veteran Police Sergeant, I think your channel is outstanding!!! I plan on showing several of your videos to my Officers. Keep up the great work!!!
The two officers should be graded separately. The lady was pleasant, the guy was terrible, went as far as to accuse him of being on something.
I appreciate all of your content and agree whole heartily in free speech. With that being said, Mr Porter should in no way receive an A+ rating. His behavior towards the officers were unjust. In no way did they approach him negatively yet he continued to disrespect them. In my opinion, you definitely got this rating incorrect.
Dude was so over prepared for his confrontation with the police. He would have owned them so much better if he stayed calmer
“You could be arrested if someone thought your action are disorderly” is an implied threat of arrest.
I get this guy is passionate but he comes off as extremely emotionally charged right from the getgo
The guy knew his rights. Bravo! But he acted like an ass, without a calm demeanor.
I’m not a police officer, but I cannot give that guy a perfect score because he keeps forcing the issue, even when the police appear to be ready to leave.
It feels like this channel gives citizens the edge when grading.“my free speech is not contingent on someone else’s emotions”. PERFECTLY said!!
Also, I love the way the cop parked making it difficult for drivers to get around putting people in danger. It seems that’s common practice among law enforcement. Can you imagine if we the people blocked a lane on a busy highway.
This is one of my favorite videos. People who make fraudulent calls to the police or emergency services should be charged and fined for wasting public resources. I also agree that dispatchers need proper training to prevent further waste of public resources. In the end, we the taxpayers, fund these useless altercations.
The officers were obviously trying to intimidate him through their presence, which, in and of itself, is an attempt to limit Mr. Porter’s ability to exercise his rights.
I definitely took the male officer’s comments about disorderly conduct as a threat too. They are gaslighting the the filmer trying to make him think that’s not what he meant when it clearly was. Why would the officer even bring it up as a possibility if he wasn’t trying to scare the filmer off?
I usually agree with the letter grades but A+?? He started off antagonistic and only got worse throughout. Even if he was right, that attitude alone knocks at least a few points off. It certainly has in the past
The biggest detriment to good policing is the respective officer’s inflated ego. Officers must be trained to enforce the law, not win every verbal joust with a citizen.
“we’ve never been nasty to you” when the guy tried to threaten him with a disorderly conduct charge and attempted to lay the basis for an accusation of drug abuse
Notice how Officer Mackenzie looks down at her name badge after the “Karen” comment. I looked her up, and sure enough, that’s her first name.
I’ve been binge watching a lot of these videos lately and normally I find myself generally agreeing with your ratings but this one was way off the mark for Mr. Porter. Dude was needlessly confrontational, nasty, aggressive, and escalated the situation when there was no need to do so. Dude would have gotten a B- from me at best and only that high because of his thorough understanding of his rights. There was absolutely nothing cool, calm, or collected about his behavior or attitude during the entire encounter and that snarky parting comment to Officer Arnold was absolutely unnecessary. The officers might not have had the best legal intentions when they walked up to him and Officer Arnold was definitely reaching for a bit with the drug and disorderly comments but overall they were polite and collected and never escalated the situation themselves. Would have given them a B.
I’m a hardcore 1st amendment advocate, but I believe this is a pretty feeble example of that violation. The one guy was questionable, but the female officer was obviously trying to accommodate the fellow filming, and he wasn’t going to have it.
I wouldn’t exactly call Mr. Porter‘s actions calm cool or collected.
He definitely vigorously stood up for his right for free speech but he did come off way more hostile than he needed to.While I detest most police interaction and the abuse of their power, I gotta say I was really impressed with the officers, especially the female. While the man is right and has broken no law, the female officer showed courtesy, respect, and was just doing her job admirably. I feel there was no need for the douche nozzle handling of the situation. We see so much BS from shitty officers it gives me hope seeing an officer doing their job admirably.
I watch a lot of these videos and these two cops actually did really well in this interaction , stayed pleasant throughout and told him straight why they was there, starting with “I can’t let you hold that sign up” wasn’t the right move , but the rest of the interaction was really good , they did the right thing and got a supervisor to the scene 👍
You know, when the police said they could stand there all day with him, he should have responded by thanking them for joining his protest and offering to bring them a sign next time.
Imagine calling the police because someone is holding a sign you disagree with.
It seems like when they showed up to have him stop protesting, they started back peddling when they found out that this guy knows his stuff and wasn’t someone they could push around. I really hate the police that get drunk on the power they have and waist time messing with people who haven’t broken any laws instead of taking down actual criminals.
What really impresses me is how they parked, creating an unsafe roadway to tell a guy the public doesn’t like his sign.
As someone who doesn’t live in the US i find these police interactions so outlandish
IT SHOULD BE MANDATORY FOR ALL POLICE ENTITIES TO WATCH THIS CHANNEL AND BE, AT THE VERY LEAST, PROFICIENT IN THE RIGHTS OF THOSE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO SERVE AND PROTECT AND THE LAWS THAT THEY ENFORCE….
I can’t give Mr. Porter an A+. I give him an A-. He needs to get his emotions under control a little better. Other than that he did okay.
Dude wanted to arrest him so badly. Not only did he throw disorderly out there, he asked him if he was on drugs and said he was shaking like a leaf 😂
Protestor: “I have a Constitutional right to protest”.
Police Officer: “That’s like, so offensive dude! You’re being really mean!”Actually the reason I would give them a C is that they were quickly defeated but still hung around having petty arguments with the guy for 20 more minutes. You have to know when it’s time to fold.
I totally agree with his right to protest. I do think he needs to take the attitude down a couple of notches. I believe that yelling your views is not as effective as calmly expressing your views.
To the responding cops: “Good. You came out as required. Now that you see that no illegal activity is going on, STFU and LEAVE.”
I love it when the Police say they are being nice to you whilst also intimidating you at the same time. No one has a duty to be nice to anyone else. Being nice is nice but not being nice isn’t a crime.
While I have nothing against this video, I do find your analysis of the citizen as being “cool and collected” which was not exactly the case, as he was rather hostile in tone and manner in which he replied. Citizens need to show the same respect to officers as they themselves should be shown. When the officers are talking calm and evenly, the same should be done in return, even if the officers are wrong. While a hostile or aggressive tone of voice is not something that should be used against a citizen, it does have an innate effect on the encounter none the less, as we are all human.
I never realized just how passive aggressive and snarky officers can be until I started watching this channel.
If he’s a nasty person then stop talking to him and let him exercise his constitutional rights in peace. Walk away. It’s really simple
“You’re a nasty dude”
And then moments later says
“It was nice to meet you”
That doesn’t seem normal to me.Yeah the dude threatened arrest for disorderly in an attempt to intimidate and humble him, and then tried the whole “are you under the influence” nonsense in an attempt to further justify harassing, detaining, and/or arresting him.
The cop starts by saying “I can’t let you…” as if it’s her decision on a whim what free people can and cannot do smh
If someone called 911 over a sign, the caller needs to go to jail.
I’m so tired of cops saying “I didn’t say that” when their cop friend says something. If they don’t stand up to the cops who said bs they are just as guilty, end of story.
Anytime a police officer starts a sentence with “I can’t have you doing _____” you know that their ego dictates their behavior and that they think they are the law
Officers found themselves in a hole. The first thing you do when you dig yourself into a hole is stop digging. Officer Arnold was attempting to escalate the whole situation, he actually deserved and F.
Cops: We want to intimidate you into not exercising your rights that we know are lawful. Protestor: I’m legit, leave me alone. Cops: You’re mean and naaaasty…
I wish we had an organization like yours auditing Canadian police. Don’t get me wrong there are auditors in Canada but I haven’t seen any as knowledgeable and professional as your channel. ✌️👍
As soon as a law enforcement officer states “ I’m only doing my job” they lose all credibility and don’t understand the oath they’ve taken!
the fact they parked their cars in the middle of the intersection is far more dangerous than anything this guy is doing. seriously 12:50 they almost caused a accident.