The pastor even said at the beginning of things “I see that you’re smart enough that you’re standing on public property.” The pastor knew and admitted he wasn’t trespassing long before the cop even got there and started claiming as much.
That cop was a member of the church so to me it seems like he used his position of authority to advance his pastors and his own personal agenda
Darren: Arrest this man, he’s a nuisance and creating a disturbance!
Also Darren: No one’s even paying attention to you anyways.
I like the pastor comes over and gets aggressive and then claims it’s the dude with the camera that’s causing a scene and creating a public nuisance. The officer should have kindly remined the pastor that the camera man was on public property and so far had committed no crime. I can’t arrest him simply because you don’t like his message
The pastor: “You’re making a scene”
Also the pastor: “No one here is paying any attention to your sign”
There should be no qualified immunity for this. This is blatant kidnapping! This officer should be arrested and jailed for clearly kidnapping someone with a weapon in his holster and the threat of arrest.
I find it increasingly disturbing that it took so long for the trespassing case to be dismissed. Abuse of authority especially when any constitutional rights have been violated should be dealt with much more swiftly and substantially than current system allows.
How the heck did they manage to drag out his case for a whole YEAR when he clearly had video evidence of where he was plus the pastor admitting that he was on public property?!They the pastor grabbed the guys equipment multiple times infront of an officer and nothing happens to him?
Gotta love the Sgt on scene just stand and watch an assault happen and turn around and do what a “pastor” told him to do. Both the Sgt and officer were clearly in conflict of interest.
So an officer that also attends this church arrested a man at the behest of the pastor of this church and this isn’t an abuse of power? This is literally corruption on camera. The officer the department the city and state including the church should all be held liable. With the officer going to jail for criminal behavior
The Cop should be fired immediately, he watched an Assault and did nothing and then arrested a citizen for trespassing when he knows 100% he’s not. If we do not fire people nothing will ever change
I like how the pastor shows up with a comically friendly voice and very happily asks the guy to leave and when that fails he drops the acts immediately and states that the guys actions are garnering no attention and yet he’s there to ask him to leave and calls him a public nuisance, so I guess he is in fact getting attention and his message through. What a double faced hypocrite.
How that pastor has a following is beyond me. From the moment he opens his mouth he just reeks of insincerity…
Wow, that pastor flipped a switch when he realized he wasn’t going get his way by asking nicely. And mask comes off! Typical religious leader.
Gotta love how that pastor showed his true colors once he started getting frustrated with the auditor. All of his “hey bro” behavior was all just an act. Makes you wonder if the rest of the guy’s life is also just an act.
As professions, what do
politics,
law enforcement,
medicine/nursing,
entertainment,
corporate management,
sports,
academia, and
religious ministry have in common? They attract narcissists. That’s a video of a cesspool.
That police officer lied on a police report ( standing on private property) I believe there’s no qualified immunity for that so that police officer can and should be personally sued.
Wasn’t surprised to hear that the office was a member of the Church. Took 20 seconds from first words to threatening with jail, and a further 14 seconds to putting him in cuffs. Would love to know if this officer was personally phoned by a member of the church to come and deal with this, making this a conspiracy.
I live near and work in Chattanooga and honestly this is disgusting but nothing compared to other things these “small time country cops” do and get away with most of there barely follow the law and they have there own interpretation of the laws. Sadly they just use the law to prosecute people for what they want rather then what the laws actually are. It’s so corrupt everyone through the whole legal system works together lawyers the da the people that’s supposed to defend you will ask the cops what they should do “for you”. Believe I sued my city I lived in over a cop making me pull my genitals out on the side of the road to “check for drugs” and everyone even my own lawyer was against me.
I do LOVE the rare instance when a citizen informs the police correctly 10:54 what the law is when the police are making a mistake, intentional or otherwise.
That pastor did a good job of showing who the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” was. What a phony
If his message will “fall on deaf ears” and “no one is paying attention to” him… why does he care that the guy is there.
After seeing this guy bully the sign carrier… I would quit his church if I went there! This is not the kind of “spiritual leader” I want leading me.
It’s amazing that it takes 1 or 2 years to get justice for 1st Amendment protected activity. That’s why cops never admit guilt. You have sue them. To get justice.
Wasn’t surprised to hear that the office was a member of the Church. Took 20 seconds from first words to threatening with jail, and a further 14 seconds to putting him in cuffs. Would love to know if this officer was personally phoned by a member of the church to come and deal with this, making this a conspiracy.I do think the first officer should have arrested the Shepard for causing a public disturbance. Deliberately trying to provoke something, and expecting the officer to side with him. Would have been so fun to have him arrested instead.Held for 2 days for a trespass? And a year to drop the charges. What a joke. How important is this Church in this town???
The Cop should be fired immediately, he watched an Assault and did nothing and then arrested a citizen for trespassing when he knows 100% he’s not. If we do not fire people nothing will ever change
I think there was actually 2 different cops there from different departments/agencies. The first cop witnessed the assault/battery and did nothing, and the second cop wrongfully arrested him.
Imagine being a pastor teaching a truth that is so sound and self evident that you are frightened by someone holding a sign outside with a slight contrast to your beliefs. The pastor clearly had an ego and was trying to assert dominance and made a show in-front of his people that he had power over the situation. If little critiques like this upset him, it makes me wonder how confident he is in the religious truths he believes he provides.
* grabs at the guy’s camera several times with his voice raised *“Officer this guy is causing a scene”Imagine your entire belief structure being shaken by a guy with a sign.
I actually think this could turn into a far larger scandal than it already is. Could this not also dig into “separation of church and state” considering an officer who was a member of the church may have used his position to benefit the church in restricting the man from being able to use his 1st amendment right?
In a lot of these Audit the Audit videos, things can get pretty nuanced and in other cases it becomes a matter of the laws and ordinances in some given area. Not so in this video. The guy is on public property stating his beliefs. Pretty straightforward freedom of speech.
The Pastor is also at fault here. Typically, they preach love and respect but he assaulted the man and actually became quite belligerent and he used his pastoral influence to have the man falsely arrested. Way to go, Pastor, something to teach the children! I hope the officers involved get fired after their PD has to pay thousands of dollars. That arresting officer did no investigation whatsoever before deciding to arrest. But this is a corrupt system where the church and state seem to have unconstitutionally merged.
That pastor literally assaulted that man in front of that officer and the officer arrested the assaulted man. Both the officer and pastor should be fired.
This is where Republicans say “Just comply“. Nothing will ever get changed since almost half the country backs these actions from police.
And some people wonder why there’s a distrust between “ organized religion “ and the general public. Pity you can’t sue a Pastor for malpractice. And the patrolman was just a brainless tool and should be removed from the force.