This is starting to blow up in the media. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0uxxDO3D1Fs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> More info on this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmIFreeToGo/ Houston Chronicle Article. Galveston police jailed a 25-year-old man this week on charges of refusing to identify himself after he was observed filming license plates and police movement to and from the city's Justice Center. Officers confiscated that video from the man, Phillip Turner, on Wednesday night, authorities said. An associate of the jailed man has since posted a separate video online that recorded officers arresting Turner, who describes himself as a "video activist" and correspondent for the website, photographyisnotacrime.com. "He never gave us any answer about why he was filming our Galveston station," said police spokesman Michael Gray, who said the arresting officer feared he might be planning some "future harm." On the video, Turner can be heard telling officers that he was trying to film the "fallen officer" memorial and did not think he had recorded any license plates. Turner was arrested on the misdemeanor charge without a struggle and taken to the Galveston County jail, where he was processed and released on bond. He could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Gray said the arrest is being reviewed by police administrators. Turner was filming the police station through a gate in a secure area of the parking lot, Smith said. The officer "detained the individual and attempted to identify him," Galveston police said in a news release. According to the website, Turner has been arrested for similar incidents by other police departments, such as Fort Worth and Round Rock. He has a lawsuit that contends his constitutional rights were violated by his arrest against Round Rock police, the website says. His YouTube page has more than 100 recorded interactions between him and police from cities around Texas. ************* Galveston cops illegally entering his car (breaking in to his car): <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5F2FQmS63j8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I agree the kid has every right to do this, but also he should have every expectation of being harassed because it is suspicious behavior. I'd assume he's fishing for a lawsuit.
I didn't watch the videos but wasn't there a guy in Seattle who got his ass kicked for doing something like this? He went around trolling people kinda the way this guys is described. Personally, if he gets his ass kicked - good riddance.
Isn't there a 30 year old TV show where cops get filmed all day? They should be able to handle a little citizen surveillance without throwing their weight around.
That's really the point- the kid is baiting cops into a confrontation so he can test their knowledge. Disagree- they have legit crime there to deal with, unlike small town and suburb cops. This guy is doing good work checking dishonest or ignorant law enforcement. Yeah, it ain't making WorldStarHipHop. Many of them don't HAVE to after they pass their cop exams, because people don't know them. 99.9% of people would have blindly accepted this 'future harm' bullsh.
No one said anything about them not having "legit crime" to deal with....just that they are the worst, which they are....just ask Brandon Backe
Funny I feel the same way about you. Now here's a kid, acting lawfully, who has exposed racial bias on part of the cops. A black kid filming is required to show id, but not a white one.
Can [ep[;e around you hear what you are saying over the sound of your knuckles scraping across the ground?
I contend that Galveston cops are better than bored cops. They are fighting real crime, not busting teenagers for having a tiny bit of pot. That's not to say that they don't screw up (as is evident by Backe or this thread), just that they have a bit more credibility than a yokel or suburb cop with tons of time on their hands. It's progress, really- cameras are everywhere. Non-compliant Cops are just getting dragged into the present every time they get stung. There will be a point where they either accept that they can't get away with this crap or they will quit.
