Small Victory Against Police Brutality
The Supreme Court has already ruled that filming in public is protected by the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Dishonest and corrupt police officers hate this and will do everything to intimidate citizens against filming them. Stand firm in your rights. You may be arrested, you may be hit, punched, kicked, killed...that is no lie and no exageration...but we need to fight for our Bill of Rights or we WILL lose them. Usually, a camera makes police officers calm down and refrain from excessive force, and if they don't, they get fired.
In November 2012, a Texas police officer was filmed brutalizing a teenager. The video went viral and the police officer was put on administrative leave and called an embarassment. Read the CBS article here.
He was then fired, according to NBC affiliate in Dallas Fort Worth. Read the article here. This is a small victory among the millions of cases of police brutality everyday in America, but we need to relish in these small victories, we need to share them, we need to fight for them. Have your phones ready at all times to film. When police tell you that it's illegal to film them or question why you are filming, state calmly and respectfully that, "I am exercising my First Amendment right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, which every you have sworn to defend and uphold, sir. I am filming for my protection as well as for your protection." If they go on, you can mention that the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal by the state of Illinois requesting to make it illegal to film cops. Article here states "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal of a controversial Illinois law prohibiting people from recording police officers on the job.
By passing on the issue, the justices left in place a federal appeals court ruling that found that the state's anti-eavesdropping law violates free-speech rights when used against people who audiotape police officers."
Sometimes, they don't get fired, such as in LA where a police deputy Daniel Mailloux elbowed a special-needs woman on a bus and the city prosecuter did nothing. Contact newly-elected prosecuter Jackie Lacey and ask her to re-open Case # 32197328 against Deputy Mailloux. Watch incident here.