Yesterday, FishOutOfWater blogged about this horrific May 30th incident in which Miami police smashed the cellphone of a witness who had the audacity to record them shooting a suspect.
From FishOutOfWater's diary:
It was 4am on May 30 when Benoit and his girlfriend Erika Davis saw officers firing dozens of bullets into a car driven by Raymond Herisse, a suspect who hit a police officer and other vehicles while driving recklessly. Herisse died in the hail of lead, and four bystanders also suffered gunshot wounds, the Miami Herald newspaper reported.
Police noticed the man filming the shooting and an officer jumped into his truck, and put a pistol to his head, Benoit said. The video shows officers crowding around Herisse's vehicle before opening fire, followed by indistinguishable yelling at onlookers, including Benoit, to stop filming.
The cop yelled: "Wanna be a [expletive] paparazzi?" Benoit recounted in a TV interview.
"My phone was smashed, he stepped on it, handcuffed me," the 35-year-old car stereo technician told CNN. Despite his phone being destroyed, Benoit was able to save the footage by taking the memory card out of the device and putting it in his mouth before handing it over to police, he said, adding that officers smashed several other cameras in the chaos which followed the shooting.
Another story was noted in the comments, in which a Rochester, NY woman (Emily Good) was arrested and charged with "Obstructing Governmental Administration" on May 12th for recording a traffic stop that took place in front of her house.
The video of her arrest has gone viral:
Rochester police didn't take kindly to the local community coming together in a public meeting to support Emily and discuss police accountability. Their response?
To selectively enforce parking laws to harass the attendees of the public meetingby ticketing attendees' cars that were parked more than 12 inches from the curb.
FishOutofWater's diary asked if we live in a police state. Many commenters took issue with making a comparison to uncontested police states, such as North Korea.
The United States may not be a police state, but the state of our police is abhorrent. Will any of our elected representatives take the lead on defending the People's right to observe and report, or will the worst elements of law enforcement remain free to abuse their authority and harass the public into submission of their will?
How do you propose we fight for our right to record law enforcement activities?