Back in November, 25-year-old Phillip Turner was arrested outside of the Galveston Police Department’s headquarters in Texas. Turner was videotaping Galveston law enforcement. Turner considers himself a video activist.
Turner, 25, was at the police station conducting what he called a “First Amendment audit,” a test of local police officers’ knowledge of laws regarding the right to film law enforcement.
Police Sgt. Archie Chapman was one of four officers who approached Turner while he was recording and asked for his identification.
Turner refused to identify himself, saying he knew his rights and was well within his rights to not answer the officer. Sergeant Chapman arrested Turner and then searched Turner’s vehicle. That sounds wrong, right? A grand jury agreed and Sergeant Chapman has been indicted on misdemeanor accusations of unlawfully searching Turner’s vehicle.
Sgt. Archie Chapman, whose lawyer says he is innocent, faces up to 180 days in jail and a maximum $2,000 fine on allegations of criminal trespass. Phillip Turner, the 25-year-old activist in question, was arrested last November. He was handcuffed and later jailed for 16 hours on allegations of failing to identify himself to police officers. Eventually the charges were dropped.
You can watch the video of sergeant Chapman violating Turner’s rights below the fold.