509rifas
Regular Member
So I heard a commotion outside, turns out SWAT was raiding my neighbors house again. Heard a flashbang then walked down to film it. I was there for a while, maybe 20 minutes with no problems. Then I started talking to a young woman who asked me if I had it on camera when they pointed guns at her infant.
A sgt approached and told me not to film and whatnot, and I actually turned the camera off, turned it around to show him, and THEN he arrested me for obstruction.
He noticed my smaller camera and assumed it was on, and then arrested me. The arrest isn't actually recorded, what let up to it up to the point I stopped recording is.
As they brought me over to the SWAT van he said something on the radio about "grabbed this guy... recording" and I'm fairly certain I heard back "stop him!." I'll find out for sure when I get the PRA records. But if that was what was said, that steps it up to another level.
I also found out that they had gone around and threatened a number of other people with arrest if they recorded.
I was handcuffed and told "you are under arrest for obstruction, and taken to hang out with the other gentlemen who were in the house for a while. It may have been around 30 minutes, but time is always screwy when you're in cuffs. I wasn't patted down until they were about to take the cuffs off; I'd taken my gun off right before I left my house as I didn't think it wise to bring.
As far as I know no one was taken to jail, even the guy they had the warrant for and they found what they were looking for.
As it stands right now, I am facing criminal charges of obstruction a law enforcement officer, and have court next week.
Here's two, they should show the jist of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykklc4HIlNw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRL_WSaMy_E
[Added: after asking around, I learned the warrant was to search for an item that netted the kid a 3rd Degree Possession of Stolen Property charge, a gross misdemeanor (the same as my charges). First Degree Trafficking in Stolen Property was added to the warrant, because he bought a laptop that turned out to be stolen. He was not there at the time. Unless I'm not looking at the court docs wrong, he's only facing misdemeanor charges, but they may have not been filed yet. Another family member with a CPL was handcuffed in the car for the duration and has the medical documentation about the loss of feeling in his hand because the cuffs were too tight. He was OCing when I talked to him today.]
A sgt approached and told me not to film and whatnot, and I actually turned the camera off, turned it around to show him, and THEN he arrested me for obstruction.
He noticed my smaller camera and assumed it was on, and then arrested me. The arrest isn't actually recorded, what let up to it up to the point I stopped recording is.
As they brought me over to the SWAT van he said something on the radio about "grabbed this guy... recording" and I'm fairly certain I heard back "stop him!." I'll find out for sure when I get the PRA records. But if that was what was said, that steps it up to another level.
I also found out that they had gone around and threatened a number of other people with arrest if they recorded.
I was handcuffed and told "you are under arrest for obstruction, and taken to hang out with the other gentlemen who were in the house for a while. It may have been around 30 minutes, but time is always screwy when you're in cuffs. I wasn't patted down until they were about to take the cuffs off; I'd taken my gun off right before I left my house as I didn't think it wise to bring.
As far as I know no one was taken to jail, even the guy they had the warrant for and they found what they were looking for.
As it stands right now, I am facing criminal charges of obstruction a law enforcement officer, and have court next week.
Here's two, they should show the jist of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykklc4HIlNw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRL_WSaMy_E
[Added: after asking around, I learned the warrant was to search for an item that netted the kid a 3rd Degree Possession of Stolen Property charge, a gross misdemeanor (the same as my charges). First Degree Trafficking in Stolen Property was added to the warrant, because he bought a laptop that turned out to be stolen. He was not there at the time. Unless I'm not looking at the court docs wrong, he's only facing misdemeanor charges, but they may have not been filed yet. Another family member with a CPL was handcuffed in the car for the duration and has the medical documentation about the loss of feeling in his hand because the cuffs were too tight. He was OCing when I talked to him today.]
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