Update: Momoko Sudo was able to retrieve the photo. Check it out here.
By Carlos Miller
After taking a photo of a police motorcycle, Momoko Sudo said a Coral Gables police officer stormed up to her, demanded her camera and deleted all the images from her memory card.
Officer “Rodriguez” then removed the memory card and slammed it to the ground, according to Sudo.
The officer then returned the camera and yelled at her to “leave now!”, she said.
The incident occurred on June 10th as Sudo, an artist, was walking around her neighborhood taking photos of plants that were still wet from rainfall.
She asked the officer not to delete any of the other photos, saying he could delete the one of the motorcycle if he wanted. The officer who apparently is named “Rodriguez” responded by deleting all the images.
Now let’s get this straight. No officer has any right to order you to delete any images.
Rodriguez should be fired and made to attend Anger Management classes (the same ones I was ordered to attend because I not only had the audacity to photograph cops against their wishes, I went as far as blogging about it).
Sudo, a Japanese native who lives in Miami, believes the officer first targeted her because of how she was dressed that day. He then seem bothered that her camera settings were in Japanese and not English.
In retrospect, the problem started the very moment the officer saw my outfit. But the more apparent problem started when he saw me taking a picture of the police motorcycle. Immediately I was treated like a terrorist/criminal/illegal/lunatic, with a series of interrogations. My camera was taken, just to be discovered that all display on my camera was in the Japanese language. This offended the police officer, not being able to read a thing, in a great deal, fueling to his xenophobia. He had me help change the language setting to English, and after that he would not let me see what he was doing with my camera. He actually didn’t even allow me to move.
Sudo, whose story is being discussed on www.artblog.com, vowed to continue talking about this abuse of power.
I will not be quiet about this. Abuse of power by law enforcement officers is an ongoing national problem. I don’t care how small and trivial my problem is. I refuse to accept police abuse of any scale and any content.
Sound familiar?
Popularity: 29% [?]
Related posts:
- The picture that drove a Coral Gables police officer over the edge
- A Coral Gables police officer asks me for a permit after I photograph him
- Chicago police arrest photog, delete images and refuse to return camera
- Oklahoma State Troopers delete photographer’s images
- Miami Civilian Investigative Panel exposed for the farce that they are
Support Photography is Not a Crime by buying your electronics through this ad.
Fernandez, as I mentioned in a 
I wanna see a picture of Sudo, is she hot?
Sudo sure does assume quite a bit about the motivation doesn’t she.
Not that I think the officers actions were justifable I always consider these stories like I do children…you are only getting half the story, there is more to be told.
Anyways, read this:
http://thomashawk.com/2008/05/jury-clears-photographer-who-refused-to.html
Shawn,
Thanks for the link but that’s been blogged about here.
http://carlosmiller.com/2008/05/18/another-photographer-acquitted-for-the-crime-of-taking-photos/
Is this all your blog is about? I mean let it go already! You were found guilty. Stop trying to justify your crime in this blog. You were wrong, twelve jurors of your peers agreed and so did a well educated judge. Who cares about stupid Sudo? She should have continued to take pictures of her water lilies and leave the police officer alone. in her country they would have cut off her hands, she should be happy she got the camera back. Grow up already. Jeeez Write about something else. You know how people dig certain clubs or restaurants and then get bored of them? That’s whats happening to your blog
Hasta Cuando
I half agree with that. I find the stories interesting and I read the site… but I’m very much a spectator in this arena, maybe because I’m not a photographer. I agree that if all you do is blog about the incidences and not any progress in changing how the police function, it will get stale.
And Jorge, you obviously know little of the Japanese. For someone of apparently migrant descent, you exhibit a surprising amount of your own prejudice and xenophobia… you douche.
Okay so maybe it is another culture that chops off their hands, but you also exhibited a little prejudice yourself by addressing me as a migrant. Way to show your true colors matzoball.
My point was that we live in the best country in the world. If people don’t like it, go live in Japan and see how you will be treated when you take photos of cops. Stop whining and appreciate what we have.
“Stop whining and appreciate what we have.”
If we acted like you, we wouldnt have anything!
We have EVERYTHING!
jorgito,
This is what I mean by letting ignorance speak for itself.
First of all, it was six jurors, not 12, and they found me not guilty of disobeying a police officer and not guilty of disorderly conduct.
The not guilty of disobeying a police officer is important because this justified my refusal to leave a public area where I had every right to be.
The jury found me guilty of resisting arrest without violence but I am appealing and I will overturn it. I guarantee that.
Usually when “people dig certain restaurant and clubs and get bored with them”, they stop attending.
I am exercising my First Amendment rights in expressing myself. You have the right not to read my blog.
And the comment about them cutting off your hand in Japan is beyond ignorance.
Maz,
I document these incidents to demonstrate how often these First Amendment violations occur. I would love to write about the progress in changing how the police function, but that really starts with the police.
I’m hoping that by continuing to raise awareness on these abuses, that maybe they might get the message and start addressing the issue.
The Seattle Police Department recently changed their policy towards photographers, so it’s not an impossibility.
http://carlosmiller.com/2008/06/04/seattle-police-department-issues-new-policy-regarding-photographers/
Also, a Congresswoman recently stepped into the ring.
http://carlosmiller.com/2008/06/03/congresswoman-steps-up-for-photographers-rights/
Changes can come about it, but it won’t be overnight.
Carlos, it is plainly evident that if your blog WAS popular at one time, it isn’t now which is what I meant with the bar/club analogy. As for having the option to not read your blog, I could do that, but then your blog would be officially dead. Take my name out of these blogs and what are you left with….. two or three leftist pricks named maztoball and bj.
Jorge,
I said “apparent migrant descent” given your handle and usage of Spanish language in your first comment. Yes, yes, assumptions, ass, me, etc… Mea culpa if I’m incorrect. And for the record, I am second generation Vietnamese American… not a matzoball.
Carlos,
I firmly believe changes can and should come about and I encourage you to immerse yourself in them. I find the overall behavior I have read and heard of horrible, but I am neither a photographer, nor have I been on such a wrong end of law enforcement… with the mild exception of getting “fake authority” out of the traffic officers in my fair burg.
Reading your links and I’m glad to see change occuring.
Carlitos,
In paragraph four of your bombastic reply to “jorge”, you wrote: “The jury found me guilty of resisting arrest without violence but I am appealing and I will overturn it. I guarantee that.”
Let me ax you a question (how’s that for prejudice?): is this the same guarantee that you issued prior to your trial? You know, the one in which you got slammed with one year of probation and all that other stuff? Wow, why didn’t you take a picture of yourself as the Judge was sentencing you? What I would have given to see that image. Priceless!
Why don’t you get off your duff, report to your probation officer and get cracking on those hundred hours of community service? You might as well start doing something productive with your life.
As for Sudoku’s misadventure with CGPD: I’d withhold judgment for right now. It’s curious how all of her facts line up just right; from the hat, to the Japanese language display on the camera, to the “inoccuous” picture of the officer’s motorcycle and it all fits nicely into the xenophobe box in her mental filing cabinet.
By the way, what is the fetish that you “raging liberals” have with police officers? I mean, do you take the pics, then go home and jack-off to them? Why can’t you take pictures of Barry Obama or some protesters somewhere and enjoy those?
jorge:
Strange you don’t know me, but yet you call me a “leftist prick”. I happen to be a constitutional conservative and have been for what I suspect has been longer than you have been alive. Left is not a stance I take.
At the risk of being trite – grow up and speak only when you have something constructive and accurate to say. Otherwise you appear as being ignorant and biased.
Carlos:
Good luck on the appeal. From what I can find in the case law from the State of Florida, you stand a very good chance having this overturned.
bj,
Why is it strange that I do not know you? Are you someone of sature in sociey? I think I have you pegged pretty good. Here you are supporting a measley spec of a man who has nothing to do but take pictures at the expense of inherited money. While there are millions of hard working people out there you would never even think of disrspecting a police officer let alone publishing their pictures on the internet. I know you pretty good from the mere statments you have made on this blog. It is you sir that is ignorant, not to mention a liberal bastard. You can call yourself what you want, but you are not a conservative. Conservatives work hard and don’t have time to whine “because a police officer hurt my feelings.” Grow up, I don’t care how old you are.
Jorge: I thoroughly enjoyed your comments in this thread. Better than a trip to the zoo, where all the monkeys do there is masturbate, not type opinions.
Defending the first amendment, as Carlos does here and with his photography, takes courage and commitment. This country enjoys a long tradition of rebellious souls like him combating oppression by much more powerful forces, relying only on our allegedly impartial justice system to protect individuals like himself.
You may find it boring or unimportant. Some of us spend lifetimes involved with it. We think it’s worthwhile, and ultimately makes this country both stronger and a better place to live.
One more minor point: FWIW, I’m not a leftist prick.
That’s my point, people spend lifetimes involved in worthy causes. Don’t compare Carlos Miller to the tradition of rebelious souls from our country. People like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, those were couragous souls, not Carlos Miller! This is a loser cause. Yes you have the right to express yourself, our forefathers fought for it, but I don’t think they envisioned Carlos Miller talking back to Police Officers and disrespecting judges. Please get a life squatasshole! Step aside you liberal pussies, take a cup of Shut the fuck up and let us conservatives defend this country.
so what if Sodu continues talking about it. she should file a complaint with the CGPD, ACLU, etc. – can you help here with that?
Jorge must either be a cop, a relative to a cop that was involved, or a troll.
Check this out: http://www.lawfulpath.com/ref/vk2k.shtml
Bad cops will be the first sacrificed in the coming war with the New World Order.
Jorge doesn’t do conservatives a favor by by insisting he’s one them, does he?
Squathole,
Jorge is not a conservative. He is a neocon.
There is a big difference.
http://carlosmiller.com/2008/06/19/neocon-repugs-salute-state-while-trampling-constitution/
You DO know that images deleted from memory cards are not really gone? Just google:
undelete “memory card”
and you will find all kinds of utilities to recover deleted files from memory cards. Just don’t write to the card again until you recover the images and you’ll get them all back!
Hope this helps
techie,
That is very true and those utilities have saved me a number of times.
Good to know for the next time I will just take the card and dump it in the river.
Jorge,
you said:
“Take my name out of these blogs and what are you left with….. two or three leftist pricks named maztoball and bj. ” ~ Wrong Jorge, many of us visit this site because we believe in protecting our freedoms and respect Carlos for fighting for them. BTW, I am a conservative.
you said:
“Conservatives work hard and don’t have time to whine “because a police officer hurt my feelings.” Grow up, I don’t care how old you are.” ~ Jorge, this kind of thing happens everyday. If bad cops aren’t called to task, good cops will be painted with the same brush. I hope if you are ever in trouble someone is there to support you.
You know, I’ve been in some of the seediest underbellies of the internet (recovering WoW player)… And I have to admit, I’ve seen more intelligent and less cliched postings from the 14 year old kids in the game than I have from Jorge.
I find it funny that you are seen as less of a person by people who extol how much of a free country we are by saying we should not exercise our freedoms.
And… I doubt our founding fathers expected the defenders of our nation to use their authority to subvert the inalienable rights of its people. That is kind of why they broke away from King George to begin with… But then, that’s a cliched argument as well.
Ms. Calabaza,
Your not a conservative simply because you say you are one. Okay, so there are more than two letitst pricks on this site, sorry.
Carlos,
Why didn’t you answer the Madhatter? Did he leave you speechless? After he does have a point, you did guarantee an acquittal. Now you have guaranteed a reversal on appeals. Don’t make anymore guarantees, please, your worshippers, bj, maztoball, ms calabaza, etc may no longer have that hypnotized belief in you.
jorgito,
Here is a quote from Mad Hatter’s comment:
“I mean, do you take the pics, then go home and jack-off to them? “
When the conversation has been reduced to junior high level – as it has done with you – I tend to not respond.
That’s her tale…I’m sittin’ on mine.
Jorge,
I gave you too much credit. My bad. Go back to being your second-grade self.
Ms Calabaza,
I went to your website. Your pic? Who is really acting like a second-grader? Stop it. Please. Maybe I will start posting on your site and increase your fan base like I have done with Calucho.
Cop Commandeers Camera in Coral Gables « // Jun 24, 2008 at 6:36 PM
[...] Article from Artblog.net. via Carlos Miller [...]
Mr. Miller,
It’s people like you, with your leftist ideologies, that brings crime up in this country. You are one of these poeple who complain about the abuse of power of the police and then cry when something happens to you and the police is not there. Cops are virtually prohibited from being proactive because of the repercussions of Democrats like you.
Give the police officers a break! If you would’ve obeyed the law, nothing would have happened to you. Just because you have a little “press” pass, doesn’t give you the right to go wherever you please. No One is Above the Law. Not even the leftist media.
Jorge,
You are not alone!
“Jorge,
You are not alone!”
The reason why Bush has been in office for eight years.
The Truth 101,
I laughed. According to what the jury, he was found innocent of breaking any laws, with the exception of resisting arrest without violence. The one thing I find odd is that if you broke no laws, how could you be arrested?
This is why I generally stay away from leftist or conservative sites. You’re ready to cast generalizations at anything without looking more closely at the situation. Even a conservative blogger acquaintance of his was willing to admit that he was done an injustice.
Carlos,
Unfortunately, I have to agree. The sad thing is, I have a hard time discerning trolling from people who actually believe what they say on the Internet these days.
Maz,
This has nothing to do with right wing or left wing politics.
This has to do with the First Amendment. Anybody else who is trying to politicize this is only doing that as a distraction.
Even the judge tried to politicize this by informing me that I should go to Arlington to pay respect to the “real heroes”.
But my arrest has nothing to do with the war or veterans or any liberal political statements.
My arrest stemmed from me knowing my rights as a citizen of the United States.
Sure, I could have walked away when the cops ordered me to, but I’ve done so many times before that just once, I wanted to see what would happen if I stood my ground.
Well, we all know what happened, but I have no regrets.
The jury found me not guilty of disobeying a police officer. That is a big deal that is getting overshadowed by my resisting arrest conviction.
That acquittal proves that we as citizens have the right to disobey an unlawful order.
The acquittal proves that we are not yet living in a police state.
If it were up to people like Jorge, we would already be there.
Carlitos,
Are you trying to take George Carlin’s place? It’s not that your comedic talent is anywhere near that of Mr. Carlin’s, but the crap that you spout is so outlandish that it can only be considered a weak attempt at comedy.
“When the conversation has been reduced to junior high level…” That’s rich Charlie. Speaking of “junior high level,” weren’t you the one that rung in your life as a convict with a hearty “F–K YOU JUDGE FERNANDEZ”? You don’t like the level of discourse? Well, you reap what you sow. Pardon me for stating the obvious, but you’re a hypocrite.
By the way, you keep harping about the “illegal arrest” and asking how can you be found guilty of resisting an illegal arrest. Let me take a moment to edumacate you even though I know it will likely be an exercise in futility.
You were found guilty of resisting arrest. Even though you may have been found not guilty, or innocent, of the other charges (i.e.: failing to obey a lawful command, etc.) you still resisted the officers’ attempt to arrest you. Under the law, when an officer places you under arrest, you must comply no matter what. The law does not allow for a debate of the merits of the arrest on the street. That matter is reviewed in a court of law. Otherwise, we’d have a bunch of aspiring Carlitos’ out there playing lawyer and simply walking away from the police irrespective of the circumstances.
Again, once a law enforcement officer places you under arrest, you must comply. The proper forum in which to review the legality, or ilegality, of the arrest is a court of law, not Biscayne Boulevard. In your case you admittedly didn’t comply with the officers and resisted the arrest. As a result, you were found guilty of resisting arrest, albeit without violence. Had you complied with the officers when they placed you under arrest, you would not have been found guilty of resisting arrest. Instead you had to play Charlie Bad Ass and now you’re paying the price for your immaturity.
Build a bridge, papo… and get over it.
By the way, the Advocate Program called, they want you to know that they’ve got a brand new XXL ankle bracelet just for you. Get to work, those 100 hours aren’t going anywhere.
Over my dead body will a police officer, security guard, angry mother or anyone else make me give up my memory card/film or ask me to delete my photo’s. IF THE PHOTO’S ARE TAKEN IN PUBLIC PLACES THEY ARE LEGAL! If you want to go and photograph every police vehicle you see in a PUBLIC PLACE you can. If you think it’s right for any one to tell you to stop or intimidate you to had over your memory card/film then you should not live in this great county. I’m not leftist or a conservative I’m an American who loves photography. why should we be scared to take photo’s in PUBIC PLACES? It’s Our 1st Amendment Right!
Way to put it Mad Hatter,
Matt,
Thanks for stating the obvious. Yes you can take all the photographs you want and yes the officer was wrong by taking the camera from her. My argument to you and Carlos is that there are far bigger fish to fry. Go out and take pictures of the gas stations with all the high prices or poverty, lepers, etc., but don’t be childish to take pictures of cops and then run your suck to them. They have a tough enough job, trust me. Then to top it all off, you blame society or the Bush administration because, “mami and papi were not there enough when you were a kid.” That’s my problem, it’s childish. Then we try to equate it with our first amendment rights. Jeez it makes me sick. Leave all the energy for bigger battles. Just remember Carlos, you are entering a rehabilitation program, that’s what jail and even probation is all about. Take the time to pay attention to your probation officer and really put some interest in that community service. Maybe you will get that edumication that, obviously you didn’t receive from you parents.
OUT
My argument to you and Carlos is that there are far bigger fish to fry
That is what I say. To cops.
Why waste your time arresting and harassing photographers when there are so many real criminals out there?
Mad Hatter,
I did not resist arrest, which is why I am appealing.
Carlos,
You’re going to have a tough time appealing the finding that you resisted arrest. Unless there was a technical error in the conduct of the trial (i.e.: the jury was allowed to consider evidence that it should not have seen, an objection was incorrectly overruled or the jury was given an incorrect instruction prior to the start of their deliberations) you’re not going to be successful.
The judge and jury in a trial are the ulitmate triers of fact because they are physically there throughout the proceedings and are in the best position to evaluate the evidence. An appellate panel cannot, and will not, decide whether you or a witness were more truthful or less truthful because they were not there during the trial. The only exception would be a case in which the facts show that the conclusion was clearly erroneous, and that’s a very difficult standard to meet.
Your appellate lawyer will evaluate the case to determine if there was an error in the proceedings, and there most likely will be one because it is nearly impossible to conduct a flawless trial. The question then will be whether the error that your attorney perceives is sufficiently significant for the appellate panel to reverse the conviction and order a new trial. In the end, the appellate panel may find that there was an error, but that it was minor and did not affect the ultimate outcome, thereby affirming the conviction.
Get to work Carlos, by the time this is over you’re going to have wasted an additional six months to a year and still have the sentence hanging over you. If you choose to comply now you’ll finally be able to put this behind you in that same amount of time and start looking for new controversies with a clean slate.
Remember, if you go out and get into another legal tangle, it might be a probation violation and you could end up at DCJ or TGK… sans laptop. Take that anger management course regardless because you need to put your principles on ice while your on probation.
Tread carefully.
In the second to last line of my post, above, “your” should be “you’re.” My apologies for the typo as I know that you all are sticklers for grammar.
mad hatter,
There was a technical error in the prosecutor’s closing arguments. We’ll see how this goes.
In the mean time, I am fulfilling my probation requirements.
“They have a tough enough job, trust me” first off i’m a son and grandson of police officers so i know first hand how tough there job is so don’t even start with me about that, Trust Me.
Coño Carlos, you’re finally starting to sound like a pragmatist.
Matt and the rest of you characters who find it necessary to point out your family relationships/occupations. I find it amusing that suddenly everyone’s conservative, a police officer, in the military, has a great uncle in the military, etc. Shit, with friends like that who needs enemies.
First i’m no where near conservative.
Second i do find it necessary to point out my family relationships to LE since he brought it up.
i’m saying i understand both side’s of the argument being that i’m a photographer and i’m in a family with LEO’s.
Matt,
I doubt you are related to a cop, probably a security guard family that resents cops because they couldn’t be one. If you are indeeed family of an officer, they should see your posts on this blog so they could send you to your room. Embarrasing.
OUT
Jorge,
I know a few cops on a personal basis that would be appalled at this cop’s behavior.
These cops were, in fact, appalled at the officers who arrested me.
Most cops respect photographers and their First Amendment rights, but there are always a few who are on a power trip.
Jorge to tell you the truth i can give a rats ass what you think.
I haven’t been sent to my room in areally long time.
It’s been fun i said my peice. no need to beat a dead horse
Matt not over your dead body, please dont make me laugh little boy. Are you in high school??
And if so keep watching your little MTV so that they can tell you who to vote for, the second coming the all mighty HUSSEIN OBAMA
nope not in high school but sounds like you are.
Jorge,
I don’t really want to pile on, but you are, what is technically called in psychology, “a fucking idiot”.
You say this country was founded by rebels but then say they weren’t the type of people that would talk back to a police officer is complete idiocy. I’d imagine the British writers of the time sounded a lot like you.
The picture that drove a Coral Gables police officer over the edge - MAeX Artblog // Jun 30, 2008 at 12:21 AM
[...] “Momoko Sudo, the Japanese artist who watched helplessly as a Coral Gables police officer deleted the photo she took of him as well as the other photos she had taken that day, was able to retrieve the photo [...]
Madd Hatter –
I don’t know where you went to law school, but where I did we learned that to be guilty of resisting arrest without violence, the arrest itself must be lawful in order for resistance to be a violation of law. After being acquitted of any offense for which he was arrested, I’d say there is at least some presumption the arrest itself was unlawful. If the police did indeed have probable cause to make a lawful arrest, non-violent resistance can be a violation. In this situation the jury is not the ultimate finders of fact. The appellate court will most certainly evaluate the facts anew to make such a determination, which is a question of law and not the jury’s province.
I have read many angry post in regards to the subject of this blog. For an example of what I am referring to, look for Jorge’s post.
This remark is address to folks like Jorge.
My family has fought and died in order to ensure that our human and civil rights are respected in this country.
I am thankful for this but unfortunately, these rights are being systematically violated and eliminated all together.
At least Carlos is speaking out about that injustice! In fact, the only reason we have (or did have) such freedoms to begin with was because people like the owner of this blog went to jail, or died while protesting such unlawful behavior by police and other people with “authority” towards individual citizens.
By the way the word “freedom” means the one is free from coercion. This means that if the USA is a free country, you should be aloud to take photographs of police and who ever else you want “without fear of coercion”. otherwise this is NOT A FREE COUNTRY.
So I say to folks like Jorge, “get the hell out of MY country because people like YOU are the ones responsible for screwing things up in the first place”.
Bryan,
Thanks for the support. You are right on.
I don’t think this case is very similar to yours. The officer here was completely unjustified in his/her actions.
After reading both your own account and your arrest record, it appears that you were being extremely obstinate with an officer who was concerned with your safety. You were very unhelpful and cooperative and those officers enough on their hands without having to worry about you as well. The judge was quite obviously biased against you, but perhaps you deserved the anger management classes you got, since you were so very quick to lash out at officers who were trying to do their job and keep you and others safe. I’m not saying they had a right to arrest you, but you were being extremely difficult when they were just asking you to cooperate and get out of the way. You sort of deserve what you got just for being a stubborn ass.
Also, the judge does seem to have a valid point, in that you ARE using this blog to make yourself out to be a hero for resisting an arrest that, by the way, had nothing to do with you taking photos of the officers and everything to do with you refusing to go across the street. Your case is in no way similar to that of the unfortunate woman you’ve mentioned today.
Of course, I’m sure you’ll brush me off as another right-wing trying to hold back the valiant liberals, even though I am liberal in every way, but I just felt it had to be said.
Sam,
You said:“you were being extremely difficult when they were just asking you to cooperate and get out of the way. “
They were ordering me to leave an area where I had every right to be. I was not in “the way”.
You said:“Also, the judge does seem to have a valid point, in that you ARE using this blog to make yourself out to be a hero for resisting an arrest that, by the way, had nothing to do with you taking photos of the officers and everything to do with you refusing to go across the street.”
I was already across the street and you can see that in the above photo. I was arrested after I took that photo so it had EVERYTHING to do with me taking photos.
You said:“Of course, I’m sure you’ll brush me off as another right-wing trying to hold back the valiant liberals, even though I am liberal in every way,”
There are many right-wings conservatives who support me and many liberals who don’t, so this is really not about politics. This is simply about the Constitution.
This is whether or not you believe the police have every right to tell you what to do, regardless if they are violating your civil rights in the process.
It’s obvious where you stand
My political position notwithstanding,
I find what was done to Carlos reprehensible. Many police officers, and indeed other persons in the criminal culture (and anyone who thinks cops aren’t part of the criminal culture are kidding themselves) think they have a right to control who photographs them in public. They are ALL incorrect.
Police officers who have been sucked into that criminal culture mindset (it’s a job hazard) start thinking that everyone is either a cop or a scumbag. This appears to be what happened here. Carlos failed to “RESPECT HIS AUTHORITY” and was to be punished. This is a gang member mentality, not the mentality of a peace officer.
Well done Carlos, and keep up the good fight.
While I disagree with much else that you say here, I will fight for your right to say it.
Oh and thank you LawMule for making the statement that needed to be made. If there was no probable cause for arrest, then there can be no resisting arrest charge. Often prosecutors, and judges screw that up.
I’m from the UK and was searched under an anti terror law for taking a photo on Brighton Pier (England’s south coast) of a policeman. He informed me of the reason and the act under which he had the right and I was totally cool with it. I still have the receipt of the search. The cop even posed for a few pictures after the search and we bumped into each other again a few hours later with a smile and a joke.
I appreciate he was concerned with the safety of everyone there that day. In the UK terrorism is nothing new. We have grown up under the shadow of the IRA while the threat is something new to most Americans. The degree of over reaction from the officer in you case, however, was not a simple concern for safety but an exhibition of authority.
What happen to you Carlos was simply bullying. The cop had no legal right and his behavior is reprehensible. If we cannot count on the enforcers of the law to uphold the law, then civilized society will descend in to anarchy or fascism.
Your fight is a chance to provide a reality check to those who valiantly choose to defend and protect us. Unfortunately there will always be a few bad apples but when good people stand for what is right. they will not spoil the crop.
Well done, you have my full support.
And having read all the posts here, Jorge and Mad Hatter, you both come across as being dumb. I mean really dumb.
Where does she think she lives? In a free country? We have no right to photograph anything in the U.S.A. Show me where we have a right to even be in a park if a cop doesn’t want you there?
bloody pigs make me sick then again i love the smell of bacon in the morning