MCSO Police: “I Am Up Here!!! You Are Down There!!!”

WHEN DEALING WITH LAW, always remember that police train in intimidating people and they lie as a matter of their everyday behavior. They not only know that ignorance of the law does not entitle you to break it, but they feel that your ignorance of the law paves the way for them to personally fool you about what the law is and then use state power to punish you for falling into their trap. When I was first told of police as a young boy (in school), I briefly made an erroneous link in my mind between “justice” in the sense of hired law vs actual Justice. At that age, too, my own family countered that message with other ones which were far more accurate and finally at 17 I was disabused of the notion completely by an intense experience that shunted me into the system.

Make no mistake: Police are state-employed gun and electric torture-device wielders who, in most cases (enough that it’s safest to assume it of all of them), believe that they have the moral and legal right to lie to you and treat you however they want, even tasering and consequently killing you if they feel like it. (While we are here, I will remind you if you are innocent (and obviously even if not) to never speak to police in any instance and to be smart about transporting your mota.) [Insert favorite disclaimer here about Police Also Save Lives, Rescue Kittens, etc.]

So as you can see, I have no bias. That said, a compa (Carlos Galindo) sent me this video of our friends over at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (whom I talk about in this video short on 287(g)) getting a bit uptight as they hassle Latino vendors at El Gran Mercado. And why wouldn’t they? In case it’s been lost in all the shuffle, it’s not only morally wrong to racially profile, it is against the law.

Note first how they speak quite authoritatively, telling Carlos what to do and what the law is. They lie. If he were to have believed them, it would have ended after the first question. But he knows his rights here (mostly, some he had to learn after or through the experience, which is always a great teacher!) and he refuses to give up his camera. Note the cop backs off.

Later it gets fun when the nasty bully strips away the veneer and makes it clear how he sees the world.

Here’s what Carlos wrote to me:

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office took my camera and deleted all the files even though I identified myself as a member of the media trying to record in a public place. They violated my first amendment rights. Dan Barr a Phoenix Constitutional rights attorney saw the video listed below and says my first amendment rights were violated. They also violated my 4th amendment right in failing to have probable cause for search and seizure, nor did they execute a sworn warrant to take my camera.

Unbeknownst to the lying bullies with badges, you can recover your data with software.

Also unbeknownst to the MCSO, a second camera was (not aimed at much but the ground) but was recording the aftermath. Note what sounds like small bursts of electricity from some device (Tazer gun?) as things unwind.

“Don’t argue with me about your civil rights.”
—Cop

You know what is more powerful than racist and renegade law? All of us. With our cameras. And knowing our rights.

Keep on. Carlos, you are doing a service to the community. You are part of the Real Media—one that works in service of the People. What a refreshing change.