Know Your Rights: U.S. Marshal Rips Phone From Hands Of Recording Bystander

[Lakhota]

Officials are investigating a shocking video that purports to show a U.S. marshal destroying the phone of a recording bystander.

The video was uploaded to YouTube on April 19 in South Gate, California, within Los Angeles County. In the clip, recorded from a building across the street, a bystander appears to be filming and talking to uniformed officials responding to a report of a biker gang meeting. A man wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a weapon then grabs her phone, slamming it to the ground before kicking it down the street.

The U.S. Marshals Service identified the man as a U.S. marshal, but his name has not been released.

More: Officials Investigating After U.S. Marshal Rips Phone From Hands Of Recording Bystander

It's important to know your Constitutional rights to film cops in action.

 

[pismoe]

thanks Lakhota , good thread if it gets going . Doesn't look like the woman was doing anything wrong to me .

 

[pismoe]

everyone has got to realize that cameras and electronics are all over the place !!

 

[martybegan]

if it's correct the Marshal should be fired.

 

[Agit8r]

Big Brother always wants to watch, but never wants to be watched. Tough berries, pigs, the worm has turned.

 

[pismoe]

And Marty , that's the best quote ever , who said it , where can I find it please ??

 

[MikeK]

if it's correct the Marshal should be fired.

Rest assured nothing significant will come of it -- which is the root of the problem. At most, this goon will get an official reprimand and a two day suspension.

If you attacked a woman on the street, scared the hell out of her, forcibly took her personal property from her hands and smashed it on the sidewalk, you would be convicted of assault and robbery and possibly imprisoned. And if your job involved contact with the public, your employer probably would dismiss you because of the risk your violent tendency represents in terms of lawsuit potential.

The most disturbing thing about this incident is it demonstrates how some (many?) American police at all levels, federal, state, and local, seem to believe they have a right to abuse ordinary citizens.

 

[danielpalos]

there is no privacy in public office.