Still not illegal to film police: New York Rep. Towns brings the issue to Congress
Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, a 14 term member of the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 10th District, He has a Masters Degree in social work and is an ordained Baptist minister. On July 20th, Town introduced a Resolution 298, affirming the public’s right to film police. In his press release, Towns briefly referred to an incident in New York where police beat up a man then charged him with a crime; the man was acquitted after videotape of the beating came to light. (Incidentally, that video has been featured on my youtube channel for years, and has almost 200,000 views. See ‘Cops beat the hell out of handicapped man, try to frame him’).
Towns should be highly commended for introducing this resolution. It should be interesting to see how many Congressmembers support the resolution. Yours truly has been involved in this issue for some time. My December article Arkansas State Trooper meets videocamera: It’s not illegal to film police includes the video of me filming an Arkansas trooper during a brief traffic stop this past January. (it was also featured on PrisonPlanet.com). The article also includes information on three admirable activists who film cops and various government servants: my friend Greg, the Houston man who filmed George H.W. Bush in a pizza place late last year; the webmaster of Checkpointusa, who films warrantless checkpoints to the chagrin of arrogant officers; and Brett Darrow of Missouri, who has a dash camera mounted in his car and who got at least one rogue cop fired after he went on a rampage, making criminal threats against Darrow. I profiled Darrow in my March article The Brett Darrow Case: a hero in our time . And of course you have the video of the power-starved kook slob of a cop who tried, unsuccessfully, of course, to tell me that I couldn’t film him. (See It’s NOT Illegal to Film Cops. RESIST ILLEGAL ORDERS- EXERT YOUR GOD GIVEN RIGHTS ).
Here is Congressman Town’s youtube channel. Below is an excerpt from Town’s resolution:
Rep. Towns Moves to Affirm Citizens’ Right to Photograph Police Activity
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10) is taking steps to ensure that citizens who videotape suspicious police activity are not improperly prosecuted. Several recent news reports have highlighted instances where police or security personnel have improperly arrested innocent civilians taking photographs and video footage in public. To help raise awareness about the issue, Rep. Towns introduced H.Con.Res 298, a congressional resolution recognizing that the videotaping or photographing of police engaged in potentially abusive activity in a public place should not be prosecuted in State or Federal courts. (article continues here http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-27692-LA-County-Libertarian-Examiner~y2010m7d25-Still-not-illegal-to-film-police-New-York-Rep-Towns-brings-the-issue-to-Congress#
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