Up to 16 yrs in jail for videotaping police officer... now that's some bullshit

[Casper]

http://www.mclu.org/node/653

[RSVDon]

I'm glad he's got more backup now. I really hope they stick it to the Maryland State Police.

[John]

this shit is clearly retailatory. his video showed the cop being a dickweed. they arent happy that they are portrayed as anything other than awesome defenders of society, so they start raiding his parents house to show him "we are more powerful than you".

way to go assholes. you're really making yourselves look good.

[tyler524]

Everyone involved in the raid and the prosecuter should all be fired. This ridiculous and if anything the nd state police should be used as an example to discourage other departments from doing the same. I hope this kid and his parents get a nice settlement after he is proven not guilty. We are soon to be living in a total police state. Things like this piss me off very much.

[Fonzie]

this shit is clearly retailatory. his video showed the cop being a dickweed. they arent happy that they are portrayed as anything other than awesome defenders of society, so they start raiding his parents house to show him "we are more powerful than you".

way to go assholes. you're really making yourselves look good.

I remember seeing the original vid on youtube. The kid had been speeding or lanesplitting or something on the highway IIRC, then hit the offramp & got stopped in red light traffic at the top. The cop that drew on him was in an umarked car, hopped out & drew his gun before id'ing himself. The kid started to backpedal the bike a bit.... He says out of fear of not knowing who this guy was.... Until the cop identified himself. There was another marked unit at the kid's 5:00, but who knows when it showed up, cause it wasn't immediately on camera, or if the kid even saw it.

[chevysoldier]

I remember seeing the original vid on youtube. The kid had been speeding or lanesplitting or something on the highway IIRC, then hit the offramp & got stopped in red light traffic at the top. The cop that drew on him was in an umarked car, hopped out & drew his gun before id'ing himself. The kid started to backpedal the bike a bit.... He says out of fear of not knowing who this guy was.... Until the cop identified himself. There was another marked unit at the kid's 5:00, but who knows when it showed up, cause it wasn't immediately on camera, or if the kid even saw it.

And as soon as the unmarked guy saw the marked guy, he hid his gun behind his body before holstering it. He knew he was wrong. Fuck that piece of shit.

[BikerBoy]

that is totaly fked up , 15 years for what ? proving that he was threatened by a cop ? who didn't say he was a cop , just pulled his peice ? what if that motoriest was armored and saw the gun ,pulled his and shot that guy ? would he be on fault ?

the gun was pulled before the guy say he was a police officer ....

crap

[chevysoldier]

that is totaly fked up , 15 years for what ? proving that he was threatened by a cop ? who didn't say he was a cop , just pulled his peice ? what if that motoriest was armored and saw the gun ,pulled his and shot that guy ? would he be on fault ?

the gun was pulled before the guy say he was a police officer ....

crap

I thought about that too. I wondered if I would have pulled my gun on him.

[BonkerS]

Well, the problem lies in the fact that in Maryland it is considered a felony to record audio without all parties consent to do so. I remember reading somewhere that Mr. Graber even admitted to telling the cops he was not recording at one point in time.

Either way, the cop was out of line and looked like a tool and now the knee-jerk reaction looks to be more retaliatory than anything. Not to mention the whole thing has been exacerbated (mainly by the PD) to a ridiculous level. So in effect, all parties were wrong, but I think the whole search and seizure was way overboard. I'll be interested to see how this continues to progress, because lets face it, citizens with cams = checks and balances.

[Todd#43]

that is totaly fked up , 15 years for what ? proving that he was threatened by a cop ? who didn't say he was a cop , just pulled his peice ? what if that motoriest was armored and saw the gun ,pulled his and shot that guy ? would he be on fault ?

the gun was pulled before the guy say he was a police officer ....

crap

Let me guess, English isn't your native tongue?

I thought about that too. I wondered if I would have pulled my gun on him.

You understood that?

Fuck. I had to read it twice before I got it.

[Steve Butters]

watching the video, i dont think the cop was in the wrong at all

the kid was clearly looking back behind him, he checked his mirrors twice then did a full turn around...he knew he was caught, and the officer probably assumed the kid knew he was caught due to how he was reacting

cop pulls in front of him while theyre already at a stop, the guy on the bike then begins to move backwards...at that point, the cop has no idea what the biker is doing, so he draws his gun and keeps it at his side just in case

if a cop stops you and walks up to your car and you throw it in reverse, you bet your ass theyre going to draw their gun, they have no idea if you have intentions of hitting them, running, or what

if you actually watch the video from an unbiased standpoint (rest of the story aside), then the cop arguably did nothing wrong aside from not announcing himself right away, but i hardly think that 3 second gap caused this situation, its just the only leg people have to stand on to argue against the cop.

whether the kid knew the car behind him was a cop or not, we will never know, but it sure as hell looks like he knew he was pinched....if some crazy ass civilian is chasing me in their car, im fucking gone...if a cop is chasing me (over something as small as pulling a wheelie and lane splitting) im not gonna risk running away, which he didnt

the rider made his mistake when he started backing away from the police officers car

why is everyone acting like the cop hopped out with his gun aimed at the guy ready to fire? thats not the case

on a non-related note....the charges brought against this guy are ridiculous, and i do not agree with them at all...the police handled the fallout of all of this horribly, and i will be let down with our justice system if the guy is prosecuted for his camera

that law applies only to private situations, being pulled over in the middle of the road with people all around you in their cars, is hardly private....i see no problem with him recording in public, and hope the judge sees it the same way

[RSVDon]

Looks like the gun was pointed at the bike to me...

It doesn't matter though because exiting an unmarked car with plain clothes and a gun drawn was definitely the wrong fucking idea since he didn't identify himself as soon as he stepped out. That three seconds IS a big deal.

[Steve Butters]

i guess the big marked crown vic sitting behind him wasnt an indication either huh? those damn tricksters

and the gun was pointed at the ground, not the bike or the rider...watch it again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK5bMSyJCsg

[jporter12]

The cop was on a power "I have a gun" trip. He should have pulled his badge and been ready to draw his gun, not jump out of the car pulling his gun.

[tyler524]

The cop had gun in hand as he exited the car. I'm sorry but regardless if I'm on my bike or in my car, if someone cuts me off and jumps out of their car with a gun telling me to get to get off my bike (or out of my car) I would probably back up too.

[SpeedTriple44444]

cops are dicks, and this one is no exception. They deserve the backlash they get, because they take things way too far for no reason. I'm all for law and order, but this guy on the bike didn't hurt anyone. If it were me, I would think I was getting my motorcycle jacked. Maybe we all need cameras on our bikes to keep them in line. I hate the ACLU, but in this case I'm glad that someone is helping the guy out.

[chevysoldier]

Let me guess, English isn't your native tongue?

You understood that?

Fuck. I had to read it twice before I got it.

lol, yeah I've gotten used to his typing.

watching the video, i dont think the cop was in the wrong at all

the kid was clearly looking back behind him, he checked his mirrors twice then did a full turn around...he knew he was caught, and the officer probably assumed the kid knew he was caught due to how he was reacting

cop pulls in front of him while theyre already at a stop, the guy on the bike then begins to move backwards...at that point, the cop has no idea what the biker is doing, so he draws his gun and keeps it at his side just in case

if a cop stops you and walks up to your car and you throw it in reverse, you bet your ass theyre going to draw their gun, they have no idea if you have intentions of hitting them, running, or what

if you actually watch the video from an unbiased standpoint (rest of the story aside), then the cop arguably did nothing wrong aside from not announcing himself right away, but i hardly think that 3 second gap caused this situation, its just the only leg people have to stand on to argue against the cop.

whether the kid knew the car behind him was a cop or not, we will never know, but it sure as hell looks like he knew he was pinched....if some crazy ass civilian is chasing me in their car, im fucking gone...if a cop is chasing me (over something as small as pulling a wheelie and lane splitting) im not gonna risk running away, which he didnt

the rider made his mistake when he started backing away from the police officers car

why is everyone acting like the cop hopped out with his gun aimed at the guy ready to fire? thats not the case

on a non-related note....the charges brought against this guy are ridiculous, and i do not agree with them at all...the police handled the fallout of all of this horribly, and i will be let down with our justice system if the guy is prosecuted for his camera

that law applies only to private situations, being pulled over in the middle of the road with people all around you in their cars, is hardly private....i see no problem with him recording in public, and hope the judge sees it the same way

The unmarked car cut him off. The bike was backing up before the cop got out of the car. I'd be backing up too if some car cut me off and started getting out. For all he knew some guys were gonna jump him for his bike.

The cop had no reason to pull his gun. He should have identified himself right off the bat. Hand on the gun ready to draw would have been better. three seconds is a lot of time. Enough time for me to draw my gun.

This is why I am glad in Ohio non marked cars cannot pull people over and we have a one party wiretap law.

i guess the big marked crown vic sitting behind him wasnt an indication either huh? those damn tricksters

and the gun was pointed at the ground, not the bike or the rider...watch it again

You also have no idea when the marked car pulled up or if the rider saw it. I am guessing as soon as the first guy looks that direction and hides his gun is when the second car pulled up.

[Vulcan_Rider]

Cop had absolutely no reason to draw his gun. Motorcycle was backing up before the guy even got out of his car so he was not backing up due to the gun being drawn. Perhaps because he was backing up that is why the officer felt the need to draw his weapon, basically as a deterrent. The cop never did point his gun at the rider or bike he pulled it and had it pointing at the ground the entire time it was out. I do not see where people are claiming he is hiding his gun, after the second car arrives (assuming that is what he looks at) he holsters his weapon, he is not hiding anything, he has the holster on his right side and has his right side toward the other cop so I do not see anything indicating he is trying to hide his gun.

[chevysoldier]

At 3:21 he looks at the marked car, and then holsters it. Maybe he just felt the threat was gone at that point. What threat I have no idea.

[20thGix]

From the moment the car door opens to when he identifies himself is not 3seconds but just over 5 seconds. Now thats a whole lotta time for someone to wonder why is this dude coming at me with a gun. Like chevysoldier said thats plenty of time draw your own weapon on a stranger coming at you. I bet it would have gotten ugly real quick.

The only knock i have on the cop is that He did not identify himself first and show a badge. You would think in the amount of time that he followed him onto the exit ramp and stopped he would have made his badge visable. I'm not a cop or an expert just my opinion.

[Todd#43]

These threads crack me the fuck up.

The guy on the bike is NEVER wrong. Its ALWAYS the other guys fault.

[chevysoldier]

These threads crack me the fuck up.

The guy on the bike is NEVER wrong. Its ALWAYS the other guys fault.

What would you have done if a random car cut you off and pulled a gun on you? For 5 seconds that he's out of the car the only thing he tells you is get off the bike?

[tyler524]

These threads crack me the fuck up.

The guy on the bike is NEVER wrong. Its ALWAYS the other guys fault.

It would have been the same damn thing if the guy was in a car. To me this has nothing to do with the guy being on a bike. If someone cuts me off and pulls again for me as they exit their vehicle, I am gonna be throwing it in reverse or something. Five seconds is quite a while to have someone yelling at you to get off/out of your vehicle with a gun in their hand without identifying themselves as a cop. Hell even then anyone could tell you that they are an officer but that is really probably a whole different discussion.

[Todd#43]

What would you have done if a random car cut you off and pulled a gun on you? For 5 seconds that he's out of the car the only thing he tells you is get off the bike?

It would have been the same damn thing if the guy was in a car. To me this has nothing to do with the guy being on a bike. If someone cuts me off and pulls again for me as they exit their vehicle, I am gonna be throwing it in reverse or something. Five seconds is quite a while to have someone yelling at you to get off/out of your vehicle with a gun in their hand without identifying themselves as a cop. Hell even then anyone could tell you that they are an officer but that is really probably a whole different discussion.

What would I have done in the situation? Hard to say. I do know that I wouldn't have placed myself in the position that the rider placed himself in.

If I could get inside the rider's head, I'd probably find that he knew exactly what was going on the moment the unmarked cat got out of the car and was at least somewhat aware of the marked car coming up behind him.

Was the cop over the top? Probably. However, none of it would have happened had he been riding responsibly.

Actions have consequences. You shitheads here seem miss that most of the time.

[chevysoldier]

What would I have done in the situation? Hard to say. I do know that I wouldn't have placed myself in the position that the rider placed himself in.

If I could get inside the rider's head, I'd probably find that he knew exactly what was going on the moment the unmarked cat got out of the car and was at least somewhat aware of the marked car coming up behind him.

Was the cop over the top? Probably. However, none of it would have happened had he been riding responsibly.

Actions have consequences. You shitheads here seem miss that most of the time.

So doing whoolies is grounds for a drawn gun. Also grounds for not making it known immediately he was a cop.

You say you think he knew right away he was a cop. If that was so, why would he continue to back up?