Posted on 08/10/2013 7:15:45 PM PDT by marktwain
With a .45 caliber legally strapped to his side, Jordan McManus decided to photograph the federal courthouse in Phoenix last night, realizing he would probably draw attention from police, especially after reading about Raymond Michael’s experience last May.
But he was still a little surprised when a police helicopter hovered over him with a spotlight as two patrol cars pulled up next to him and another two cops approached him on foot.
They immediately tried to disarm him, but he refused to let them do it as it is legal to open carry in Arizona.
Then they tried to pat him down, which didn’t make sense considering he was already showing a firearm. But he wouldn’t let them do that either.
“You’re carrying a firearm and taking a picture of a federal building,” the cop exclaimed, trying to justify the pat down.
Then they demanded to know who he was, but didn’t get anywhere with that either.
Here is a portion of the exchange:
“Am I being detained right now?” McManus asks.
“Absolutely you are, yes,” the cop responds.
“You have reasonable suspicion that I committed a crime, right?
“Well, I’m concerned …”
“You’re concerned. Are you detaining me?”
“I am,” he says weakly.
“Under the suspicion that I committed what crime?”
“I don’t know yet. You’re not giving us any information.”
And there you have the reason why police are always demanding to see people’s identification even though the people are not breaking the law. It gives them a hope that if they run your name through their system, they will find a bench warrant and have an excuse to arrest you.
(Excerpt) Read more at photographyisnotacrime.com ...
true
What do you mean?
There are thousands of pics and video taken of that court house and they are posted all over the Internet, from every angle.
What did you think was going to happen to the courthouse as a result of a digital image of it?
Here is one of thousands of pics of the Sandra Day O’Connor United States Courthouse,
/johnny
“People take pictures of court houses and capitol buildings all the time, nothing wrong with it- they paid for them.”
Yeah, later at nite, wearing a gun. This guy was looking for trouble and to make a bullsh*t point he didn’t need to make. I stand by my statement, the guy’s a jerk.
Here are interior pics of the courthouse...They are posted all over the Internet....
This guy wasn’t looking to take a picture of the courthouse, he was setting up a confrontation for no good reason with the cops. That stinks. You can try to justify it all you want. It still stinks to high heaven.
In fact, with a little research, you actually pull up architectural plans of this courthouse.
Any 10 year old could do it.
no statement. Just a guy taking a picture of a public building that belongs to everyone. Probably nicely lit up at night too.
He was setting it up for political reasons involving the legal use of guns.
More than good enough for me.
"“We have reasonable suspicion in this day and age that people take pictures to harm police or to harm federal buildings,” one of the cops explains to McManus.""
Once again, there are thousands of pics of this court house, interior and exterior, all over the Internet.
posting that makes you a threat to everyone!
lolz
“no statement. Just a guy taking a picture of a public building that belongs to everyone. Probably nicely lit up at night too.”
But, he was also exercising his Second Amendment rights, and Fourth Amendment, and even Fifth Amendment and First Amendmnet rights.
Somebody exercising all those rights at once, must be up to no good!/S
I find that to be a concern. The police over-reacted.
/johnny
You act like “wearing a gun” makes some sort of difference. in Arizona it does not. You can wear a gun in a 7-Eleven in AZ. Seeing them on hips is not that big a deal.
lol
I would not have given a false name either. No use giving them possible valid excuses to have “suspicion”.
Have we ever actually caught a terrorist taking pictures while openly carrying a handgun?
Right; for information on how to properly interact with government agents, try this brochure I made:
Stop, Drop, and Cower
[Direct Link]
“I would not have given a false name either. No use giving them possible valid excuses to have “suspicion”.”
When communicating with a Federal officer it *is* a felony to give false information.
He was a short step away from a felony conviction, even though it was obviously in jest. Think about the teenage gamer that sat in prison for over a year because he made a joke about shooting up a school. He even said it was a joke. That is how close to a police state we are.
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