Before the 'finger trick' he proclaimed that they would never arrest him. He plead guilty to intimidation of the officers. It was more than just a 'finger trick'. They were called to his house twice for domestic disputes.
Did the defendant call the cops? No. I don’t care how many times the cops were called there. They could have been there 50 times. It matters not. He did not have a firearm, he didn’t brandish a firearm, and he didn’t assault or strike an officer. He may be a first-class jerk, but we don’t get to charge people with being a jerk. He’s got a first amendment right to be a jerk, and the SCOTUS has already found that the cops can’t arrest people for using undesirable language OR GESTURES, such as giving them the middle finger or saying “F” you to them.
No, there was a bitchy wife who kept throwing her weight around by calling them repeatedly. Since the law requires all domestic calls to be answered by an appearance, the cops had to show up. It was easier to just pull the guy out of there than screwing around with her repeated calls so they charged him with some BS charge. No wonder he resisted. The law is stacked against the men because of NOW, and I say that as a retired LE female with 30 years on the job.
Is he a jerk? Yep.
But the cops are bigger jerks. Not the first time. They have no respect for people’s constitutional rights.
Again, he was sentenced for ‘intimidation’—the finger trick—not for violence against the officers or anyone else. If you know anything about domestics calls, you’d know that in many cases 2 times is nothing. So the bottom line is, this clown is serving time for a finger thing and telling the powers that be they would never arrest him. Justice is served on the taxpayer’s dime...for finger intimidation.