You have so many things that are provably false.
Unless you address those, and retract them, I’m done with this conversation. Take care!
I will rewatch the video in detail, so I am on stronger ground and get back to you. I allow for the possibility that, because it’s been a few days since I’ve watched it, because I’m working a lot and interacting on my Blackberry, which doesn’t allow me to easily download and watch videos as I would on my computer.
But, in principle, my position remains the same. If you insert yourself unnecessarily into an arrest, it is fair game for the officer to arrest you. I do think the average person should be able to peacefully film an arrest, but don’t necessarily expect the justice system to take your copy seriously, since film can be edited. And your rights aren’t absolute if the state sees the need to override them, such as arresting somebody on their property if they’ve chosen to insert themselves into an arrest.
Now I did watch the video, in detail, again and firmly am of the opinion that the cop was in the right.
Since we don’t know the preceding events to the video, we cannot make any judgements about the young man being arrested.
However, the girl drew attention to herself by filming no more than 6 feet or so from the arrestee’s car. A city sidewalk, at least in my city, in the residential part, is about 2 feet wide. Give another foot or so to the street and maybe 18 inches to the car and you have about 5 feet. Even with other factors, like the girl being tippy-toed on the far side of the sidewalk, you, you’re not going to get more than 6 feet out of the deal. But she did start filming on the sidewalk, because you can see that she’s backing up when the cop mentions that she’s on the sidewalk.
Cops are not trained to think of citizens as cute puppies, incapable of harm. Their training requires them to look at everybody as potential hostiles, where anybody is capable of doing anything at anytime. Like it or not, this is a necessary mindset to help ensure a cop can go home at the end of a day, without going home in a bodybag.
The girl may have been just filming, but you cannot prove to me that it would have stayed that way. By necessity, the cop has to assume it may not stay that way either and must retain the control of any situation. As one cop said to me, “you gotta be the bigger jerk at all times.”
If a cop asks you to do something, as long as it is lawful, you need to comply. To fail to comply, gives the officer a basis for making an arrest even if he’s not planning on making charges.
And yes, they can arrest you, with cause, and hold you for upto 24 hours without having to lay charges.