Cop tries to steal man’s cellphone on his own property

Here’s another case of a police officer apparently forgetting that recording on-duty cops without interfering is perfectly legal, and all caught on video:

(From what I can tell from the confusing footage and the description: Vallejo, California man starts filming from inside his garage with his cellphone as cops pull over a car and force everyone (3 males, one female, all Black) out at gunpoint. A cop then walks up to him on his property and demands he turn over his phone as “evidence”, threatening him with jail if he refuses. Guy apparently passes his phone off to a friend behind the cop’s back, and video ends. The car occupants were later released under claims of false identity.)

Plenty of bad things happen in this video, but none of them are committed by the bystander. As usual, it’s the cop who overstepped his authority, especially in threatening the man with a prison sentence for actually trying to defend his legal rights. Good on him for standing up to the badged thug in a calm manner.

Of course, it’s only too bad the cop won’t receive the slightest sort of reprimand – if his superiors even hear about his actions at all. If anything, they’ll berate him for not stealing the phone and “accidentally” deleting the embarrassing footage. Thank God for YouTube.

(via @todayspolitics)