Police Officer Harassing Citizen Journalist For Filming

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Well, you need to go away.

[00:00:00]>> No.

[00:00:01]>> film from over there. You can film from over here, but you cannot be filming over here. A deputy at a public gas station repeatedly ordered a citizen journalist to stop filming and back away. Conduct that federal circuit courts have consistently held violates the First Amendment right to record police performing their duties in a public space. Under the First and Fourth Amendments, a law enforcement officer cannot issue a move back order backed by a threat of arrest unless there is a specific articulable safety or operational justification. None was stated here. What follows is the unedited exchange between Deputy Sullivan and the auditor. And the deputy's own words are the only evidence you will need. K R G A Z 0 You okay, sir?

[00:00:46]Huh? Are you okay?

[00:00:48]Ma'am.

[00:00:49]You need to go away. Why? You need to go away. Why? Because you're Listen, go away.

[00:00:54]>> woah, I have business here.

[00:00:56]>> to your car.

[00:00:56]>> What's your name and your badge number?

[00:00:58]>> car.

[00:00:58]>> Why? Deputy Sullivan. What's your badge number?

[00:01:01]>> You're taking our attention away from this person here.

[00:01:03]>> No, I'm not. It's my camera. Okay, well, you need to go away. You can film from over there. You can film from over here, but you cannot be filming over here.

[00:01:13]Wow, very aggressive. Okay, transport vans here. So, if you want to go, you can go. It's It's really easy.

[00:01:19]Transport vans here. So, if you want to go, you can go. It's It's really easy.

[00:01:23]That's why public relations are so bad in the community, guys.

[00:01:29]See this citizen right here? She's recording also. She's doing a great job.

[00:01:33]Always record the police.

[00:01:36]Recording the police is a matter of public interest. The courts have ruled on this already, guys.

[00:01:43]Should we go and then copy one?

[00:01:47]And he got up in my face without his mask. Now he put it on.

[00:01:53]They brought the paddy wagon.

[00:01:55]Unless he's just feeling up.

[00:01:58]But that's what it appears, guys.

[00:02:08]It's kind of frightening.

[00:02:10]Mhm.

[00:02:12]There's another unmarked right there.

[00:02:16]Ma'am, last time, I need you to back up.

[00:02:20]Where?

[00:02:21]Over there. Is that a lawful command? It is a lawful command. And what are you going to do if I do not?

[00:02:27]>> going to jail. Okay.

[00:02:29]>> Obstruction, okay. Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:31]>> Well, I don't want to go to jail, so is this good? That's fine. Okay.

[00:02:36]>> Thank you.

[00:02:36]>> I backed up what, a whopping 2 ft?

[00:02:39]>> Yep. Okay.

[00:02:41]Wow, he's very angry, guys.

[00:02:54]You just moved. Back up again. No, I didn't. I'm right here. I'm recording everything. Okay.

[00:03:01]Go back.

[00:03:02]Away from the van.

[00:03:04]This van?

[00:03:05]Go away from the van. How far?

[00:03:11]I'm just recording you guys. This is a matter of public interest. I'm with the media.

[00:03:16]I don't care who you're with.

[00:03:19]Just cuz you're with the media doesn't mean you can do whatever you want.

[00:03:22]Sir, don't don't even go there with me.

[00:03:24]You guys can not do whatever you want.

[00:03:26]>> Okay. I'm not bothering you, sir. Have a nice day. Deputy Sullivan's repeated orders to back away from a public scene, backed by an explicit threat of an obstruction arrest, implicate the First Amendment right to record police activity in a public space, a right affirmed by multiple federal circuit courts, and the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against seizures, including movement restrictions unsupported by reasonable articulable suspicion. The deputy never articulated a specific operational or safety justification for the distance commands at any point during the encounter.

[00:04:00]Any citizen who records police in a public space has a constitutionally recognized right to do so, and a threat of arrest issued to suppress that recording is not a lawful command requiring compliance.