Chicago Police Caught Saying First Amendment Rights Can Be Terminated

**Team Sergeant** · 06-04-2012, 18:26

Wonder what the fat Chicago cop would have said if I told him; "You terminate my 1st Amendment Rights and I will terminate you." Yeah, I will. TS

Chicago, obama hometown.

Chicago Police Caught Saying First Amendment Rights Can Be Terminated

Now the Chicago police department is following Obama’s example and telling people that their First Amendment rights can be terminated anytime. Check out the incident caught on camera when a couple of news reporters were trying to cover a story outside a Chicago hospital.

Following the threat, the officer arrested the two journalists. Even though they were released a short time later, the incident has not gone unnoticed. According to the National Press Photographers Association, there have been 70 such arrests that they have documented since last September. Many of the arrests have involved the filming of news stories when the police decide they don’t want to allow it to be filmed. They seem to just arbitrarily decide on their own when it is legal and when it isn’t.

http://visiontoamerica.org/10133/chi...be-terminated/

Scimitar · 06-04-2012, 18:38

Wow!

Firstly, this cop is unprofessional at best, I'm can't imagine swearing and making personal statements are SOP in any force, in fact I imagine they are frowned upon as poor practice. My police friends tell me that their job is to act in such a way as to not escalate a situation. Call scum Sir or Ma’am, and not entering into arguments is part of this.

Secondly, it seems they where under arrest for disturbing the peace I'm guessing. So a Cop can start a yelling match with you, give you "unlawful" orders, give you no reason for the orders, and then arrest you for everything he's created.

Amazing!

Bet, cos of the union this guy ain't gonna get anything more then a slap on the wrist.

S

Dusty · 06-04-2012, 19:12

lol There are places in this Country where the thought of pulling that type of horseshit wouldn't even cross that cop's mind.

Must be something in the air in Chitown.

Badger52 · 06-04-2012, 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty

lol There are places in this Country where the thought of pulling that type of horseshit wouldn't even cross that cop's mind.

Must be something in the air in Chitown.

Believe me, there must be a southerly flow because the plume gets into Milwaukee where they under-report violent crime to make their stats look good and Obersturmbahnfuhrer Flynn has openly advocated civil rights violations in the past. If the whole thing broke off into Lake Michigan it'd be ok by me.

As a good friend says, "There are law enforcement officers, and then there are peace officers." Sometimes there's a pretty wide gap between the two and, quite often, because it's tolerated.

AngelsSix · 06-04-2012, 20:07

Try that crap in Pinehurst. I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU. That fat ass cop would be out of a job in less than 8 hours. He would never even have a chance to finish his shift. The people here aren't so much concerned with rights as they are bullshit. There would be a lawsuit filed by the next day. So much for a cop thinking he can put an end to someone's rights. Shit cracks me up!

Gypsy · 06-05-2012, 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty

lol There are places in this Country where the thought of pulling that type of horseshit wouldn't even cross that cop's mind.

Must be something in the air in Chitown.

More like oxygen deprivation.

What a jackass.

dadof18x'er · 06-05-2012, 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty

lol There are places in this Country where the thought of pulling that type of horseshit wouldn't even cross that cop's mind.

Must be something in the air in Chitown.

what's really sad is a lot of the younger generation would not be offended in the least

TacOfficer · 06-05-2012, 21:37

I am a Chicago police officer, have been for awhile. I agree 100% his behavior wasnt professional and the choice of words was ill advised. As for his weight management, not every police officer at his age is in peak physical condition.

Watching the edited video that was linked, wasn't there myself, I would say the officer isn't my number one choice to represent the Chicago Police Department. However, the fact of the matter is the officer was stressing the safety issue of several news crews standing in the median of Ogden Ave attempting to cover a story. He gave them direction to cover the story from the sidewalk.

I personally have directed media to relocate to designated press areas. They are not designated to to limit access, but to provide a safe location where the media can be accommodated. The pros in the media have always asked where a good place to "setup" is. The reporters in this video seemed more interested in manipulating a safety issue, i.e. standing in the middle of the street, into suppressing press and the first amendment.

Reporting a story is not an arrestable offense, even in Chicago. Reckless Conduct is. Having at least two news crews in the middle of a busy street, the video didn't bother showing what effect the crews were having on traffic, isn't exactly a safe and prudent scenario.

Believe me, Rahm has the press in his lap and he's no friend of the police. They get all the coverage they want. In Chicago the press just doesn't report the news, they create the news.

mugwump · 06-08-2012, 07:43

Chicago in particular and Illinois in general have some of the most fascist laws in the US. It's a felony for a private citizen to pull out a cell phone and film a cop. Licensed journalists are exempt.

**Pete** · 06-08-2012, 08:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by TacOfficer

..... The reporters in this video seemed more interested in manipulating a safety issue, i.e. standing in the middle of the street, into suppressing press and the first amendment. ......

You and I must not have watched the same video clip. I saw them standing on a curb/sidewalk and being directed AWAY FROM THE STORY to another curb/sidewalk. I did not see them standing in the street.

The second half the clip shot from the middle of the wide street shows the curb/sidewalk the reporters were standing on. The time frame of that shows the overlap of the arrest.

R3V3LATIONS · 06-08-2012, 08:32

I am not surprised, I had heard something about this or something close to it, check the youtube link here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v...irzg&vq=medium

I totally agree with the fact that this action is unprofessional, however out of certain liberal states (kalifornya, NY, NJ, MD, and IL) nothing surprises me, nonetheless I find it just plain depressing. Not a big Star Wars fan, but in one of the movies (can't recall which) they had a fitting line "so this is how democracy ends....with an applause" or something similar

TacOfficer · 06-08-2012, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

You and I must not have watched the same video clip. I saw them standing on a curb/sidewalk and being directed AWAY FROM THE STORY to another curb/sidewalk. I did not see them standing in the street.

The second half the clip shot from the middle of the wide street shows the curb/sidewalk the reporters were standing on. The time frame of that shows the overlap of the arrest.

Specific to the video in question, the link from above failed to play, however I did locate it on the YouTube site. If you observe carefully during the following time 1:05 to 1:14 and 3:15 to 3:30, you will see that the media was clearly on a concrete median. *Lanes of traffic were on either side of said median.*

And yes, my fellow officers and I realize/tolerate we are living at Ground Zero for liberals.*

**Pete** · 06-08-2012, 16:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by TacOfficer

... *Lanes of traffic were on either side of said median.*

And yes, my fellow officers and I realize/tolerate we are living at Ground Zero for liberals.*

Looked more like a parking zone for the building to me.

If not that big old police van was doing more to impede traffic than the reporters were.