Police Accidentally Record Themselves Conspiring to Fabricate Criminal Charges Against Protester

[KamaAina]

https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-future/police-accidentally-record-themselves-conspiring-fabricate-criminal-charges-against

The ACLU of Connecticut is suing state police for fabricating retaliatory criminal charges against a protester after troopers were recorded discussing how to trump up charges against him. In what seems like an unlikely stroke of cosmic karma, the recording came about after a camera belonging to the protester, Michael Picard, was illegally seized by a trooper who didn’t know that it was recording and carried it back to his patrol car, where it then captured the troopers’ plotting.

“Let’s give him something,” one trooper declared. Another suggested, “we can hit him with creating a public disturbance.” “Gotta cover our ass,” remarked a third....

As a result of the police’s clear inability to police themselves, the only avenue left for Picard and the ACLU of Connecticut is a lawsuit. That lawsuit is based on three claims, as Barrett laid out for me:

It’s surprising that we are still regularly hearing about incidents in which police are not respecting the constitutional right to record in public. But to hear police officers casually discussing the fabrication of criminal charges to retaliate against a protester is even more shocking. As Barrett put it to me, “It’s one of those things that on your darker days you may think happens all the time, but you never really thought there’d be a video recording of.”

[elleng]

1. cosmic karma

[virgogal]

2. This is extremely rare,thank heaven. Most cops do a good job.

[SoCalMusicLover]

3. Yeah, Rare

I guess as a law abiding citizen then, you have nothing to worry about. Unless you happen to come across the "rare" exception, when they ruin your life with trumped up charges, or else if you're really lucky, they just shoot you dead.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. Lol. Extremely rare. Pigs do this shit every day. It's taught in police academies.

Almost every cop I've ever known has talked about fabricating charges against people that pissed them off or talked back to them.

The saying "you can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride" is one I've heard from cops in several different jurisdictions.

[LeftyMom]

8. That's adorable.

[Lochloosa]

9. Most cops do a good job. Till they let a bad cop do this.

Then they are just a bad cop. And when that line is crossed there is no going back

[LeftyMom]

12. So before they're out of their probationary period?

[Lochloosa]

13. More or less.

[ret5hd]

10. So rare that at least three random cops casually discuss fabricating charges.

Yeah, rare. That's the word.

[SoCalMusicLover]

4. They Sure Don't Like Dem Cameras

Life was so much easier for these porkers before video came around.

The 1 mistake this copper made was neglecting to delete the footage contained on the camera. He accomplished the first step, which was confiscating the camera for no good reason. If only the footage were somehow missing, he would be in the clear.

Now he's going to have some paid leave time off, while the department digs deep to defend his actions. Thankfully there are lots of exceptions in their rules and regulations, so in the end, the victim will likely get some jail time, while the cop gets his job back.

Next time, this cop won't make the same mistake.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

7. The cops really stepped in it here.

Up untill they discuss fabricating a public disturbance charge, just about everything they say could be painted by a lawyer as legitimate Discusion of what they believed he was guilty of.

Public disturbance or disturbing the peace requires eyewitnesses and "victims" of the "disturbance" to be people other than the cops. Most of the time they just have to claim a crowd gathered and was upset by the disturbance.

They couldn't leave well enough alone with the other charges. Caught red handed.

[rurallib]

5. A little off the main story, but "Trump up charges" seems like a very appropo idiom these days

kind of prepare us for a Trump presidency where laws will be willfully ignored and abused to inflict punishment to their enemies

[Rex]

11. "To protect their collective ass and serve their own self interests"

Probably too long to fit on the side of a car door.

[sheshe2]

14. I bet they work on commission.

They need to make their quotas.

[Rex]

15. I remember not to long ago getting lambasted here for even bringing up such things.

Gee...those voices have fallen silent lately, I wonder what gives?

[sheshe2]

16. JPR?

[Rex]

17. I think so and DI.

They bled off to stranger lands. I also don't see the endless Obama bashing fest anymore or the 'concern' over BLM etc..

I think you are correct.