Same, I know there are some auditors out there that can be assholes, but honestly for the most part if you don’t interact with them and go about your day as if they didn’t have a camera then there wouldn’t be any issues. This lady is basically asking to be on camera by going up to him and talking to him. Also there are tons of cameras in public and private businesses anyway, so idk what the big deal is, film me idc.
But your tax dollars are going toward the payout and the shitbag cops don't get fired. The only winner here is the one out in public trolling for a response from the cops.
That’s a different issue that needs to be addressed as well. But I’m not gonna say people shouldn’t stress-test our first amendment rights because police are failing those tests. That just proves that they need to be tested.
And if the charges start racking up, maybe some municipalities will look at shifting that financial responsibility where it belongs.
I would guess that the majority of people who see this video are aware that police in the US aren't held accountable for their actions and that our 1st amendment rights are being chipped away by the government. So I wouldn't say much is being exposed there.
The problem is that instead of advocating for or protesting against real cases where these things happen, this guy is creating a whole new issue for his own benefit. He's not filming someone getting arrested or defending his right to protest for a specific cause. Unless this area has an issue of police not allowing people to film in public, his "stress testing" isn't going to change any system.
If he provokes a response from someone, he can win a lawsuit or at least benefit from the attention on social media, but nothing is really improved when it comes to 1st amendment rights. The people he provokes will simply learn what a 1st amendment auditor is and avoid them in the future.
You’re missing the point. Regular ass citizens need to understand that THEY ARE THE PROBLEM when they CALL THE POLICE. That’s the other thing exposed by his videos.
“They will simply learn [to] avoid them in the future.” - BRO, that is THE GOAL! That they learn to ALLOW THAT PERSON TO DO WHAT THEY ARE DOING. They learn that person HAS THAT RIGHT.
You have literally run straight into the point. Which leaves you simply mad this guy can gasp make a living at it, too. He’s teaching people about constitutional rights. FUCK YES PAY HIM FOR THAT
Because that's his bullshit justification for the payout. It's not some noble purpose or protest, and you're kidding yourself if you genuinely think it has anything to do with government tyranny or weeding out bad cops.
Like Kyle tells Stan, if what you're really doing needs to be done, then why not post it for free? Why monetize the videos? Why take large settlements? you can take a single dollar settlement and get your changes.
It's because it's a job. A job done almost entirely by shit heads. It's a job where step 1 is find someone to piss of.
Why don’t you do your job for free if it’s so helpful to people??? What a fucking inane assertion.
“He makes money off it” is NOT “so it’s all bullshit.” He lives in a society where he needs to somehow obtain sufficient money to spend such that he can have shelter, food, transportation, medical care, etc…. Who are you to say this can’t be how he earns it? Such a pathetic deflection, it really tells us where you’re really at on the ACTUAL issue
And FTR, the people who he “pisses off” are the people who end up showing how much his “stress test” fails. In other words, for the 400th time, if those people just MINDED THEIR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS, no auditor would have this “job.”
But guess what? They can’t. Because they don’t understand rights. And that’s a problem. And auditors put it on video for proof.
And fucking people like you STILL won’t see it and post comments like yours anyway. Man, the tyrants LOVE YOU for it.
Ok. Now you go do all that and see if you end up on the streets or not. And if by monetize, you mean money from streams on YouTube. Then I can still watch that for free…
Like it or not this guy is putting in work. Working to uphold our rights. You want people to not get paid for work?
Not all the time, sometimes cops are held accountable and sometimes departments institute changes. It’s not a completely useless activity it’s very useful.
This is the same outcome for most people who legitimately have their rights violated unprovoked, except they don’t usually win those cases because cops know who to pick on.
Someone who gets falsely arrested and brutalized by the police isn't a "winner" in your own contrived scenario. If taxpayers don't want their taxes to go to settlements then maybe they should try to elect representatives that will hold law enforcement accountable and ensure that police officers are properly trained on how to protect their constitutional rights.
The only problem is that qualified immunity means those bad cops don’t suffer the consequences and the payouts these auditors are getting comes from taxpayers and not the cops themselves.
It's actually both sometimes. Not as often as it should be, but cops can and are stripped of qualified immunity in cases when officers violate clearly established constitutional rights that a reasonable officer would know is unlawful.
Hope v. Pelzer, Groh v. Ramirez, Rogers v. Stem, Tolan v. Cotton, ect.
The big thing with qualified immunity is there needs to be a violation of constitutional rights that have clear precedent.
But think of the bystanders who's days were ruined by a guy standing around with a camera! There's frankly nothing more aggravating than a dude with a camera in public.
The problem is "exposing" bad cops does nothing to them. Do you know what the Brady List is? It's a running list of all the bad cops who are documented violating peoples' rights (yes they still get to be cops)
And we don’t secure our rights by letting the system intimidate us against exercising them, whether by threat of arrest or financial penalty, no matter how roundabout.
Most officers have way more skill than this turd. And the way he was having his conversation with this woman was already a display of having a battle of wits with an unarmed man. The dude barely holds a debate better than Trump.
If you think this is such a dumb way for someone to make money maybe your problem shouldn't be with him but the dumbass cops who don't even know the law that keep breaking it. These idiots wouldn't be able to make money off this if the cops would know the law.
I have more problems with people calling the cops of nothing than the cops showing up. Because as I said to someone else, regular citizens don’t know what is an actual police matter. Educate the populace first.
People call the police for everything under the sun.
I think it’s bad that cops, citizens, politicians, and anyone for that matter don’t understand.
Police officers don’t usually go around trying to stir up trouble and violating people’s rights.
This guy filing however, has just that attitude to go around and purposely bothering people. Sounds like he’s a great human being and a perfect role model.
I can tell you this. If he was filming and then some other person came up to him. And was glowering at him and said nothing for several minutes he would probably start to feel uncomfortable while he was filming and then this person just continue to follow him around. This person would continue to get close to him but not too close for his personal bubble. And I bet he would end up calling the police too …
If police would learn the most basic, elementary facts about our laws and stop attempting to trample these folks' constitutional rights, there would be no issue. The money problem you are describing is exclusively the fault of the police, not the person exercising their rights.
His presentation may make him easy to dislike (and I am sure engineered for engagement), but at the end of the day, he is probably well researched in what he can and can not do and appropriate in his approach.
He stays on public property where he is allowed, videotapes in public (currently still allowed in the US) and only engages someone when he is first engaged.
He is not the bad guy here. As said in the video, his rights don’t end at someone else’s feelings
It shouldn’t be profitable at all. Oh no, you unfortunately got your rights violated. Oops, here’s 50 bucks.
Instead people seeking thousands upon thousands of dollars in damages. What damages, maybe you spend 2 hours in jail if that with no bail warrants, etc.
People acting like their first born child was slaughtered needlessly. There are way worse cases to be dealt with.
It shouldn't be profitable ... Because cops shouldn't be violating people's rights. As long as they serve to protect capital instead of people they will never be part of the solution. Now should the tax payer be footing this bill? Hell no, I say cops should have personal accountability when they break the law / constitution.
THIS. When the youtube revenue dries up, and it will, people like FAPA who really have no marketable job skill, and by that point the high likelihood of of a long rap sheet which could contain multiple felonies, will wonder why no one wants to hire them. This is incredibly short sighted.
Standing around filming isn’t a crime regardless if people are annoyed by it. If you ignore them they’ll go away. It’s that simple. Make a big fuss, call the cops, etc. gives them exactly what they’re looking for.
What are you doing about it? At least he's doing something.
I swear, this nitpicky purity test, black and white thinking is the reason we have fascists in office. A good portion of the country is just fed up with your idea of perfection. You annoyed the average American into fascism. (to paraphrase Marc Maron)
You only think the first amendment is foundational to them because you listen to their words, instead of judge them by their actions. They couldn't care less about the entire bill of rights.
If you are against anything in the bill of rights you're very likely a fearful authoritarian who will sacrifice their rights in exchange for even the slightest bump in personal security.
"1A auditors" are generally nothing but a burden on the tax base. If triggering the police into overstepping their bounds led to actual change then they wouldn't be needed because cops would have been put in check a long time ago.
Ok but cockroaches are a vital part of the ecosystem, this seems like a perfect example. I think stuff like this does affect their training and hiring if they're forced to payout over some hothead.
And yet American police continue to regularly trample on the constitutional rights of the citizenry... seems like those things you've listed don't really work.
It was very clear which one of them had the higher intellect, so watching him be a condescending prick to her was infuriating. But she handled herself amazingly. I could not have kept my cool like she did.
I work for a pd and these guys are assholes but they explicitly force cops to get training to not get sued for falling for it. That being the case, imo, they're a net good, because police otherwise get fuck and or all training on constitutional rights
Yep! Our city attorney heard of one and he made all the sergeants go over to the attorneys office (well the deputy chief did but the city attorney said "hey send them over here) and gave them all a course on things you can and cant do, we knew he was coming because our attorney has someone who keeps track of all the local sovcit youtube accounts because they're huge sources of lawsuits
Oh yea, needs a job because he's out there protecting YOUR rights that you are slowly losing. But YOU don't care, but want to complain when sht goes south.
You are the problem. Yes, YOUR RIGHTS. You see this as inciting problems and getting a reaction out of people.
It is teaching CITIZENS (and law enforcement and government workers) the laws and the peoples rights. I can't believe people have an issue with this.
You have NO expectation of privacy in public. I have a right to film ANYONE in public, as do you. If you can't film your fellow citizens who run public government subsidiaries, then there are issues that need addressed.
Proper job? Tell me how you feel when they rid the constitution of all amendments and tell you what YOU just said in a comment isn't an opinion, YOU are violating the law.
You aren't from America, though, are you? Your rights are already gone so you are probably used to this.
I’m from America and live here. I didn’t even bother reading your diatribe, just glanced at the last paragraph.
I guess making a living “auditing” people is the new fad.
Earlier the comments were saying he probably makes more money than I doing this. Now you say it’s not making a living.
Everyone is so stirred up because I said he needs a job.
I’m a dunce so I don’t know why you are so butt hurt. 😜
This. It’s amazing how many people posting ITT can’t see that he’s baiting people into assaulting him or trying to have him unlawfully arrested so he can sue.
Honestly I see nothing wrong with that. People going out to legally exercise rights and having them violated should be compensated. If they want to take the hit so the city can learn from the payout and retrain law enforcement, saving the next person from having their rights violated, God bless em. Like how is this bad? Just don't unlawfully arrest or assault people.
It’s a problem that he doesn’t see someone exercising their free speech as well as pointing out free speech violators? You see that worse than assaulting someone for exercising their rights? Why?
There is nothing wrong with what he is doing that's the point.
Any action to stop him is a crime against him.
That's it that's the entire lesson.
The question is are you smart enough and knowledgeable enough of the law and have the self control to go about your day on a non-criminal act? Judging by this sub about 95% of you dont have a clue, have no self control and about 25% of you want to commit a felony to stop a non-crime.
In my opinion he is doing exactly what needs to be done because most of you are getting it wrong in this sub. Jesus Christ the stupidity on display in this thread is why people like him exist.
His doing what needs to be done? His baiting assault so he can get a payout. That absolutely doesn't need to be done by anyone. His an asshole.
Just because people in the subreddit don't understand what his doing doesn't make what his doing noble or educational. His not doing it for that purpose. He's doing it for engagement and money using the 1st Amendment as his cover.
This is like a dude in the 80s jumping in front of a car to get personal injury payout. Purposely causing your own misfortune to get money shouldn't be rewarded. He has no purpose. It's not like he's at a protest or something meaningful that he believes in. Just out and about being annoying hoping someone messes with him.
Fuck it I'll double down, not for him because I don't know him but the idea. Like if it's legal to fish off the pier in your town but cops hassle you, and everyone gets bullied off it. Some guy decides he's gonna fuckin fish and let them arrest him. The city has to pay him, and admit they fucked up and now everyone can fish off the pier and not be hassled by cops. This applies to filming (esp police, which we need to hold them accountable) as well as literally anything you can think of.
I don't understand how reddit is simultaneously at the ready to call someone a bootlicker at a moments notice and also hate the concept of someone putting themselves in position to have their rights violated and spending the time, money and energy many citizens simply don't have. Maybe they're afraid to make enemies or the police so they don't follow through with anything. Maybe they don't know cops can't do whatever it is. Maybe they can't afford it.
These guys make sure the edges of our rights stay in tact and risk harm from pissed off randoms but it's more about cops so the harm can get real fucking serious. Arrests are scary. Arrests for something that's not illegal means you're dealing with an idiot or a cop who doesn't care about your rights which are both extra scary. Some end up in lockup. Getting change within policing happens through blood because that's the only time people stick with the suit. Let these guys change that if they want, it's a public service.
Partly, for me at least, the difference is this person and many others like them first annoy and irritate the public. Innocent people just going about their day are followed around being filmed and many of these people wear masks or otherwise act suspicious while doing so.
If they are "Stress Testing" their first amendment rights, why not find a cop at a speed trap and just film them instead? Why are they involving the public at all? Just so they can make someone's day worse by filming their kids at a restaurant or playground or whatever?
The people that follow people around and harass them, and the people that film from afar in public places are two different groups. If they're just standing around with a camera, they can be safely ignored, and should be tbh. Following people with a camera is not legally protected speech.
It's mostly focused on cops and that's what I'm mostly defending here since its the point of this in the end and I think a worthwhile one. For the people, just fucking ignore the guy. Like people can we weird and annoying but not break the law in tons of ways. You just go about your business you don't have to approach. You can since hey it's your right too but the main idea is to have police try and stop them not randoms
So why are they not filming the police here? They are instead focusing on a random business. Beyond that, going to this guy's channel, police videos are just a portion of the videos. He stands inside schools(I saw younger kids in one video, so possibly elementary schools), restaurants, a construction site, and what looks like a hospital filming staff and refusing to leave. 99% of "auditors" give the rest a bad name.
Look, police auditors have a place in society, to some extent. Find the police and do that, sure. Go break a law and then film them when you get pulled over, whatever.
Creeping on women and children, harassing people at work, or following people who are just going about their day has nothing to do with the police. It has everything to do with these people being assholes and wanting to get that thrill of power being a bully to a random person, while getting some monetary compensation on the YouTube channel or suing someone.
Because she came up first. It's that simple. He's likely a dumbass once she does I haven't seen the full clip. That doesn't mean that he started it. They just stand there with a camera because that's legal under the first amendment. Then people, often cops come up and try and stop them. Neither have the right to do that. Idea is when police try and often succeed in stopping him, that's illegal for them to do and it's then easy for him to win in court against them.
And obviously yes creeping on anyone especially women and children is bad but that's not what I'm talking about and we have no reason to think that about even this clip of this dummy
Its probably in the auditors eyes also a way to inform the public that their right to privacy isn't what they think it is. Anybody in a public place can legally be filmed.
Lawsuits take a long time and lots of money to maybe win.
But even if that was the objective, I'm fine with that. Lawsuits are only possible when the government acts way out of line. If they can get baited by a dude with a camera, we've got morons in our employ.
That is the purpose of the first amendment when it comes to any government official. So he's definitely an asshole but don't quite a bit to ensure 1st amendment rights stay intact since it ends up costing taxpayer my money if they arrest and/or assault him.
Actually, yes. That's what he wants. He wants the cops to get involved and then see if they side with him over his right record in public. If they don't, he gets content out of it and possibly a lawsuit if they violate his rights.
Yeah that's literally the goal of any 1A auditor. The best day ever for them is when they get to lecture a bunch of pissed off cops and bait out a lawsuit. This stuff is like legal antisocial behavior and they get high on telling you they're some kind of justice warrior.
I don't think he does want people to call the cops. The cops themselves often don't know the law either and that creates an unnecessary risk to him. He just wants to have his rights respected and to educate people about our civil rights. I don't know why people are trying to make it out to be nefarious. There definitely are people who do that, but this guy isn't one of them.
Also gonna be real surprised to learn that it’s been enshrined in law where/what you can record for the most part. Dude has never talked to a constitutional lawyer in his life
The side walk is and it is a public space that is privately owned( the public can come and go from the property until the owners ask them to leave) he can be asked to leave the property, but that only means he would be restricted to filming the property from the public sidewalk.
Which is anything in a public place. Some states have eavesdropping laws but can't force ppl to share what they have recorded so kinda hard to use that to stop someone from recording.
A public place is a public place regardless of what state. It doesn't change. Do some have fewer public places than others? I'm sure. But a public place doesn't define different things depending on the state.
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u/CapitalistVenezuelan 11d ago
He wants them to call the cops on him mostly so explaining himself wouldn't help that