St. Louis County police arrested a member of We Copwatch in Ferguson this morning after he stopped his bicycle to video record them as they gathered behind a store in anticipation of the grand jury decision, which will be announced soon. David Whitt said he has video of the arrest, but is not going to post it until after his trial for obstructing traffic. “I wasn’t blocking traffic,” he said in a telephone interview with Photography is Not a Crime Monday afternoon. “I had stopped my bicycle on the curb to record them and they came up to me in 20 seconds, telling me they were going to cite me for not wearing a helmet.” Whitt said they began by demanding his name, then arresting him when he asked if he was detained. “They started going in my pockets, I said, ‘you can’t go in my pockets,’” he said. “They didn’t like me recording me, but that’s what I do because they’ve been saying all kinds of lies about the protesters.” He spent a few hours in jail before being released, making him at least the second person arrested for recording cops after Friday’s court order that made it clear they were not to arrest citizens for recording. We Copwatch was recently featured on CNN for its campaign to provide cameras to the citizens of Ferguson, enabling them to document their interactions with police. Whitt can be seen at the 1:05 mark in the clip below.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 21:42:24 +0000
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