Battleangel

This is America: A 21 year old gets arrested for filming an arrest himself. Basically told he should have just “went in the house and minded your own business” and cited a bogus law. You can just hear the jackboots marching already. (Boing Boing)

Cruz said that when he heard a commotion, he walked out of his back door with his cell phone to see what was happening. He said that when he saw the street lined with police cars, he decided to take a picture of the scene.

“I opened (the phone) and took a shot,” Cruz said.

Moments later, Cruz said he got the shock of his life when an officer came to his back yard gate.

Cruz said the officer threw him onto a police car, cuffed him and took him to jail.

“There is no law that prevents people from taking pictures of what anybody can see on the street,” said Larry Frankel of the American Civil Liberties Union. “I think it’s rather scary that in this country you could actually be taken down to police headquarters for taking a picture on your cell phone of activities that are clearly visible on the street.”

Rodney King anyone?

‘Obstruction of justice’ alright … by an increasingly militarized police that go far beyond the call duty and seem to salivate at the thought of civil rights violations.

Obviously the US government can’t have upstanding citizens film its activities. They’re not fit for print.