March 8, 2006 | Filed under: big easy, amigos
No, I didn’t get arrested in New Orleans. But a friend of mine did, and under bogus charges. Click here or above for his story, click here for other similar stories and/or read below for details. A brief glossary:
OPP as in Orleans Parish Prison (not as in this)
ICE as in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (not as in this)
Having a videocamera in your hand at the wrong time is not a good thing in New Orleans, particularly when you are, in fact, filming your surroundings in order to maintain a certain level of safety from the police. I filmed him telling his story on Canal street as we waited for a Mardi gras parade to reach us. The next day we all planned to meet up for some more Mardi Gras fun, but alas, he had been arrested again. Something about “interfering with a police action” when in fact, he was taping run-of the mill French Quarter Mardi Gras madness and a police car drove into the scene, presumably to break it up a bit. Except they didn’t, really. They just arrested him. Add a side of “resisting arrest” to that order, please.
March 8, 2006
@ 9:25 am
Wow, that is MESSED up! I am ouitraged at what this guy went through. Is he planning on doing anything or is it pretty much over because of the dirty cops in N.O.?
Best wishes to him.
Dawn
PS. I hope you have this saved on disk.
March 8, 2006
@ 12:27 pm
The second time, his camera continued to roll after the police instructed that he was not allowed to film (he was on a pulic street at the time), and that footage survives on disk for sure. This is a man who is extremely well versed in issues of civil rights and is really not someone any crooked cop should verbally tangle with. And yet, tangle they do.
March 8, 2006
@ 1:06 pm
Wow. Welcome to the Third World. Brownie, heckuva job!
March 8, 2006
@ 1:59 pm
ONLY because he’s black and that’s BS if you ask me!!
Dawn
March 8, 2006
@ 2:24 pm
That is madness… and in 2006. My head hurts.
March 8, 2006
@ 2:26 pm
Whenever you don’t have legal representation, things are screwy like the deal the judge gave this guy. Basically they said yes we gave you a beating because you did something illegal, and now you have no right to disagree. Lawyers are good for something when they take up your side.
March 8, 2006
@ 4:38 pm
I’m speechless…………
March 8, 2006
@ 6:59 pm
That’s f**ked up. WTF
Evan (http://e-vlog.blogspot.com)That’s
March 8, 2006
@ 7:51 pm
Wow. Even I’m surprised, and I live in New Orleans. I didn’t know it’s that bad. When I first came back after the hurricane, the day after they reopened Orleans Parish, I was more afraid of the police than anything - I’d heard some pretty scary stories. But I thought things would have calmed down by now. That’s really, really scary.
March 9, 2006
@ 10:32 am
Thanks for sharing that story. I hope a lot of people read it. Very scary.
March 9, 2006
@ 3:58 pm
For the love of God. In 2006. We haven’t come as far as we think we have.
March 9, 2006
@ 8:18 pm
I’m sure police brutality is statistically worse toward black people than white, but my blond, caucasian friend got thrown in jail for having her feet up on the subway in NYC last summer, so sadistic, stupid police people are a menace to everyone, black, white, whatever. I’m glad you were able to capture this. The more we can expose this evil the better.
March 10, 2006
@ 8:26 pm
Holy crap! WTF!?
Thank you missb for posting this. You ARE the media! And you’ve got more guts than they have thank god!
I’m gonna post it on my blog too. More people need to see this!
March 12, 2006
@ 10:12 pm
I don’t know what to make out of this. I mean, you hear about this stories, they happen everyday, and I just can’t believe it happens.
I mean, does it just go away paying bail???? Are these police officers still going to continue doing this???? Is there anything someone can do to stop it???? To take it out in the open?????
Man, it would had been great if another person from across the street was recording his arrest while it was happening… THAT would freak out the police department.
March 14, 2006
@ 7:44 pm
That is so screwed up. More proof that we are living in an increasingly fascist country.
March 20, 2006
@ 6:43 pm
Aaaaargh! This pisses me off. As if the people of New Orleans have not been through enough without their very own police force messing with them.
April 20, 2006
@ 4:38 pm
That’s why I am no longer a citizen of New Orleans. My family and I relocated to Hammond La.