A Florida man walked into a court room wearing a "fuck the police" T-shirt and won his case, according to a videotaped account he posted on LiveLeak.
Michael Burns of Broward County says he was videotaping police officers kicking people off public property after being told by one of the cops they were trying "ruin their fun." He said one of the officers on the scene told him he had to leave. Although he believed he wasn't legally obligated to do so, Burns says he determined there wasn't much else to record and he decided to go.
As he was pulling out, he says a Broward County Sheriff began following him. He claims to have slowed down to "15 under," but the cop maintained his pursuit. According to Burns' account, he was about to make a u-turn to head home, when the same cop who had warned him to leave the scene of the videotaping pulled him over. He wrote that six other police cars pulled up and surrounded his car.
"Deputy Paul Sada said the FOP badge on my plate was obstructing," Burns wrote on LiveLeak. "I refused to answer any of his questions and advised him I would see him in court to fight it when he told me I had to take it off."
Burns appeared at his hearing, wearing a black T-shirt with "Fuck the police" across the back. It's difficult to hear what the judge says to Burns during certain points of the six-minute video that captured the hearing, but it's clear he got off for the violation.
"I went to court wearing a shirt that said 'Fuck the Police' and while I was told I had no 5th amendment right and I was not actually allowed to ask any questions during my trial," he wrote, "I somehow still managed to win."
Well, it must be nice to be white. As an African American, I'd never walk into a courtroom demonstrating such open defiance and disrespect. Though the cops may very well have been harassing Burns, many minorities have been arrested for merely exercising their constitutional rights and not being openly defiant. A quick Google search of "Protesters in Ferguson" points to many cases of young people being arrested simply for protesting.
Then there is the case of
Ramsey Orta, a Latino man who was arrested after recording the death of Eric Garner at the hands of an NYPD officer. He believes his arrest came as a result of the NYPD being pissed over his videotaping of police officers placing Garner in an illegal chokehold.
While I commend Burns for his bravado, I certainly wouldn't recommend that people of color follow his lead. I don't see us getting off under similar circumstances.
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