@5:18 the cop says the guy's making a mountain out a molehill. Um, pkb?

Man, power-tripping transit cops. Is there anything they can't do... which we could consider, you know, productive and useful. What a country.

OMG, 7:27, his logic is so backward. They make me feel unsafe with their madness.

And then they give him a hard time over his lisp?

The comedy comes in at 10:20 when you hear the guy's bbm ding's going through. They're bbm'ing for backup? Wow.

Good description of the zaniness at http://www.youtube.com/user/maxlightrail Glad the ACLU of Maryland is involved to represent him.

OMG, and at 14 minutes the cop is invoking 9/11. *WTF?

Adding video to channels (Wtf) - requested by Krupo.

This was written up by the Baltimore Sun:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/commuting/bs-md-mta-aclu-20110531,0,3380358.story

And a followup:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-mta-policy-20110601,0,2129369.story

Second Followup:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-mta-photography-20110602,0,6046710.story


Quick synopsis:
Press: "Hey MTA, that's illegal."
MTA: "Oh yeah, our bad. Won't happen again."
Press: "Sure it won't."

Jesus, this vid pisses me off more than a lot of the brutality videos. I think that might be my old art appreciation teacher.

The MTA Administrator was quick to respond, so at least that's a start. Also, the ACLU is losing patience, so the next time this happens, there will be a lawsuit. That's how things really change, when you hit them in the budget.

All in all, as much as I was pissed at the behavior of these officers, I think things are moving in the right direction.

Of course, I could be wrong. If a case like this gets to the supreme court, those fucktards could start taking away more rights. But I'm hopeful that won't happen.

Tyranny.

Just give him back his red Swingline stapler and let him go about his business.

just FYI, the cops are required to fill out a suspicious persons report. So the cops are trained to harass suspicious people.

"That is not necessarily true. Detaining you requires the officer to have a reasonable suspicion you violated the law. If you try to walk away when they are lawfully detaining you, you will probably be handcuffed and placed in their squad until they figure out what is going on."

The rest of that answer is quite important: "You can ask if you are free to leave. If they say no, you have to assume they have a reasonable suspicion. If you feel they don't, then the remedy would be to file a complaint. The street is not the place to challenge an officer, it should be done in the courtroom."

They can detain you for a little while without arresting you or charging you or explaining anything. But the longer they detain you without cause, the more they are opening themselves up to a harassment lawsuit. So stay calm, don't answer any questions you don't feel like answering, and occasionally ask if you are free to go. And be happy, because the longer they hold you without cause, the deeper hole they are digging for themselves. Be sure to write down their names and badge numbers.