Dog Flashlight

thedailywhat:

Photography Is Not A Crime of the Day: A man who witnessed last week’s controversial fatal South Beach shooting of Raymond Herisse by Miami Beach police says he and his girlfriend were intimidated by cops who sought footage of the incident captured on his cell phone (see above).

“When he noticed me recording, one of the officers jumped in the truck, put a pistol to my head,” Narces Benoit said. “My phone was smashed - he stepped on it, handcuffed me.”

Benoit and his girlfriend, Ericka Davis, were driving around the area on Memorial Day when they saw the tail-end of a police chase that ended with Herisse dead and four bystanders injured by gunfire. In addition to unconfirmed reports that he was shooting a Berretta 92-F semiautomatic pistol from his Hyundai, police say Herisse — an armed robbery suspect — struck several officers after bolting from a traffic stop.

Benoit says he was initially cuffed, but released after additional gunshots were heard. He then slipped the phone’s memory card in his mouth and kept it there through a recorded interview at police headquarters. According to Benoit, several other bystanders had their phones smashed by police.

Police Chief Carlos Noriega told the Miami Herald he hadn’t previously heard of any threats or smashed cell phones, but that Internal Affairs would investigate if Benoit made a formal complaint. Miami Beach PD detective Juan Sanchez told CNN he couldn’t comment on how the situation was handled, “because the matter could become the subject of an internal investigation or a civil lawsuit.”

[cnn / miamiherald / reddit.]

Shooting the dude is pretty bonkers, but I don’t know the whole story, so whatever. But a police officer pointing a gun at an innocent bystander for filming what happened is what really boils my blood. The American government tells us, “If you’re not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to worry about.” If that’s how it’s going to be, then why are cops so desperate to destroy video documentation of their actions?