Cops sue rapper for using raid footage in viral music videos
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Nice to see cops experiencing the same ridicule, reputation loss, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress, and other harms as their victims for a change.
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"Showing what actually happened has damaged my reputation and made me feel bad" is an interesting legal strategy.
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If your skin is too thin to handle public ridicule, maybe you shouldn't be a public servant?
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I was gonna take it down, but I got high
Steve Lehto pointed out that the grounds the cops are suing over, if successful, would make home security systems illegal in Ohio. Which goes to show just how absurd their lawsuit is.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQcST-jdl7U
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQcST-jdl7U
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I'm amazed at the sheer shamelessness required to sue someone for having the temerity to complain that you paused mid-raid to eat their cake.
There's also the similarly repulsive juxtaposition of "zOMG, it's so scary that we had to tacticool batter his door down rather than just knocking and asking politiely!" and "the situation is clearly so trivial that I stopped to stuff my face with delicious cake".
FFS. You don't get to simultaneously in fear of your lives and justifying all sorts of tacticool escalation cosplay against the public and so relaxed that you decide to lower your gun and have delicious cake time mid raid.
Music Video in honor of said gentleman
There's also the similarly repulsive juxtaposition of "zOMG, it's so scary that we had to tacticool batter his door down rather than just knocking and asking politiely!" and "the situation is clearly so trivial that I stopped to stuff my face with delicious cake".
FFS. You don't get to simultaneously in fear of your lives and justifying all sorts of tacticool escalation cosplay against the public and so relaxed that you decide to lower your gun and have delicious cake time mid raid.
Music Video in honor of said gentleman
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I find the claim to be ridiculous. Law enforcement is given way more latitude than the general public when they should be held to a much higher standard. Also, if it wasn't for people posting video of abuses and actual methodology, than I would still be a stupid white guy thinking "things aren't so bad."
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Adams County Sherriff Kimmy Rogers told Vice last month that while the office didn’t “appreciate” the disrespect from the public after Afroman’s videos became popular, Rogers felt the office could “handle” it.
However, Rogers also said then that “it’s kind of tolling on some of the officers."
Um - had they found anything - this would have a lot more weight. Maybe - just maybe if they were a touch more effective in the execution of their job tasks this would be a different conversation. I get it sucks when you get caught not doing your job right. On the upside everybody got to walk away.
If all this play(ed)s out would not the head of the law enforcement department not be happy with some form of quantifiable evaluation of their officers ability to handle stressful situations? Back in the day where I worked we had professional evaluation teams come through and grind our sites through an evaluation processes for two weeks a year. Everything was documented and formally addressed. Perhaps if such a mechanism were incorporated with law enforcement - we would have fewer fatalities caused by mistakes.
However, Rogers also said then that “it’s kind of tolling on some of the officers."
Um - had they found anything - this would have a lot more weight. Maybe - just maybe if they were a touch more effective in the execution of their job tasks this would be a different conversation. I get it sucks when you get caught not doing your job right. On the upside everybody got to walk away.
If all this play(ed)s out would not the head of the law enforcement department not be happy with some form of quantifiable evaluation of their officers ability to handle stressful situations? Back in the day where I worked we had professional evaluation teams come through and grind our sites through an evaluation processes for two weeks a year. Everything was documented and formally addressed. Perhaps if such a mechanism were incorporated with law enforcement - we would have fewer fatalities caused by mistakes.
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I wonder what prompted the search warrant? Is this a case of swatting? Or did the cops just not like Afroman? They obviously came up empty so whoever instigated the warrant should be the culpable party.
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That was the big stinger for me. What the shits.
It's worth noting that when law enforcement brings this stuff up, they always and to the bitter end think of themselves as The Good Guys. Who would do such mean things to those poor, nice police officers?
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If your actions on the job subject you to embarrassment, maybe you should do better.
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It is "lawful" for police to raid people's houses. Taking into account all the abuses of power that police keep getting caught doing, we should really change that law.
It doesn't even need a constitutional amendment (4th amendment, BTW). Just some laws saying, no, you can't raid homes, especially without knocking and going in guns blazing.
It doesn't even need a constitutional amendment (4th amendment, BTW). Just some laws saying, no, you can't raid homes, especially without knocking and going in guns blazing.
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Of course they think they're the good guys. They destroyed his property and ate his cake and took his shit and won't give it back and he was guilty of literally nothing but they're the good guys because they're the guys in blue. Police are a fraternity with all the insinuations that implies.
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I have to wonder why Afroman has set up shop in Ohio in the first place. I get it that it's an incredibly inexpensive place to live when compared to Cali but damn...there's a reason it's so inexpensive.
Oregon is incredibly expensive when compared to Ohio but when compared to Cali it's a bargain.
Come on over here, brother. We won't raid your shit. Hell we'll welcome you to the fuckin' community.
Oregon is incredibly expensive when compared to Ohio but when compared to Cali it's a bargain.
Come on over here, brother. We won't raid your shit. Hell we'll welcome you to the fuckin' community.
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Call the released videos 'News Reels' and he should be good. Public employees doing public employee work while on the clock generally falls into the realm of legal to show as part of a reporter doing his or in this case her's(the wife) job as a member of the press. Showing what really happened during the execution of a search warrant seems to fit the defintion of news worthy.
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IANAL...
But these are the aspects I find interesting.
The officers are claiming emotional distress and suffering, but they do not allow the same to Afroman. They insist his videos are purely commercial, with no therapeutic or artistic function.
I do not believe that asking for pound cake(WTF?) and dismantling cameras are part of the official duties which they are using to justify their presence in his home.
He should claim that the EULA was posted on the front door, and they should have stopped to read it before busting down said door.
But these are the aspects I find interesting.
The officers are claiming emotional distress and suffering, but they do not allow the same to Afroman. They insist his videos are purely commercial, with no therapeutic or artistic function.
I do not believe that asking for pound cake(WTF?) and dismantling cameras are part of the official duties which they are using to justify their presence in his home.
He should claim that the EULA was posted on the front door, and they should have stopped to read it before busting down said door.
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No /s in reality regarding why they did the raid I suspect. Which makes me sad.
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AmanoJyaku
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
The police refuse to say. Unless they release more information, this has all the markings of abuse of authority.
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The people over at Law Stack Exchange don't think the Ohio Cops have any chance of winning, and the top-rated answer suggests they might suffer a valid countersuit and/or sanctions: https://law.stackexchange.com/quest...-have-any-legal-standing-in-their-claim-of-in
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That's a stretch, I assume cops generally don't want to publicly reveal who pointed the finger at him as that could have very bad consequences for the source. The judge issuing the warrant is the one that's supposed to make sure the standard of reasonable suspicion is met.
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The bolded are all entirely their own fault. If they didn't want to look bad in other people's eyes because they did something embarrassing, then they shouldn't have done the embarrassing thing.
(As usual, death threats aren't acceptable...they're also illegal, and these are the police, can't they, you know...enforce the law here and solve that one themselves?)
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AmanoJyaku
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
Depends on where you are in Oregon. Some areas are white supremacist territory.
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"Cops suing say they’ve been subjected to death threats, ridicule, reputation loss, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress, and other alleged harms and will continue to suffer..."
Sounds rough <Jeremy Clarkson Anyway meme>
Sounds rough <Jeremy Clarkson Anyway meme>
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The officers were acting as agents of the state/municipality during the raid. They don't (or shouldn't) have any right to privacy while doing so.
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Sooo... the cops fucked around and found out, and are now attempting to sue? Good luck with that...
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Who pays to defend the counter lawsuit? I assume if the cops win they personally get to keep the money but if they need to defend against a counter suit the tax payers are on the hook?
Maybe they need to have one of those warnings the NFL uses before they bust down your door:
“This raid is copyrighted by the police for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this raid or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the raid without the police's consent is prohibited.”
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Yeah but he has roots there and isn't from LA. He grew up in DC and his pops was a prof in Ohio, bringing him there.Hey Chappelle lives in Ohio. So can't be that bad
Afroman's existence in the place is a little more nebulous.
And as much as I love Chappelle I think Ohio has had an ill effect on him in recent years.
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Free speech is allowed to be commercial speech, and criticizing public officials for violating your civil rights and stealing your cash or property has GOT to be protected free speech. I don't give a damn about the Ohio law, the 1st amendment overrides Ohio law.
Those videos are clearly an act of political speech, criticizing abuses by public officials. That he makes money off of it is secondary to the political speech. News media organizations make money off their use of such video too - but clearly that is protected. Why should "the news" be protected, but Afroman's videos and merch not be protected?
You know, if you don't want to be the subject of public ridicule, maybe don't eat the man's lemon pound cake. I don't see anything in a search warrant that entitles police officers to help themselves to anything they want of someone else's property. They can seize evidence of a crime, but I fail to see how that cake was evidence of a crime.
What's next, see a guitar you like and just steal the guitar? A famous musician's guitar or other musical instrument could be worth hundred's of thousands or even millions of dollars. Much more than a new guitar from guitar center - which itself might cost a couple thousand dollars.
Those videos are clearly an act of political speech, criticizing abuses by public officials. That he makes money off of it is secondary to the political speech. News media organizations make money off their use of such video too - but clearly that is protected. Why should "the news" be protected, but Afroman's videos and merch not be protected?
You know, if you don't want to be the subject of public ridicule, maybe don't eat the man's lemon pound cake. I don't see anything in a search warrant that entitles police officers to help themselves to anything they want of someone else's property. They can seize evidence of a crime, but I fail to see how that cake was evidence of a crime.
What's next, see a guitar you like and just steal the guitar? A famous musician's guitar or other musical instrument could be worth hundred's of thousands or even millions of dollars. Much more than a new guitar from guitar center - which itself might cost a couple thousand dollars.
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What bright spark thought a frivolous lawsuit was the best way to improve their reputation, that they ruined by going full pig mode on Afroman? Imagine if civilians could do that to people posting ring footage of burglars.
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"Cops suing say they’ve been subjected to death threats, ridicule, reputation loss, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress, and other alleged harms"
So their reputation has come full circle, and the community who feels justifiably threatened are lashing out.
If you are being ridiculed, humiliated, and embarrassed from the community then maybe your job is a distinct threat to individuals as well as society at large. Use your union to do something other than to cover your attacks on constitutional rights, and police your own behavior/coworkers.
So their reputation has come full circle, and the community who feels justifiably threatened are lashing out.
If you are being ridiculed, humiliated, and embarrassed from the community then maybe your job is a distinct threat to individuals as well as society at large. Use your union to do something other than to cover your attacks on constitutional rights, and police your own behavior/coworkers.
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I just watched Lemon Pound Cake and it seems like the most lighthearted, silliest possible response to the terrible raid on this man's home. Dude seems like a gem. Shame on the police for trying to sue him over it.
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Working, so I only had time to watch the Lemon Pound Cake video and it's genius.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xxK5yyecRo
Liked and Subscribed.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xxK5yyecRo
Liked and Subscribed.
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