FIJA Outreach First (video) Test Since Court Ruling

Julian Heicklen a veteran activist who made headlines for smoking marijuana publicly at Pennsylvania State University and more recently for his relentless battle with the Department of Homeland Security. Since 2009 Julian has been distributing Full Informed Jury Association (FIJA) fliers at courthouses across the country. A simple act like standing outside a courthouse and asking people if they’d like some information has landed Julian in custody too many times, approximately 12 times – thanks primarily to the NYC – DHS.  Over the past year Julian, with the help of fellow activist Antonio “Bile” Musumeci (who filmed Julians arrest and then was arrested as well), have backed DHS into a corner. Using cameras and posting footage their blogs the pair was able to win a federal lawsuit against DHS, clarifying that taking pictures/videos on federal property is NOT illegal.

Fast forward to Ft Lauderdale, FL where Julian met up with Carlos Miller, James Cox and Travis Kimmel to par take in yet another FIJA outreach day. This is the first video, I’ve seen, since the ruling by the federal court. You’ll notice a few things in the video below, taken by Carlos via his Iphone, but the first is that it seems the DHS agents have heard of the ruling but do a poor job pretending they haven’t.  The second thing is new reasons, justifications or whatever you’d like to call them that the agents use to deny filming on public property.  OH and no police encounter would be complete without one officer telling the crew, “I’m just trying to do my job.”

I’m glad no one was (wrongfully) arrested this day and even with the new excuses being used this is yet another example of what a camera can do.