Huntington Beach CA Police Try To Find Any Reason To Cite Man Because He “Has a Chip On His Shoulder”
The video and description within this post was shared with the CopBlock Network by Steve, who preferred not to give his last name. It was shared via the CopBlock.org Submissions Page.
In this video, Steve states he has just returned from a short shopping trip within a local Walmart and is “greeted” by a group of police officers, including a Orange County animal control officer. They state that they were called by a witness who was concerned for the safety of his dog that had been left in the car. (Toward the end of the video, the animal control officer admits that he had already determined, based on the outside temperature, that the dog was not actually in danger.)
From there, they keep demanding ID from Steve, who refuses to do so, maintaining that he hasn’t committed a crime. The Animal control officer contends that he is investigating whether the dog is registered, although at one point he admits that he is only doing that because he feels that Steve “has a chip on his shoulder.”
One of the other cops also states that Steve doesn’t actually have a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent unless they “have Mirandized” him, which is a pretty blatantly inaccurate interpretation of constitutional rights. If I didn’t know just how often cops don’t actually know the law and the Constitution, I would think he was just playing stupid in a bad attempt at fooling Steve into answering their questions.
Eventually they do give up on trying to get Steve to give them his ID. However, prior to leaving one of the Huntington Beach officers states that Steve’s windows are tinted to dark and that they should wait to see if he drives the car so they can issue a retaliatory citation for that “crime.”
Finally, after huddling up briefly and looking back to make sure Steve isn’t close enough to overhear their diabolical plans (which probably consists of mailing a citation for the dog license to the address his car is registered at), they slink off to find someone else to harass.
Date of Incident: September 8, 2016
Officers Involved: Officer Jackson – Badge No. 2098, Officer Roberts – Badge No. 2137, Deputy McCartney – Badge No. 21
Departments Involved: Huntington Beach (CA) Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department (Animal Control)
Department Phone No.: HBPD – (714) 960-8811 OCSD – (714) 935-6848
The man in the video had stopped at a Walmart in Huntington Beach, California. The car was parked in the shade with a sun visor on the front windshield. Outside, the temperature was only 75° and the back windows were rolled down three inches, since there was a dog in the backseat. The man was only in Walmart for about 15 minutes.
When he came back to the car, there were three squad cars with six police officers and one sheriff from animal control outside. One of the officers had stated that they received an unverified complaint over the phone from some concerned citizen that an animal was being endangered and that they were there to investigate.
I learned a lot from this video including the fact that police believe that you only have a right to free speech if and when they give you permission. The reality of it is that the police have absolutely no jurisdiction unless you give it to them, and if you do they now have a license to kill you if they want.
There was no citation given and there was no arrest because the man refused to show his ID; yes your name will be used against you to cite you, to arrest you, to imprison you, hold you for ransom, and maybe even kill you.
The first question you answer you have given them jurisdiction, so don’t answer their questions. You be the one to ask all the questions and do not answer theirs.
– Steve
