Cop Harasses Skateboarders by Threatening Them with Arrest

May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 Ademo Freeman 1051 Views chapel hill police department, Civil rights, cop block, copblock, copblock.org, film the police, Filming police, freedom, Harassment, Photography, police, police accountability, Police State, ryan hill, tilfair, video

The following video was submitted to CopBlock.org, via the submission tab, by Ryan Hill who took the video below.

Ryan provided the following statement:

Okay, so, here I am a skateboarder, not hurting anyone, or doing anything really at a public plaza skating in front of a restaurant. At this time when the video started we were actually sitting down at a table for a good 15 minutes. Now what happened was, my friend who I was with had been told not to come back about a week ago by the restaurant manager, I WAS NOT AWARE OF THIS, THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME ON THE PROPERTY. So pretty much I was about to be arrested for not presenting I.D and trespassing even though this was the first time I was being told I was not allowed on the property. He could have asked me to leave and not return but instead he wanted to escalate the situation all because I didn’t have I.D on me.

Officer Tilfair
Chapel Hill Police Department (919) 968-2760

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I believe Ryan said it best when he notes that Officer Tilfair certainly escalated the situation, as shown when the officer angrily replied, “You don’t carry I.D on you?” From there he becomes even more authoritative as he asks Ryan for his information and continues escalating to the point that Ryan later decides to return and get the officers name and badge number, at which point he almost ends up getting arrested for going back into the property he was just trespassed from. Luckily for Ryan, Officer Tilfair only uses his verbal abuse tactics on him and cut the skateboarding duo loose.

Yet, this video acts as a reminder of why it’s good to film the police. Even though we can’t say with certainty that the camera was the reason the incident didn’t escalate any further, it’s still beneficial, as a means to highlight what did happen. And it would have been crucial had things not gone as smoothly as they did. As always, FILM THE POLICE! Even a simple traffic stop can lead to an officer using deadly force, so have those cell phones and cameras rolling as soon as you seen the police.