The lovely pigs of the Portland Police Bureau, once again, have proven they have no respect for civil liberties. On October 27th, 2016, I came across two officers interacting with a woman. An employee of Ace Hardware on 122nd and Powell called the cops because the woman had been sitting in her car for over two hours in the parking lot, according to the broadcast on the scanner.
I arrived just after the first officer and before the second officer. I began filming from three parking spaces away. I moved closer and the officers made no comment though they were aware. After about five minutes, one officer moved around the vehicle and began looking in the car, at which time I couldn’t hold my tongue and asked if she had consented to a search. That’s when the officer lost his cool and began giving me unlawful orders. After his attempted coercion failed he reverted to crying to the store manager to have me trespassed. As I was not sure if the manager had the authority or not on the shared parking lot, I didn’t want to press the issue.
This is a classic example of Portland Police tactics; Attempting to use felony coercion to impede the constitutionally protected right to film the police. By definition of ORS 163.275, the threat of arrest, especially upon someone who they continually target for exactly that, is felony coercion. Portland Police also love to use their shiny badges and state granted authority to convince managers to trespass cop blockers. They do it all the time, but this is the first time *on camera* they have blatantly said they are going to have the owner remove someone. That generally happens behind closed doors which leaves us with no proof.
Here, however, we have proof of a blatant violation of rights as well as a classic example of Portland police officers’ regular attempts at coercion. Had I not known my rights, the piggy would have succeeded in his attempt. Most people are not aware what the definition of interfering is in their area. In Oregon, anyone can talk as much as they would like and that can’t be considered interference. This law is likely different from state to state, so look up your local rules before you tell a pig to fuck off, THEN, once you know you’re legal, tell them to fuck off…at your own risk.
Remember – Always film the police. You never know what might happen. Just the act of filming them can often change how they act.
If you would like to let Ace Hardware know violation of rights is unacceptable, give them a ring.
-Ace Hardware Media Relations department 630-990-3600
