US Marshal Shuts Down Citizen Recording By Grabbing Phone And Smashing It On The Ground

So… this US Marshal seems to have a ton of unresolved issues to work through. (h/t to Techdirt reader william)

Where to start… First off, this guy doesn't look like he's patrolling an LA suburb. He's dressed for a war zone.


There's a message being sent by this "tactical gear" and it says that these Marshals think they're a military detachment and everyone around them not clearly labeled as law enforcement is the "enemy" -- including anyone with a camera.

Now, it's pretty well established that citizens have the right to film law enforcement officers while in public places. There are exceptions, of course, but none of those appear to be in play here.

What does appear to be in play is the mental exception far too many law enforcement officers feel they can deploy whenever they'd rather not be "watched." According to an interview with Beatriz Paez, whose filming was "interrupted" by the US Marshal (and fortunately filmed by yet another person from across the street), the officers first turned their backs to her (which is fine) and then proceeded to keep moving towards her to block off her view.

When this more subtle intimidation failed to deter Paez, the US Marshal simply stormed up to her, grabbed her phone, smashed it to the ground and finally, kicked the shattered device back to her.

I guess she can be thankful he didn't demand she hand over the phone as evidence. Although, if he had deployed that BS tactic, he'd just look stupid rather than abusive and potentially dangerous -- a person armed to the teeth who can't control his impulses.

As is par for the course when law enforcement officials can no longer ignore the bad behavior of one of their officers, thanks to a citizen's recording, there's now an "investigation" underway.

“The U.S. Marshals Service is aware of video footage of an incident that took place Sunday in Los Angeles County involving a Deputy U.S. Marshal. The agency is currently reviewing the incident,” officials said in a statement.

I would hope that review has been concluded already. The video is only 58 seconds long and the marshal's actions are clearly visible. One would think the review would be about 60-65 seconds long and conclude with a supervisor's disgusted, "Seriously, dude. WTF." This should be followed by an appropriate punishment, like perhaps some sort of anger management courses and long relocation to the basement office, but will more likely conclude with a stern talking-to and a short paid vacation.

And make of this what you will:

Paez said she began recording when she saw the law enforcement presence, their military-style weapons and a line of people being detained. She said the officers started letting the people they detained go soon after she pulled out her phone and started recording.

Hmm. It would appear the officers were uncomfortable with possibly questionable actions being recorded for posterity. We don't know exactly what was going on, and it could just be a coincidence, but the attempts to intimidate Paez into putting down her phone (which concluded with a US Marshal's smash-and-grab grab-and-smash) suggest something not quite by-the-book was underway when she first began documenting the scene. We'll know more if Paez's footage can be recovered from her destroyed phone.

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