RT NewsA Florida police officer who was protesting US President Obama’s newly implemented healthcare law has been arrested because he refused to take off a Guy Fawkes mask he was wearing at a demonstration.
Ericson Harrell, 39, was wearing a mask, a black cape, and holding an inverted American flag when police approached him in Plantation, Florida. Harrell told officers he was “protesting Obamacare” but the police report notes “he refused each time” when he “was asked several times to remove his mask and produce some form of identification or tell us his name” and taken into custody.
The mask is the same one popularized in the film “V for Vendetta” and then by the activist hacking collective known as Anonymous.
The police report does not mention whether other protesters were at the scene or if Harrell was holding his own individual rally. It does say Harrell was not willing to tell police who he was, “stating his anonymity was his cause, thus the mask…He stated the mask was used by movement groups around the world for protests.”
He only told responding officers “I’m a cop, I’m a cop” and was apprehended when one policeman found a .40 caliber pistol in his waistband.
Harrell, who was charged with obstruction of justice and with wearing a hood or mask on the street, was given a notice to appear in court and not jailed.
The statute Harrell was charged under was originally signed into law in an attempt to criminalize the Ku Klux Klan without violating the white supremacist group’s right to free assembly or free speech.
Chapter 876 Section 12 of Title XLVI under Florida law classifies “wearing mask hood, or other device on public way” as a crime. Stating in full: “no person or persons over 16 years of age shall, while wearing any mask hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter upon, or be or appear upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other public way in this state.”
Harrell’s supervisor at the North Miami Beach police told the Miami Sun-Sentinel that the officer is a 15-year veteran of the force and has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
He only told responding officers “I’m a cop, I’m a cop” and was apprehended when one policeman found a .40 caliber pistol in his waistband.
I applaud him for protesting, but why does his being a cop allow him to get special treatment? If the scumbags illegally arrest regular Americans, why should he be any different?
And this cop was put on paid administrative leave too. These cops always think that they are above the law. This is just another law breaking cop expecting to get away with being a law breaker. He needs to be fined, jailed and loose his cop job.
he had no obligation to observe a law that violates both the 4th and 1st amendments. he should have used the .40 to defend his rights with deadly force.
I disagree. If he loses his job or has other serious sanctions due to his protest, he may well stop protesting and may develop an attitude against it.
I applaud his unwillingness to give information, that is the best thing to do. Say nothing or ask if you are being detained.
I am just glad someone with the police came out to express their opinion and it was an interesting way they did it.
This officer seems to understand something about protest and is probably one who would respect your right to do so. So lets respect his as well.
So are you sayin that he should be let go when he is a law breaker michael??, he did break the law by wearing the mask didn`t he? I would be arrested doing what this cop did so why not this cop also be arrested. So then he should be prosecuted just like everyone else would be then. He broke the law and he should be held accountable just like the rest of us, and he damned well should not be getting paid while on administrative leave.Cops are starting to run scared as they damned well should. This is just another piggy thinking that his sh!t don`t stink.
…I think “the law” would be consider Unconstitutional..as it inhibits an individual’s right to free expression and to be free of unwarranted searches…so let us see what happens to the Cop..and how it is adjudicated…BTW… does that same law call for me to remove my headscarf if I am Muslim? If I have had facial burns and feel the need to cover my disfigured face..am I not allowed out on the street anymore? Sounds like a violation of the American’s with Disabilities Act…no…the law is BS and our Constitution calls for us to ignore illegal, unconstitutional law…good for him…
Regards,
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
It is one thing to have something that covers your identity if it is because of a medical procedure but it is another thing to hide your identity because of things like what this cop did….. Those diaper heads will use those scarfs to cover their heads and use religeon as their excuse…. You talk of this ” Freedom of expression” well then just where is everyone elses freedom of expression when the cops come and tazzer, beat, and pepper spray people for expressing their freedom of expression rjogillory??? This cop broke the law and needs to pay the price for breaking the law just like everyone else would have to. Why should this cop get away with breaking the law when nobody else could. You can bet that if this cop/pig was in uniform that he would bust people because that is his so called job so what makes this pig different to be immune for prosecution.
No, sorry Dan…if I choose to wear a pile of Sh*t on my face, a towel and an umbrella while walking down the street, as long as I am NOT indecent I have EVERY right to do so and NO ONE has the right to compell me to tell them why nor compell me to give them my identity. This is the United States, we have a Constitution that reitterates our natural rights to be left the hell alone unless we are harming someone else. Unconstitutional laws are no laws at all. They are man made decrees that only have force at the tip of a spear…WE THE PEOPLE have an OBLIGATION to use a bigger spear and STAB THE TYRANTS TO DEATH, lest we be reduced to nothing but slaves. This IS case of you are with us, or you are against us. The lines are being drawn in this nation, shock and awe…shock and awe.
…um….yep….!
Regards,
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
Yea ok Brewer. F that. you just try telling a pig/cop that when they come breakin` down your door. I can tell they never did that to you have they brewer 🙁 .
Seems like another false flag to get the police to label anyone with a mask, even a Guy Fawkes mask, as a terrorist. Typical. Now anyone wearing a mask in public is going to be arrested. So does that mean we can’t have Halloween anymore? How much more stupidity are we going to take?
And what’s with the Obstruction of Justice? (Not that I am defending a cop or anything. Just curious) What was he obstructing? The police’s view of seeing who he is? Sorry, even that’s a pathetic, cowardly excuse to arrest someone. Why not interfering with a public servant or reckless behavior or disorderly conduct or any other illegal penal code in the book? Didn’t have time to make up those pathetic charges? Oh that’s right. You were gonna go easy on him. Phew! That’s a relief. I mean those charges are brutal. Anyone with those charges should go to jail for life. They don’t deserve to live like a normal human being. But if he did drugs, trafficked guns, killed or stole money for the bankers and the government, then that’s ok. He’s normal. (sarcasm)
Man, talk about a F**ked up world.
“Chapter 876 Section 12 of Title XLVI under Florida law classifies “wearing mask hood, or other device on public way” as a crime. Stating in full: “no person or persons over 16 years of age shall, while wearing any mask hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter upon, or be or appear upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other public way in this state.””
Hey, I got one for ya,
Article 1 of the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
How ya like them apples?
Whoops! I forgot. There I go again thinking. Silly me. They follow Civil law and not the Common law anymore. Supposedly that trumps and supersedes our Bill of Rights and Constitution. Ugh! What was I thinking? What a stupid peasant I am. (sarcasm)
They don’t need a false flag to lablel us terrorists, they did that a long time ago. I am a seditionist. I speak of seditious acts, I incite seditious acts. Under current US law I am a seditionist and am labeled a terrorist. Hell the ADL has even submitted me in a report on domestic terrorism. I am not currently a thorn in their side so they have not killed me, nor disapeared me into a gulag.
240 years ago, I would still have been a seditionist, I also would have been labled a patriot by those who sought to be freemen. We must choose where we stand and put force behind our convictions. We must draw the line in the sand and move not one inch. We must be able to know that our brothers, who stand beside us, will die. Not for us, not for a flag, not for a corporation, not for a leader, not for a promise of booty, but for the convictions in our own hearts. We must all share the same conviction and be willing to die for it if we intend to be freemen and intend for our children to be free from tyranny.
I am a seditionist. That makes me a terrorist. Call us Yankies, we’ll wear it proudly, call us domestic terrorists, I’ll wear it.
You say that you are not currebtly a thorn in their side. Well good for you brewer. I bet that you would sing like a f“n canary too wouldn`t ya brewer. 🙂
it is easier to insult others and lay low in your hidey hole than it is to take a stand and speak out regardless of the consequences, isn’t it dan? to answer your other question…the fact that I am alive today is proof that my door has not been kicked in for a crime that I did not take responsibility for. you really should separate your hatred for cops from an objective look at how this one’s rights were violated. if we only stand for the law when it suits us then we are no different than tthe enemy.
So you obviously think that it is ok for a cop to be a law breaker right. I do not see where it is right that this pig broke the law – reguardless how ridiculous the law is that he broke – but like they say ” the law is the law ” right. But then again I guess that maybe this cop just needed a week or so paid administrative leave or as they say A paid vacation…. Hey brewer, have fun shining up that badge your cop buddies hide behind…. You speak a little quick to me when it comes to cops and my attitude towards them brewer.
I guess he should have worn a Ray Kelly mask.
How about a richard nixon or a ronnie reagon mask. Ya know the masks of bank robbers 🙂
They would have then arrested him for impersonating a president etc.
To brewer above- you are so easy at taking on the negative labels of this fascist state, you remind me of how mccain sung like a bird and got special consideration when he was at the hanoi hilton(traitor). take the labels if you want but dont try to sell that swill around here. we are people, we are THE people, the law and morality starts with us, not the other way around. while i dont condone this guy wearing a piece under his costume i applaud his right to protest as it is enumerated in our bill of rights. it is a God given right as well to protest or offer redress of grievance. dont look now, but that very act has become illegal in our country with special areas for free speech followers. there are prolly a dozen here who lurk with ftt, we dont know for sure if we are on a list somewhere, how is it that you know this. i smell a rat/troll.
I suggest that you educate yourself on the origin of te term Yankee. We the People, removed the stigma, thereby undermining the propganda by taking that moniker as a badge of courage and source of pride. Your argument is illogical as there is no coorelation between my stating that we are already labled terrorist and someone who gives up information on his co-conspirators. Perhaps if a the few of you who attack those of us that stand for the law were to offer intelligent arguments for your position, you would serve us all by reducing the popular perception that patriots are morons. Unless of course your goal is to discredit us all.
We are not seditious as we are repelling outsiders. We are simply patriots enforcing our law. It is the American nationals that have embraced the foreign invasion who are guilty of sedition. And I tell you straight up, you nor anyone else, is going to twist the terminology to put we American nationals on the defensive. The insurgents and those who back them are seditious and we American nationals are righteous in enforcing our law that makes us sovereign. We will not be labeled as insurgents or seditious in our own country like the Afghans are being so labeled.
Maybe you are just mistaken or maybe you have an agenda. Which is it?
As for the cop at the center of this discussion, the right and wrong is and will remain irrelevant until we have our true law back. You cannot argue a negative.