Cop Block

Cop Block
Motto Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights
Formation January 1, 2010 (2010-01-01)
Type Decentralized project
Purpose Promote law enforcement accountability, expose alleged police misconduct
Key people
 Pete Eyre, Ademo Freeman
Website www.copblock.org

Cop Block is a grassroots organization working to make police accountable for their actions. The organization's members and volunteers attempt to draw attention to alleged or evident police abuses that happen across the United States, and work to film police to force transparency and accountability within their ranks.[1]

Activities

In July 2010, Pete Eyre and Adam "Ademo Freeman" Mueller, key members of the organization were arrested for videotaping officials at the Franklin County, Massachusetts jail.[2] The organization is known for videotaping public officials nationally, with many of the interactions ending in arrest based on an allegation that the activities violate local laws, regulations, policies or rules civil disobedience.[3]

In October 2011, Cop Block sponsored a "National Chalk the Police Day" in fifteen cities to protest arrests of protesters who had used chalk to write anti-police slogans on the sidewalks of public property.[4]

In 2011, Cop Block posted a video to their website, alleging that a Manchester, New Hampshire police officer used excessive force on a student at West High school. According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, the student showed no visible signs of injury either in his mugshot or later interviews.[5] One of its founders, Ademo Freeman, was arrested for wiretapping, though his only alleged charge was recording public officials without them being aware of it, which is not typically a crime under the 1st Amendment as well as many state laws. He was facing 21 years in prison[6][7][8] on the charges, but was sentenced 90 days in jail and three years of probation following his conviction.[9] This conviction was overturned on appeal based on several years of federal jurisprudence.[10]

Controversies

In July 2011, Kershaw County, South Carolina Republican Party co-chair Jeff Mattox became embroiled in a controversy after he 'liked' a Cop Block video cross-posted on a Tea Party website.[11] The controversy was reported on nationally at Politico.com.[12] Mattox stated that he would not step down from his post after the controversy[13] and stated that he had thought the Cop Block article had been an "interesting read."[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.copblock.org/about/page/2
  2. ↑ Berry, Conor (17 July 2011). "Trial of anti-cop, pro-govementtransparency defendants scheduled to begin Monday in Greenfield". Springfield Republican. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Hanley, N. Stewart (2011). "A Dangerous Trend: Arresting Citizens for Recording Law Enforcement". American Journal of Trial Advocacy 34: 645–669.
  4. ↑ Failinger, Marie (2012). "Talking Chalk: Talking Chalk: Defacing the First Amendment in the Public Forum". West Virginia Law Review 115.
  5. ↑ Hayward, Mark (5 October 2011). "Video shows West High student's arrest". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Adam "Ademo" Mueller, Journalist And CopBlock.org Founder, Faces 21 Years In Jail After Reporting School Police Brutality". Huffington Post. 6 August 2012.
  7. ↑ Grossmith, Pat (6 August 2012). "Protesters hand out leaflets during jury selection in CopBlock.org wiretapping case". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "'Copblock' wiretap case goes to court in Manchester". New Hampshire Union Leader. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Patrick (13 August 2012). "CopBlock founder Adam Mueller, a police-accountability blogger with Greenfield ties, found guilty of illegal wiretapping in New Hampshire". Springfield Republican. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. ↑ http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140211/NEWS07/140219859
  11. ↑ Abbotts, Chris (26 July 2011). "Kershaw Co. GOP leader criticized for liking 'shoot a cop' article". WACH TV. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Smith, Ben (25 July 2011). "'Shoot a cop' flap in SC". Ben Smith on Politics and Media. Politico.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Official says he won't resign over article". Augusta Chronicle. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  14. ↑ Tau, Byron; Smith, Ben (27 July 2011). "South Carolina Republican refuses to step down". Politico.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.

Further reading

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.