today we will look at some interesting cases of corrupt cops on August 29th 2020 Hawthorne suit's Hotel manager Shawn Hoover called the non-emergency police Hotline in Tempe Arizona requesting the removal of two people in the building who were believed to be engaged in illegal activity Hoover and employee tavonia compion encountered a man and woman smoking in the stairwell when Hoover asked them to leave the male suspect allegedly pointed a gun at them them officer Ronald CIA of the Tempe Police Department then responded to the scene Hey Hey sir how we doing we got hold on to issue some guy just pull a gun on us I've got a for7 George here I'm going to need some additional units manager advising a male subject here just pull a firearm on him where is he now white male black male what do we got is he a white male a black male come on white male uh he's going to be wearing a uh he's going black shirt T pants he's going to be coming down the staircase and exit out that door right there tempor um he's probably going to be poking out on the West exit he's walking out [Applause] now get inside now get the 41 I'm going to hold on that exit responding units if they coming out price I want you to come in that entrance and hold put your hands up want a gunpoint step out I work here you work here I was kicking the door closed man okay put turn around I'll work here that's fine come on man you got to at me I got Hey listen to me listen okay I got my hand I am responding to somebody with a firearm who matches your description you understand that despite the suspect being described as a white man in a black shirt and tan pants officer kah pointed his gun at Mr compion claiming to be looking for a person matching the description the mere presence Doctrine suggests that being in the vicinity of criminal activity does not justify a search or arrest although Mr compian does not fit the description of a suspect recent cases show that proximity to the scene of a crime can justify detention therefore while Mr comp May challenge Reasonable Suspicion evolving legal interpretations suggest the possibility that it is within officer kah's Authority come here I got my hands up man take the gun off for real I got my hands up where's your idea at no you don't get to tell me what to do where's your idea at take the gun off me man no where your supervisor at you going to shoot me I'll be another person on the news get on your knees I didn't do nothing shut the with that on your knees all right I didn't do nothing to you remember this I need your badge number and your name you'll get everything you need put put everything on the ground do nothing to you I got my hands up and I'll work here go call the manager 41 where are my other unit at just hang tight okay okay but this ain't I'm I work here all you got to do is call the manager and take the who's your manager stop telling me what to do Sean Hoover take what is your name Trey 41 can we get somebody to get the complaint it on the line and find out if there's an employee here by the name of Trey you don't got to hold no gun my hands are up I'm not a threat to you are you a cop I'm not a threat to You Are you a I'm not a threat to you you don't tell me what a threat to me is you don't know just because you're a cop don't me you can hold a gun at somebody whenever you get good and damn ready I put my hands up and I'm not when I'm responding to somebody with a firearm I can do what I need to to stay safe and go home to my family do you understand that hands up when officer kiah points a gun Mr compi and OBS and argues that being a cop does not justify it officer kiah allows a show of force in response to a call for a firearm citing a Tempe Police Department directive this policy is consist consistent with graham versus Connor emphasizing reasonable Force based on known circumstances courts have held that pointing a firearm can be excessive applying the factors of the Graham case to the case of Mr compan who was unarmed and compliant a court could find officer cariah's prolonged pointing of a gun excessive and a violation of Department policy if this converts the detention into an arrest probable cause may be questioned given Mr cian's non threatening behavior and the mismatch with the suspect's description somebody on the phone right now with Sean trying to confirm if you're an employee or not as soon as I verify that you can go and then you can get whatever information you need do you understand that it's crazy huh hey can you record this he steadily got his gun on me and I got my hands up on me and I got my hands up here I know I work here but he steadily got his he just stay back I got my hands up on the ground he still got a gun pointed on me anybody come out did he verify that somebody by the the name of Trey works here get out of here Trey yeah thank you you can stand by in the lobby if you need all my information I'll be more than happy to give it to you have a great afternoon hey if we have Sean on the line can you give me any more Intel on if this guy exited yet or not I exited the building the stand on the door and Sean was watching him on video yeah I need at least one additional to come to the lobby and and uh meet up with Hoover and then I [Music] need stop right there I've got another one to gble get your out of here now I've got one swinging back inside Hispanic or white male approximately 30 years old black bandana white T-shirt gray shorts stop right there me where did he go where the did he go I a't got nothing to do with that man where is he ain't got nothing to do with me no sh so why is you talking to me like that God get out of the way as officer kah pursues another fleeing suspect he points his gun at a person leaving the hotel on a bicycle cariah demands information from a person in the hallway and speaks harshly when the person does not comply citizens are generally under no obligation to assist officers and the individual has the right to refuse intervention however officer kah is obligated under the Tempe Police Department's code of conduct to reflect favorably on the department the policy outlines how officers should conduct themselves on and off duty to avoid negative publicity abusive Behavior inappropriate language and unprofessional behavior toward the public are considered violations it is clear that officer kiah has anger problems in general I'm just inside the West entrance I don't know where the hell he went he's good get him out where did he go Sean Jesus Christ who the guy with the gun where the hell did he go he walked outside Jesus [Music] Christ Sean just told me that he went back inside he may have popped out the main entrance down there which way did he go I told you and why do you have my employee a blackmail at gunpoint he's clearly not white somebody else go talk to Sean the manager is explaining that he may have fled out the East entrance now but he doesn't hi hi uh my camera can't go on mute so I'm going to turn while conversing with another officer outside the hotel officer kiah appears to deactivate his body camera subsequent reports revealed that other officers concluded the investigation yet the armed suspect remained elusive an internal investigation by the Tempe Police Department found officer carah in violation of multiple policies during the incident consequently he received a two-e unpaid suspension was reassigned to an administrative role for at least a year and mandated to participate in a performance improvement process on June 3rd 2022 almyra police chief Anthony alveraz in plain clothes responded to an altercation in Almira New York Isaiah Bowman Thomas challenged Chief alveraz to a fight and upon exiting his vehicle Chief alveraz noticed that Mr Thomas had an open knife in his hand ordering him at gunpoint to drop the knife Chief alvaz then arrested Mr Thomas you want to Tre the black people watch this all right we're Roll On Your Side watch how you guys you got a couple more KN yeah I got one more KN where where is it I just showed you right here all right all right in my pocket you don't feel that it's all on I will have your job now what are youall doing just slide in I don't have no warrs so what am I being detained what am I being detained threaten me with a knife I don't know what else to tell you he was uh fighting with a guy on the other side of the street challenge each other I pull up said you guys gone ask me if I want to fight I want you to move along around come on come on what am I being arrested for well that will be discussed shortly saw the whole thing when did you start recording when you pull your gun out when I pull my gun out on him good cuz he still have the knife as hand I'm going to need their information I didn't record nothing can you check them please make sure you didn't record this evidential effects CU I don't have a camera on my car and I don't have a body cam well you should but it's evidence so if you if you caught him with a knife in his hand I did not that would help me with a Criminal Cas I just said I did not can we then what's the point of this if you didn't have it if the whole point is to get evidence for a criminal matter what what if I was doing it for the benefit of you and now y'all are coming at me with I am I know I know can I have the video for the benefit no you cannot because it's so you're not doing it for the benefit this is not my phone it doesn't matter you're in possession of it no it doesn't that's not my car it the city of Al's car good can I have it no there's no reason for you to have it Chief alvaz asked a witness to check her phone for video footage but she refused citizens aren't obligated to assist officers without extenuating circumstances officers typically can't seize evidence from a personal phone without consent however New York's criminal procedure law allows search warrants and subpoenas for evidence and witness testimony although the witness wasn't obligated to share the video a court could obtain it through a search warrant or subpoena so we're going to get your name cuz you're witnesses to this I have to for my UPR no you don't I mean my uh not yes I so you're just out here just to be jerks har us right yeah like seriously this is ridiculous we didn't do anything wrong or illegal yet you guys are not even remotely cooperating I didn't I did not do anything no but you're not cooperating in a criminal investigation that's ridiculous it'd be one thing if you just walked by I did but you're blatantly here all I did was see something what did you see oh something so then what's the point of so just nothing you just saw nothing yo yeah out of here uh miss this is no this is stop don't approach get out of my car we're not in your car back off or you're going to jail we're not get in your car you're not going to tell me to get away from my car please back away from us right there's no reasonal apprach back away from my car I have every right to look at cars it's called VNT I'm going to go look at your car then you're not identifying yourself so I'm going to use your vehicle you're not identifying yourself either neither one of you identif alz 488 Okay cool so I am going to identify you you are a potential witness okay in a criminal matter and now apparently you want to say that the police are abusing your power w get out of here man we don't need that you don't want that you are you are going to give us if this is your vehicle I have no problem giving you my name that's not what you all started that's not what you you don't want to give us the video we will subpoena if we need to later that go ahead and if you destroy it it's evidence since the felony so you cannot delete the video is that read recorded it's not it's not if you delete the video you are destroying evidence which is a felony in New York state chief alvaz warned the witness not to delete the video noting that the crime of tampering with physical evidence is a potential felony under New York penal law this offense a Class E felony occurs when a person believes that evidence will be used in an official proceeding and intentionally destroys evidence by concealing altering or destroying it the witness could be found guilty if he deleted the video with the intent to prevent it from being used in the prosecution of Mr Bowman Thomas you filmed me taking my gun out I did not you already you said you I said i' seen it with my eyes I didn't record it don't wave your F at me again I didn't wave your fist at me again I'm going to arrest you I didn't wave my fist at you watch your freaking yeah I said this that's too oh my god get a give me your driver's license and your registration because you drove this car you ain't you're giving it to me because you have to you don't have a choice but to ID you have to identify yourself what did I do you drove a car I can let me see your driver's license to make sure that you are registered driver okay you inserted yourself into the situation no we did nothing to you we had nothing to do with you until you inserted yourself and started filming so now guess what you need to lose the attitude because I was going to start being cooperative with you until you tell me to give me my registration insurance card please no yes y i I will I will glad you be under arrest for instruction I will gladly give you my license I have to get in the car to get itead and do that please I'm not retrieving it but just it's in my bag that black one right there no the one Chief alas threatened arrest for obstruction by insisting that the witness produce his driver's license however in New York failure to produce a driver's license is not a crime per se and an officer must have Reasonable Suspicion to request a driver's license under the Fourth Amendment with respect to obstruction the New York penal law defines it as willfully obstructing the execution of the law or preventing a public officer from performing an official Duty courts have consistently held that a person's refusal to show identification does not constitute obstruction even if there is reasonable suspicion oh Jesus you know that's a gift that's a gift for my boyriend we'll give it back it's just we're holding it for safety right now fine with me okay I can't get it she should not be reaching into the car she gave her permission to we ain't doing nothing like y'all are thinking so just for some reason cooperating at the moment right yeah sure the soon we get your ID the sooner we leave I'm working on it I just got my bag up here there you are sir amers sorry that's a joke that I do as bad bad joke timing where are you living these days still since you guys were so interested in this I'll give you a rundown of what was going on you didn't talk to com Center about this additional subject for the chief's blad so that is it that's the extent of this and I'm just curious why you wouldn't want to share that video to prove my Cas against that was trying to get in fights with it wasn't that I didn't want to share it it was that you wanted to take my phone you said you didn't have a certain part I wanted to watch the video to see what you had but you didn't see him pacing back and forth and challenging me I saw it but not recording no excuse me I did not see that part of it I commend yall for the jobs that you do but you also have to understand that there are grimy ones of y'all too right but if we were if we were one of those grimy ones which even though yes we we were talking going back and forth with you but what would stop us from just like blatantly doing something Savage to get that F we wouldn't if the chief was one of those grimy ones as you said I'm using your term if he was one of those grimy ones just pointing guns at people just out hurting people I highly doubt he would just let you sit there and record you know what I mean I mean you don't know that though well I guess what I'm saying is police that are out committing violent felonies uh the the showing of a camera wouldn't wouldn't stop it it wouldn't stop a civilian like that right but I'm not you're you're going from one extreme to the other there's those ones that are in between as well that are going to push as far as they can absolutely push and possibly push over you know what I mean I see and that's one extreme to the other you know I mean are we good are we done okay all right of course sorry about that I forgot I had that there you can keep it in there just you got understand we're going to just address as a Potential Threat it doesn't make it illegal we just take it out of the situation give it back to you just like I did y Mr Bowman Thomas faced charges of second-degree menacing and disorderly conduct and was released on an appearance ticket in January 2023 Chief alvinas was terminated from the almyra police department after his conduct during an arrest on December 9th 2022 in that incident he entered the front yard of a home drew his weapon and threatened a fleeing suspect while he was not terminated for that encounter Chief alvaz was dismissed for unprofessionalism and insubordination based on a broader investigation into his behavior a young man in Florida is stopped by a security guard for allegedly trying to open a car door while walking around his neighborhood at 3:00 in the morning an argument ensued and Palm Beach Gardens Police arrived on the scene hold up right where you're at y just hang right where we at 12 and 10 12 151 what's the problem we had a call for you going around checking uh down on your knees down on your knees am I doing oh my God bro oh my god when I tell you to get down you get down what am I doing what am I doing what am I doing what am I doing bro oh my fing God all right all right bro what am I doing why can't you guys just tell me bro you're being detained right now for attempted burglary the vehicles yeah what vehicles okay so what's attempted burglary then tell me stay hey stay down I thought you told me to stand up nobody told you to stand up my bad getting calm down bro Jesus that's not helping oh no he told you to stand up shut the up bro you got the police forcefully take the young man to the ground and handcuff him despite the fact that he fully complied with their orders and offered no resistance whatsoever it is illegal to make such an arrest based solely on a tip off as the police had gone to the scene on a call before the incident instead they should have observed whether the person was actually breaking the law and acted accordingly but in both cases the force used would be considered unnecessary and excessive by any Court attempted burglary that's exactly right what is attempted burglary all right real quick I'm required to warn you before you make any statements see the following constitutional rights one you have the right to remain silent un answer any questions two any statement you make must be freely and voluntarily given three you have the right to the presence and representation of a lawyer of your choice before you make any statements and any question four canot afford a lawyer you're entitled to the presence and representation of a cour appointed lawyer before you make any statements and during any questioning five for any time during the uh interview do not wish to answer any questions you're privileged remain remain silent six I can make no threats or promises to you to make a statement this must be of your own free will so you just get a call you guys just jump me any statements can be and will be us against you in a court a law to understand these rights I read them to you all right well like what's attempted burglary though are you listening you understand these right I heard you so we can do show cool what the like is this cuz I was looking in my car for something looking in more than just in your car apparently literally twoing cars yeah why are you looking into two cars my cars that I owned yes cool well we're figuring this out we got a call from security about someone matching your description this guy harasses me he that's the probably dude who called you bro I got work soon I got [ __ ] work soon and you are tackl me bro stop sh your light on this is soing [ __ ] who the is that the Haitian dude over there right black guy right yeah ID cool all right so do you have an ID on you no it's your first name what crime have I committed right now you're going to be under arrest for for LMP l r PR and then we're going to DET then we're going to take to the carf you bro which one's your car Justin uh it's over by the roadside I was GNA go meet up at 13 all right we'll hold them here you can bring your car yeah there's nothing in my pockets right now yeah I know Bailey how you got that g a i l y uh no d a l y g a l y Jesus bro like dude tackles me out of nowhere bro yeah oh yeah going investigate okay all right bro like we can literally go knock on my door right now just saying just to show you that that was the middle initial Matthew and I look what yeah W Wayne so I I know for a fact he saw if we figure out where where uh where he lives then we'll run the cars over there problem is that he's walking throughout the community way I'm just curious yes why don't they describe the first vehicle please a white Honda Accord it's got curb rash on one really bad curb rash on one of the wheels and uh a gray Toyota Highlander copy pist okay y you got the address all right yeah there right there thank you why are we walking over to 15th Terrace though what's all the way over here that you need to check out oh no nothing over here I was literally just walking and that was just following me I wasn't doing [ __ ] bro have you heard about what's going on in this community there's been several cars stolen bunch of vehicle burglaries something they coulding prevent that's not me I don't care but what do you think it looks like this is my neighborhood I can walk around at 3:00 a.m. I can't walk around at 3:00 a.m. before work what do you think it looks like I don't care what it looks like like doesn't mean you can [ __ ] tackle me out of nowhere like Jesus Christ no we didn't tackle you out of nowhere yes you we gave you a lawful order you to shut the [ __ ] up shut up youal health issues oh my God you have mental health issues shut you have mental health issues all right when you're given a lawful order when we're legally [ __ ] up shut the up I don't care bro go inv go investigate go investigate go investigate go investigate on June 21st 2023 all charges against the man in question were dropped by the judge but he was ordered to pay court costs and a $100 fine the charges included resisting arrest which was based on an earlier incident where he was thrown to the ground by the police on on September 22nd 2023 First Amendment auditor John medelia conducted an audit at new Ellington City Hall in South Carolina where the police department is located despite entering through the public entrance for City Hall Chief Shawn Middleton of the new Ellington Police Department approached Mr medelia informing him that filming was not allowed in the building what are you in the middle of recording recording that one right there oh you want the history of new ellon I'm sorry you want the history of new ellon uh maybe a little bit of it wherever I can find in the public areas in here yeah okay there's a library over there and give you all of it okay thank you I did see that actually when I pulled up okay from that way show me out at uh my Police Department with a gentleman who is a recording on the inside of the building no sir I'm are you restricted area that's it's where does it say that okay yeah okay sir if you don't mind please exit I do that's exit please no thank you I'm only going to give you one one more opportunity and then what's going to happen exit the building no thanks as soon as I'm done come on Sir excuse me excuse me pleas let exit please let's exit please sir can I can I BGE number I'm Chief Middleton my badge number is 200 okay so why you why you putting your hands on me I'm going to exit you out of the building okay no no I did not assault you and did this you did not assault me bed me you B me that's unnecessary battery sir please exit our building this is enough no thank you I'm going to walk by now you're not going to walk by so why are you do this you came up to me and put your hands what is your what is your agenda here what is my agenda that's right what are you doing I need to tell you you say you was doing history M so you record that record that you can go to the library I need to give you okay if you don't mind I would like for you to exit this building I do I already told you that like four times all right you under arrest sir sir sir sir sir now you're trespassing on public property trespassing on public on public you I giveing on public property you guys see this I gave you plenty opportunity Sir Chief Middleton informed fors Mr Medallia that he is under arrest for trespassing on public property however South Carolina's trespassing statute primarily applies to private property and has limited application to public property as confirmed by the Supreme Court of South Carolina even if the state's trespassing law for public property was applicable Mr medallia's refusal to leave a publicly accessible area during regular hours when the premises are open to the public would likely not warrant a conviction moreover Mr medalia could argue that Chief Middleton's order to leave interfered with his first amendment rights as Federal circuits including the fourth circuit covering South Carolina have recognized that the first amendment protects the right to film Law Enforcement Officers performing their duties in public spaces Chief Middleton's expressed concerns about privacy were related to the police department portion of the building while Mr medalia remained in the city Hall section where such privacy concerns would not apply therefore Mr medalia might contend that any policy restricting filming in that area would violate his first amendment rights I want you to think about what you're doing right now no you're making things more difficult than what it is you're doing I would like for you to exit the building you're recording in here Yep this is the police department yep now where we going to take this going to go theide ought to be fun for you and then you're going to leave no I'm not going anywhere I'm going to step right back in as soon as you take These Cuffs off of me because you know you're making a mistake right now I asked you to exit and you did not exit look this is going to be illegal search and seizure it's not illegal search and seet oh why is that because I don't have to search you because I detained you so you can get out of my building thank you for taking the cups off me have a good day yes sir thank you appreciate that and I'll be going right back in he's going to come right try to come right back in I'm not going to let this guy in illegally a lot arrested and detained for expressing my First Amendment right in a public building back up please sir no thank you we're close no you're not back up no you're not we're not playing this I'm not playing this with you back up Sir you can't put your fo you canot put foot there to restrict dude you congratulations you just earned the state of South Carolina a humongous lawsuit humongous you guys see this I have to fight this man right now you want to come here and make you just let me walk by I don't suggest anything okay does she have the uh no sir please exit the building or what you're trespassing no I'm not okay please leave sir no thank you he's going to love it do not step in look at this ow ow sir do not step in no one is hurting you if you don't mind please exit the building and again we go for the circular conversation no no thank you okay law get a lawsuit hey you know I'm going to give you a personal thank you you just became my new best friend I didn't know you that well before but now you really are and not just not in just you are my new personal best friend so why am I not going to the uh seat County no I'm good have a seat please no thank you and I'm actually not going to go in here cuz there are no cameras in here there's a there's a body camera right here care I don't trust you or your fine where you want to sit you want to sit back here it's not going to be fine for you that's fine say goodbye to your qualified immunity that's fine as well am I free to go no no you're not I'm not how come for trespassing on what okay trespassing trespassing that's right I've asked you to leave several times you would not leave why why did you ask me to leave so you're just going to continue to make this worse for you and the state of South Carolina who are you what is your purpose you can call me good citizen so I'm I'm just going to sit here as long as you want me to sit here that's fine so are you going to are you going to legally or illegally seize my phone right now or can I have that no you can have your phone thank you appreciate that there you go that's sad that you do not know your own laws as a chief uhhuh you are my friend you're dismissed as well I'm going to walk away now one second excuse me don't stop touching me stop touching me right now untain him and we go oh there we go oh undet tamed illegally detained and look at that the back pedaling went so far as the Cuffs go that's right I explained to him that he was trespassing I no longer wanted him recording into this office you are in so much trouble and I love it and that's what he was doing he was using the phone pretty much where there was business and I'm like dude you're about to go to jail this morning what me you can hear him hey you cannot curse in this building I can I can say whatever the I want to you I can say whatever to you all right I'm going to detain him judge and he's arrested 30 times to charm all right this is a a building you can not curse no I disorderly Chief Middleton arrests Mr Medallia for disorderly conduct citing profanity however the state's disorderly conduct statute contained in the relevant section of South Carolina law criminalizes the use of obscene or abusive language only if it is characterized as fighting words in Mr medallia's Case his speech does not meet the threshold of fighting words because he used profanity at a normal volume without directing personal insults Cas is now First Amendment so are you going to are you going to illegally this you're going to illegally seize my phone again no I'm not illegally seizing anything all right I'm kind of disappointed man I really I I had so much respect for you it's not gone I love you right now actually here you go have a seat so happy have a seat please sir I feel threatened right now I don't really feel like it's none of these are lawful orders so I'm not going to listen so you're under arrest for disorder use Force You' like let's try to I'm not going to use Force I so if you don't mind please have a seat in the car again I do I want that four request you will get a four years request you will get the video okay thank you appreciate that you're buddy okay man have a seat no use force and put me in there I'm not going to use force and put you in there think so that's why I'm going to stand right here ridiculous you know you are in so much deep [ __ ] right now dude this is why you've backed pedal time and time and time again and it's all on camera you can C just got job back that's unfortunate it's already cost so many states so much money and you're just adding to it man okay that's fine add to it okay sir you're under arrest for disorderly conduct at least the phone is still recording there we go you're under arrest for disorderly conduct so please have a seat in video put me in the car then I'm not going to use Force to put you in the car think so once again circular conversation you you are a grown man you can get in this car that's making my own decisions I'm not going to get in this car unless I'm forced in there so why don't you do it if again circular conversation didn't think so I suggest you just take the Cuffs off now and you walk away and go about your day okay cuz you're already to begin with you no what's messed up is you're here provoking things I did not say a word to you you came up to me and caused a problem I got a call about you up there recording am I in restricted areas you're recording that that you're here to enforce sad day for new ellon sad day for the state of South Carolina man but a happy day for me you're going to bring a a lot of publicity to this town now so be prepared for your face to be on the map everywhere after Mr medalia was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct he was taken to the Aken County Detention Center and later released the current status of the charge is unknown however Mr Medallia has indicated that he plans to file a civil lawsuit a week after Mr medallia's arrest Chief Middleton resigned from the New Ellenton Police Department due to a state law enforcement inves ation into alleged domestic incidents with his wife it is not known whether this resignation is related to the unlawful arrest but the coincidence in timing is interesting thanks for watching please share your thoughts in the comments you can also find the original links to all videos in the description take care and stay safe