foreign [Music] [Music] thank you a Fort Collins Colorado man is suing the police department there after he was taken to the ground and pepper sprayed in the face almost two years ago after refusing to take a ticket for trespassing his attorney filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of this guy Andrew kulis related to this incident that occurred in the early morning hours of August 29 2021 the lawsuit names the city of Fort Collins as well as these two individual officers Kevin Park and Avery [Music] I just told you I'll talk with you as soon as we're done I'm not here for you right now I'm here for him okay but they took they took him they took them it separated them selves shut the [ __ ] up here [Music] you know I pay my taxes I own my own business I do I do what I need to do for this life and you look away from me because you have no [ __ ] balls [Music] that's right yep [Music] come on you're serious right now according to the lawsuit kulas had suddenly lost his father and was out drinking with friends on the evening of August 28 2021 just before 2 A.M officers with Fort Collins Police Services contacted kulis near the intersection of college and Mountain Avenues in Old Town Fort Collins in response to a call related to trespassing he and another man were accused of going onto the rooftop of Brothers Bar and Grill where no trespassing signs were posted neither was still on the roof when the police arrived the body cam footage that was released shows kulas approaching the officers who were writing him a ticket and making multiple derogatory comments towards them [Music] [Music] [Music] and like you don't give a [ __ ] ERS um no because because she [ __ ] got her head knocked down you keep encroaching on his face I go back away and I'll talk my piece because that's my right do you understand that that's my right go ahead do your [ __ ] [ __ ] but you know what someone got hurt and it wasn't right [Music] there was three other guys that [ __ ] knocked her down and you guys don't care some [ __ ] guy from the bar called the [ __ ] cops and say okay alrighty that's all my information on the [ __ ] goddamn cart dude is your phone number on there no no [ __ ] you can do the address you can send me a [ __ ] bill [Music] I own my own business I'm busy I don't got time ridiculous [Music] shoes [ __ ] assault she got push on the [ __ ] grounds [Music] all right so based on what the informant told us you are getting a citation we're good to do pre-trespassing for what dude you didn't give me anything no no I'm not saying anything oh you can keep my [ __ ] ID I'll get it next week coolers refused to take the ticket for trespassing and was then tackled and had pepper spray deployed into his eyes at close range the body cam footage shows officer Park attempting to place the ticket in the front pocket of kulas's jacket just before the two get into a physical altercation coolness is then taken to the ground while he's on the ground footage shows that pepper spray is used close to kulis's face and according to his attorney kulis was also charged with obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest court records show that those charges and the initial trespassing charge were all dismissed so if you don't take it it's still getting turned in and there's going to be a warrant for your arrest when you don't show up for that that's great show up because I have a client that is a [ __ ] attorney and it will take your [ __ ] oh yeah you're no no no no no are you serious right now are you serious right now dude oh dude stop resisting that's our are you serious right now stop resisting are you serious stop resisting stop resistance no dude yeah are you kidding me right now you are under arrest [Music] dude what the hell is wrong with you I didn't do anything wrong you're gonna get some water please dude dude are you serious me bro so there's really two aspects to this one part one is the search and seizure aspect of it and then part two is the excessive force aspect of it so as far as the search and seizure portion I mean the police were called for a a petty trespassing allegation and apparently they wrote a citation for that and this was not an arrestable offense this is something where they just have to serve the citation on the guy and from reviewing the lawsuit which I will post up at the blog Colorado law was complied with as far as the obligation of police to serve the guy I mean they wrote out the citation and they offered it to him they did not have to stick it in his pocket they did not have to make him accept it under the threat of arrest they just had to tell him it existed and basically drop it at his feet it sounds like so they decided to escalate the situation there was nothing more for them to do he was not apparently violating any state Colorado law by refusing to accept their paper trespassing citation he was criticizing them he was expressing his protected speech criticizing his government and he made them angry and it looks like this one officer Parks eventually lost his temper and he went Hands-On with the guy and they took him to the ground and they pepper sprayed him and I blurred that portion but I will put a link to the raw footage so that she can watch it the excessive force aspect of it again this was somebody who is just under arrest not already a pre-trial detainee so you have the gram factors one severity of the crime at issue Petty trespassing very very minor crime I'm not accepting a citation for petty trespassing a non-crime actually secondly whether the guy was resisting arrest or evading them he wasn't under arrest so that goes in his favor as well then third whether the guy's an immediate safety threat he's actually in the process of trying to get away from the police at no point if you watch the footage did the police even tell him that he was not free to leave he was not under arrest he should have been free to leave at any time he wasn't threatening or attacking the officers they just decided to go Hands-On and escalate the situation so under the grant factors very very little force is going to be justified and that's likely why the charges were eventually dropped that's likely why a lawsuit was filed you might not be surprised to learn that the internal affairs investigation which I will also post at the blog at the civil rights lawyer.com did criticize the officers But ultimately found that the use of force was appropriate again that's not surprising because they're biased they know that they're going to get sued and they know that if they substantiate that excessive force was used here that would be used against them in a subsequent civil lawsuit as always thanks for watching please subscribe both here and at the blog at the Civil Rights lawyer.com remember freedom is scary deal with it [Music]