[Music] yeah sir I have paperwork to turn in don't walk away from me don't you tell me what to do sir you're a public servant I'm telling you sir on February 8th 2023 journalist Len Lambert was covering a news conference about a train derailment in Ohio while broadcasting live Lambert was approached by Major General John Harris of the Ohio National guard and two State Highway Patrol Troopers they requested that he stop his live reporting claiming he was being loud and disruptive Major Harris insisted Lambert shut down his broadcast immediately or face arrest for Criminal Trespass Lambert defended his right to report citing the First Amendment and questioned the grounds of the threat I am allowed to be here you told to shut it down you Contin on now go now or you can go to jail you want to go to jail for Criminal Trespass you want to go to jail foral you understand you know how quickly our lawyers will get me out care care sir can we outside outside out the by other media right I'm going to listen care you're going to walk out the door I'm going to listen you're going to walk out the door out sir you're going to walk out the door or you're going to jail do not touch me sir can we talk outside please am trying to list please and he escalated with me I am doing my job I'm this covered by the First Amendment excuse me sir I'm the building superos here please leave there you have it he expressed his unwillingness to stop broadcasting without a clear justification and pointed out the importance of his work as a journalist as the discussion heated up Lambert was repeatedly told to leave the building he refused re iterating his journalistic rights and duties you're going to stand outside or you're going to jail let's go you're under arrest oh my God you guys this is bad stop I am on the ground under arrest stop you this please you guys he's a national correspondent you cannot do this I'm going Rec with news Nation it's all being recorded right now I hope it exessive work because you can't talk to people about doing their jobs oh my God I cannot believe this this is H this is what it's like to be black repor I'm so sorry Evan I'm sorry thank you see roll over sir Lambert's manager later explained to the authorities that there was a scheduling conflict they had a live shot planned for 5:15 p.m. exactly when the incident with Lambert occurred rudness or disrespect anything we had we've been waiting rep we were up there we had a live shot scheduled to report of it at 5:15 that's locked in stone so Coincidence of all coincidence the governor literally walks out at 5:15 it's the worst possible timing in the world okay but we there's nothing that we can do about that he's he's committed to doing his live sh he's got people talking to him the reason why I understand that the reason why he is where he is he was told to leave he refused to leave then the building superintendent comes over and says I don't want you here okay he still refused to leave so now he's arrested I didn't wit that's his own fault he's arrest all he had to do was h i he just kept all I'm telling you is from the television standpoint of I understand what you're trying to do I understand you guys have have to do but when he's told to leave by law enforcement I I can't speak to that that's an is but what I just I could I thought I might just be able to give you some insight and I understand Governor dewine's office stated after the incident that he was unaware of any requests made to Lambert to cease his broadcast and had not ordered it following public outcry and media coverage of Lambert's arrest all charges against him were eventually dropped after this we discussed the next case of an innocent man who was walking and now has a lifelong criminal record police act tough not just on the streets but also at police stations on a regular business day an auditor walked into to the Maryland Capital police headquarters in Annapolis to file a complaint regarding activities he observed weeks prior however what should have been a straightforward process turned into a convoluted confrontation as soon as he stepped into the building hi can I help you yep so I was here uh a couple weeks ago and I turned this in and it wasn't uh hold on hold on let me get a police officer for you okay have a seat right there what's your name I'd rather not give that when he asked for a police officer to take his complaint he was told to sit and wait you'd rather not give your name for the officer to come out here and address you absolutely cool see I check that there's no Sergeant around okay so what's that supposed to mean I'm was not allowed to turn in my complaint now it's not that you're not allowed to turn in your complaint there's no one to accept it from you okay well we're during business hour on the Tuesday afternoon ma'am well this is session Maryland general assembly is in session right now right down the street all the officers are out on patrol okay well well we're going to have to call one over here to do their job ma'am well you you don't talk to me like that I'm not a police officer I'm trying to assist you I'm not talking to you like anything I'm just saying you're going to have to call a police officer down here you can't deny me a public services I'm not denying you anything well you're telling me there's no Sergeant to come down here and do the job I'll sit over here and ring the doorbell then how about that oh wait so now there is a sergeant here is what you're saying so what you're saying is there is a sergeant here oh yeah yeah let's explain a big lie before you come out here cuz you just told me there's no Sergeant here so how are you speaking to a sergeant how are you speaking to a sergeant then ma'am how are you speaking to a sergeant if there's not one here you want to answer that question how are you speaking to a sergeant if there's not a sergeant here hi sir hi who are you ma'am I'm Sergeant Alexander Sergeant Alexander can you tell me why this lady just lied to me and said there's no Sergeant here in the building what is it that you need can you tell me the first thing I need is you to tell me why she just lied to me and told me there's no Sergeant in the building okay I said that could handle your issue no you said there's no Sergeant here no I said that could handle man it's all on videotape if you want to sit down and go over we can sit down and go over and you can see where you're wrong frustrated by the lack of assistance and feeling stonewalled the auditor asserted his rights to file the complaint pointing out that it was during business hours on a business day and hence someone should be available to accept his paperwork as we continue our exploration don't forget to like share and subscribe to stay updated with our indepth discussions all right have a seat I I did that and then she came out here and told me there's no Sergeant here to take it but apparently there is so I'm I'm I'm not there's still a sergeant here though man regardless it's during business hours on a on a business day there has to be somebody to accept this so then why does she say he wasn't here why did she say he wasn't here then what is the issue I'm trying to turn in paperwork this is First Amendment protected activity I'm here to turn into a paperwork what's up Chang I'm here to turn in complaints I don't know why the lady that came out there who was originally going to help me came out and said oh there's no Sergeant here to help you so and just shook her so so okay so what is that supposed to mean well I'm just saying they're all on legislation so we were okay so what is that you got down here pretty quick didn't you there's another door you got down here pretty quick for being in legislation aren't you do you have a problem you see how quick I do have a problem you see how quick you got down here when you thought that I was causing a disturbance or when someone cried to call you down here but nobody could come down here to help me 2 seconds ago yeah sir I have paperwork to turn in don't walk away from me don't you tell me what to do sir you're a public servant I'm telling you no you're not telling me I'm telling you do you want to get arrested again sir I'm doing sir this is legal give me the papers yeah it's going to be D it's going to be date stamped and a copy to return to me well get that that's how it's done sir that's the official way it's done you can't change protocol you can't change protocol just because you don't want to deal with me sir I do want to deal with you okay then please I need these stamp copy and return to me I need a date stamp you guys have that where back in the office sir we're the only every police station has that can I see what you're talking about no you can get a date thing and you can come out here and then you can St my paperwork one of two ways you either cooperate no sir there's only one way this is handled you're either going to cooperate with me sir there's a legal sir there's a legal way of doing this okay so then why is it that I'm asking them to Simply stamp it sir I'm asking them to stamp it has receiv the situation escalated when the auditor was told outright lies about the availability of a sergeant which he challenged this led to Sergeant Alexander finally appearing prompting the auditor to question why he was initially misled the sergeant tried to clarify stating she was the one who could handle his issue not that no Sergeant was present ma'am I'm I'm doing legal business with me I was told by the commissioner that I could do this this is legal business I have legal business no ma'am I'm this is legal business I'm in a I'm going to be here and I'm going to help you outside cuz you're disturbing I'm not disturbing anything ma'am you're disturbing I'm asking them to do their job they're disturbing it by refusing me Services help you what do you need I need these stamped and returned to me I need these done properly I'm not interfering with the flow of business they're refusing to do it hey I want two sergeants here in the lieutenant that's it everyone else can go what's up bar how you doing buddy good man how youing I'm hanging in there buddy I'm hanging in there I'm trying to fill out complaints for what happened that day but they're like they're being ignorant about it but that's fine they came down here pretty quick to try and arrest me so why is it they can't come down here pretty quick to try and help me how you know I because you came in here huffing and puffing sir huffing and puffing you you you threatened three times you threatened three times to arrest me you said you can leave or you're going to be arrested so that's how I thought you were going to arrest me because you said it sir it came out of your mouth that's why I thought that you might want to look at your camera I have it you might want to look at that you might want to look at it all right that's not get him out of here get him out of here I'm waiting for my paperwork sir go outside wa no sir this is a public Lobby Michael Wilson the head of police eventually arrived yet seemed unaware of the auditor's rights and the legitimacy of his audit the auditor was repeatedly told to leave and threats of arrest were made despite his legal business business sir you have been told three times not L look at me and I've been told by the commissioner that if I have legal business I can come three times not to trespass into this building you create a problem when you're legal bu now I'm telling you to leave the building I'm doing legal bus if you don't leave the building you're going to get arrested again I'm doing legal business and again come back here I'm doing legal business it is Sir get out or get lock I have a right put it lock him up sir I have a right to file for trespassing no I'm not yes Rebecca can you just please give me my paperwork so I can leave it's too late for that sir Rebecca what is going on out here you're under arrest for trespass I'm not sir I'm bus you've been told to leave I'm waiting for my paperwork so I can leave ma'am please that's all I'm waiting for so I can leave sir I'm going to come back here I going this is a I have a right to file these complaints sir yeah yeah my cell phone nothing no my keys my cell phone my wallet I don't understand why I'm being arrested I literally okay sir I was told that if I had legal business sir if I was I have a legal right to be here if I'm filing a grievance sir I'm filing a grievance sir sir I'm filing a grievance I'm allowed here sir this this is a violation of 18 code us 242 is a deprivation of Public Services I have a right to file grievances with my government sir I was told by the commissioner when you got when he when he arrested me unlawfully out here last time and lied upon me and I was taking the commissioner I asked him well how is it that I can come back here to do this because I need and they said you are allowed back there if you have legal and lawful business they told me that filing this complaint is legal and lawful business so how is it that I'm being trespassed or how is it I'm being arrested for trespassing if I have a complaint that I filled out and filed this is your guys' Complaint Form from Maryland Capital police so therefore it's a legal form that I'm filling out I'm doing legal business so why am I being arrested sir all I asked for is that it to be date stamped like she was doing for me she literally went and did it for me so what's the issue here I don't know either I don't know I don't know yeah I wish somebody did because I don't understand how I'm being trespassed when I was told by the commissioner that doing this was legal business sir so your initial time that you came in uhhuh you you were um trying to get an investigation started I was trying to find out why my uh tags have been taken off my car I got you I got and that's when I was arrested down here is this the second time you you filled out this paperwork who' you fill it out on the first time you can see both of them right there no it's not the same thing no they're for different incidents different days different in I filled out different incident porns for different days I didn't want to put five incidents on one thing you know what I mean so that's why so the first one was for the tags and all that stuff well no so the first one is right there behind you I brought that one back in now this yeah uh come okay yeah okay I got I haven't been banned I haven't been banned Sir You Can't Ban someone from doing a constitu protected activity I have a right to file this sir you're right I can't come here and just sit down and chill in the office I can't go in there and do the security card processing cator Mr fa are you going to allow me to explain to you real quick I would rather not speak to you sir okay well that's fine you can hear his frustrations were evident as he argued for his right to file grievances against public officials citing legal protections against such administrative obstructions in the end the auditor was forcibly removed from the building and faced with threats of trespassing charges all while trying to file a legitimate complaint that's all about these cases which shows us how important it is for the police and the public to understand and talk to each other these cases highlight the struggles people can face when dealing with the authorities we want to hear from you now have you ever had a similar experience how do you think these situations should be handled let us know in the comments below thanks for watching