The chief of police. You're the chief of police. Can I Can I get your name? You can look it up on the internet if you're that smart. Well, why would I have to look it up on the internet, sir? What's your name? What Where's the professionalism? >> What's your name? Sir, I asked you for your ID. I need you to give me your ID. Sir, with all due respect, can I speak to another supervisor? I understand that you're a sergeant, but I do not I am the supervisor here. I understand, but then you should know as a supervisor, sir, that unless you have reasonable articulable suspicion that I've committed a crime in the state of Georgia, you cannot lawfully demand my ID from me. There's not There's no no trespassing signs or anything like that, sir. I'm not breaking the law, sir. I'm actually I'm I'm I'm actually engaged in a constitutionally protected activity, and I feel like you're trying to bully me along with your sergeant. And sir, who are you? A citizen walked into city hall to submit an open records request, calmly exercising his constitutional rights in a publicly accessible building. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, a protection courts have repeatedly affirmed includes the right to record public officials performing their duties in public. The interaction inside city hall was smooth, professional, and respectful, proving that transparency does not have to create conflict. But the moment he stepped into the police department's employee parking lot, the tone shifted from cooperation to confrontation. Hey, how are you guys doing? I'm here to see the uh city clerk. >> [music] >> Oh, she's probably gone to lunch. Let me give her a little call here real quick. Hey, [music] Connie. Hey, precious. Who are you? I'm just want to see the city clerk. Somebody down here wants to see you. Yeah. How you doing, man? Good morning. I'm with the police. Can I get your temperature, please? You got to get about an inch from your side. Put your forehead about an inch from there. There you go. That's perfect. Put your items in the bowl right there for me, please. Okay. She's coming down to Oh, okay, great. Hi ma'am, how are you? >> Are you looking for the city clerk? Yeah, I'm looking to do an open records request. >> Okay, do you want to do it verbally or do you want to fill out the form? I want to fill out a form. Okay, sure. You're welcome. Come with me. >> Sure. Okay. Are we still wearing masks or not? Yeah. Do you want me to >> got a mask. I thought okay. Yeah, you got to take your temperature right here. Mhm. Okay, now your phone, yeah, all of that can be put in there. Keys. Um, we'll take the stairs. That's fine. Beautiful building you guys have here. Very beautiful. Thank you. All right, thanks. Okay, let me print out a form for you. I'll get you a pen. I'm not sure if Harley asked you downstairs. Is this just a general open records request or is it related to a police or fire item? Um, this is general for the city. Yeah. >> yeah, here you go. Anything done with police or fire would be done at their offices. >> Right, I can, you know, have them called or bring them up. They have a separate open records request form for them. Should be good. Okay, so I've got some You could just email it to me. That's fine. >> there that your email address on there? mhm. Um, so generally it'll take um, probably a couple hours for me to get this together, but we do have three business days to get to you. >> Yeah, sure. Yeah, not a problem. It's not pressing or anything. Just whenever you can get around to it. >> Sure. Now, you want all city employees every not a specific department. >> All city employees, mhm. >> sure. Um do you need anything else? That's it. Okay, so Thank you. You're welcome. Do you want me to walk you down or do you know Um I can get down. Okay. That's fine. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. You're very welcome. Hey, we just have to be out the back. Did you get this? Well, I want to see it. All right, so everything went well at City Hall, did our FOIA request, no issues. It's what I like to uh see. Now, let's head over to the police department side and make sure that they respect our freedom of press right. Can I help you with something? Hey, how you doing today, sir? Good. Can I help you? Yeah, can I just get your name and badge number first? Can I help you or not? You're in an employee parking lot. Can I Can I just get your name and badge number? >> Sergeant Self. Sergeant Self? Yep. And your badge number? >> 615. 615? Yeah. Okay. No, I don't I don't need any help. >> Yeah, you're in a you're in a secure you're in an employee parking lot. It's not a secure area. It's an employee parking lot. You're not an employee. This is And you're making employees feel uncomfortable. So, this this >> inside the building, sir. This this parking lot is not a secured area. Okay. It's public property. Okay. It is might be only for employee parking. I'm not parking in here. My car is not parked in here. I'm an independent journalist. I'm working on a story. Okay. Well, this is for employees. You're not an employee and you're making our employees >> It's employees parking, sir. >> Listen to me. You're making our employees feel uncomfortable when they come in and out of from their vehicles. So, that that's where the problem is. I understand what I I I don't understand what you're saying cuz how would I make somebody feel uncomfortable? I don't understand. >> not an employee in an employee parking lot. You're making the employees feel uncomfortable. You know employees are This isn't This is an employee parking lot, like you said. I'm not parking. I'm a journalist exercising my freedom of press right in a public area. This is public. Like if I was behind those gates over there behind you, that that would be a restricted area. Do you Do you suspect me of committing a crime, sir? >> Do you have your ID on you? Do you suspect me of committing a crime? Do you have your ID on you? Do you suspect me of committing a crime? Do you have any of your ID on you? Sir, I need to know if you're suspecting me of committing a crime first. >> I'm a police officer. I asked you for your ID. I need you to give me your ID. Sir, with all due respect, with all due respect, sir, can I can I speak speak to another supervisor? I understand that you're a sergeant, but I do not >> I am the supervisor here. I understand, but then you should know as a supervisor, sir, that unless you have reasonable articulable suspicion that I've committed a crime in the state of Georgia, you cannot lawfully demand my ID from me. Okay. What I told you was you're making employees feel uncomfortable. I've asked you for your ID. You're on That's not a crime, sir. That's not a crime. I'm asking You should know that in Georgia, it's you have to have reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime that's been committed, sir. I just told you I'm engaged in a constitutionally protected activity. Yeah, and you're being suspicious. You're You're not You don't belong in this parking lot. You're Suspicious Suspicious is not a crime, sir. Suspicion is not a crime. You know that, sergeant. Come on. You know Suspicion is not a crime. Okay. Let me see your driver's license or your ID. Sir, I I don't have a legal obligation to give you a driver's license or an ID, sir. I don't understand. Am I being detained? No, you're not being detained. You can keep on walking. Okay. If I'm not being detained, I'm going to continue about my business, sir. I'm >> to do it here. I'm an independent journalist parking lot. Who Who are you, sir? >> You're not under the chief of police. You're the chief of police? Can I Can I get your name? You can look it up on the internet if you're that smart. Well, why would I have to look it up on the internet, sir? What's your name? What Where's the professionalism? >> name? Where's the professionalism? >> My sergeant asked you for your driver's license. Tell me if you tell me your name and identify yourself We're not making We're not making tit for tat. This is a private This is an employee parking lot. You're not an employee. You have no business >> This is is parking here. You You You You This is not a Is this fenced off? Look, I want to make it very clear. Let me make it very >> a fenced off area. >> make it very clear. This is an employee parking lot. There's no There's no no trespassing signs or anything like that, sir. I'm not breaking the law, sir. I'm I'm I'm I'm actually engaged in a constitutionally protected activity, and I feel like you're trying to bully me along with your sergeant. And sir, who are you? Who are you, sir? He's one of my employees. >> Okay, one of your employees. I feel like all three of you are trying to bully me and trying to exert authority over me that you don't have, demanding ID. Your sergeant doesn't understand that he cannot demand ID lawfully Okay, why are you in my parking lot? unless he has reasonable articulable suspicion I've committed a crime. >> my parking lot? That's a failure That's a failure on your part, sir. You're supposed to educate your employees, correct? >> Why are you in my parking lot? They should know I'm working I like I told your sergeant, I'm not just not answering questions. I I cannot answer questions, but I'm answering. I'm an independent journalist. I'm gathering content for a story on the city. I was inside doing a FOIA request. Yes, I was. Who says I'm recording anybody's Plus, it's public information. You guys run tags all day. People People drive around all day in the city with tags on. It's not like any private information. Do I have a database where I can look up people? Come on. You got to You got to think logically here. I don't have a database where I can just type in somebody's, you know, license plate and figure out who they are. Okay, I'm going to ask you to leave. I Are you ordering me to leave under threat of arrest, sir? Uh I'm ordering you This is the third time I've told you to leave my parking lot. I'm going to go on the public sidewalk and I'm going to continue to record I'm going to continue to record your parking lot, and I'm going to hit you up with civil litigation over this, just so you know, because you're you're violating a constitutionally protected activity. And in this small town here, you might think that you're going to get away with it, but you're not. I'm telling you right now, chief. And I don't know your name, but >> know your name, either. You are the public servant here, sir. You are the public servant here. You're making You're You're All you're doing is you're allowing your city You're you're portraying your city in a negative light for the world to see. Remember that. Remember I told you that, Chief? Yes, sir. So, this is a public sidewalk, correct? This is a public sidewalk, make sure. You guys are nothing but a bunch of bullies. You're not going to get my ID. You're not going to get my ID. And I'm going to be civil I'm going to start civil litigation against you. The sergeant immediately demanded identification despite no crime being alleged or observed. Under Georgia law, an officer may only demand identification when there is reasonable articulable suspicion that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. Standing in an unfenced, publicly accessible parking lot with a camera does not meet that legal threshold. When the journalist calmly asked whether he was being detained or suspected of a crime, the lack of a clear legal answer exposed the weakness behind the demand. Trespass me from an open parking lot. Not restricted area or anything. Let's go catch up with them. Can I be Can I be trespassed from this sidewalk right in the right in front of the parking lot? Ridiculous. Chief, I want to I want to submit a complaint. Chief, I want to submit a complaint. You're not getting away with this one. You might get away with them You might get away with them normally on a regular basis, but not today. I want to submit a complaint. So, I go and try to do that? Or get him a complaint form. You get your Public injury attorney. I need your names. It It is your policy to give me your name. I How do I How do I know I'm filing a complaint against? I'm going to let you figure that out. Oh, I got to figure it out. That's real professional. >> else? >> That's real professional. Go ahead. No, you can go ahead. You can go ahead. You're behind me. Okay. You want to file a complaint? You guys are You guys are the ones that being aggressive here. You're not walking behind me. >> Walk up by the flagpole and he'll go get you a I will. Don't worry about it. I will. What's your name? I need to file a complaint against you. Chief Ashley Brown. Chief Ashley Brown. >> Yeah. Okay, great. And your name, sir? Be professional. Come on. Is it really that serious? You're not making yourself look good here. I'm just asking you for your name. Your name, sir? I'll wait for you to get over here so you can hear me. Oh, okay. Thank you. Your name, sir? Heinzman. Heinzman. And do you have a badge number, Heinzman? 654. 654. Thanks. Yeah, I know you don't care, but that's just the that's just the tip of the iceberg. Then comes civil litigation, Chief. Then comes civil litigation. All right. Because I was trespassing in your parking lot? That's a public parking lot. Hey. We're not going to debate it. You want to file a complaint, you got to You don't tell me what to do. You don't tell me what to do. Let's make that clear. You don't tell me what to do. So, you're the public servant here. >> You want to file a complaint, I do want to file a complaint. You can go get it. I'm not stopping you. You guys have a bad attitude. Especially you, Sergeant. You came over here trying to threaten me with my ID. You got a bad attitude, man. You got to learn the You got to learn Georgia state law. That's your matter of opinion. So, do you understand that under Georgia state law you cannot demand ID from law-abiding citizens, sir? Do you understand that or not? Is that on the sergeant's exam or wasn't it? Maybe I'll put a suggestion in that that should be on the sergeant's exam. When you can and cannot identify a law-abiding citizen. I'll fill it out. You don't need to. I can fill it out here. This is a public lobby. You're going to kick me out of a public lobby too, chief? >> Go fill it out then. All right, thank you. Excuse me. You need to borrow your pen, too, or Excuse me. You can't record while you're in here. Why can't I record while I'm in here? I have a constitutional right to film the police in the course of their duty, sir. Is this department so uneducated and so inept at their job that you It must be from the top down cuz your sergeant doesn't know when he can legally identify somebody and you're telling me I can't film in a police lobby. Mhm. Yes, I sure [music] can. I can film in a police lobby. It's my constitutional right. I'm I'm I have freedom of press in this country, sir. What country do you think you live in? >> Are you with the press? Yes, I am with the press. >> see your ID. No, I'm not showing my ID. I'm not showing you anything, sir. >> You're required to show us Get out of the building. Get out of the building. Thank you, sir. Have a good one. Yeah. No problem. How do I file the complaint if I can't get in the building? Hello. Hello. These guys are crazy. Get out of my building. This is the people's building. Not yours. All right, let's try to open the door. Who do I Who do I hand the complaint form to when I'm done? Once you're done, I'll give it Okay. And do I get like a receipt number or something like that? There's no receipt number for your complaints? No. You don't get >> you'll have a report number soon. Oh, I will. You're right. You're right. What a bunch of clowns. Pooler Police Department. Clowns. We're going to fill out this complaint on Ashley Brown, the chief of police. Who investigates the chief of police? Crazy. All right, guys. So, we just filled out our Fuller Police Department Citizen Written Complaint Form. All done? Yeah, right here it says um All parties filing a formal written complaint are entitled to receive a copy of the original statement free of charge. So, I would like it for receiving supervisor can sign right there and give me a copy as it stated on the form. You guys are a bunch of bullies. Abuse of authority. You know what? I want to do a public records request, too. Let's Let's find out how much money you guys are making abusing [music] your authority. How much tax dollars you've taken from everyone. I got a bunch of officers. Me, Captain Can you make a copy of that for me? They're all down here and here. You can do it yourself. All right, I'll walk you back. You said an open records request? Yep. And police records over here. I need her doing one. So funny. Do we have a um They don't want They don't want me recording, but there's cameras in here. Ridiculous. The irony. Here's your open records request. Do you want to fill it out? It'll tell you how to do that. And here's your copy, okay? Okay. My copy? Yep. Will you Will you guys allow me to do it here? I don't understand what's the big deal. >> Not if you're recording. >> But where's Where's Where's the signs that says I can't record in here? Where Where's the law? We don't have those signs. You You You sure do. This is a This is a constitutionally protected activity. This That's what this is. As soon as you pass through that doorway, you're now private property. This is the city It's public property. There's sensitive information in most of these windows that can be called on video, so you can't record in here. Okay. Yeah. All right. Sure thing. I went in there with a spy camera or my sunglasses that record, it wouldn't be an issue. But these guys are just looking for a reason to lock me up. So we're not going to push it, but you know, we'll put them in the court of public opinion. Let's fill out this open records request. Yep. So what I'm requesting is all police department employees names, titles, and salaries. Can I get a copy of that, too? Uh it'll be sent to who does our open records request. Can you get it finished filling the form out? It requires an address, so the complaint Oh, I don't have to put an address. And your complaint is not going to be accepted. You didn't fill the form out correctly. No, no, no. That's not how it works. Bring the chief Bring the chief out here. >> That's how it is how it works. >> You're allowed to do an anonymous complaint. >> Okay. You need to You did not make it anonymous. You didn't put your name or number on there. >> It doesn't matter. >> Okay. Well, I'm going to tell you that the complaint is not valid. It doesn't matter. I want to speak to the chief. I want to speak to the chief. >> Chief's not here. You got me. I'm the one accepting the complaint. You're accepting the complaint on yourself. Okay. Well, I'm going to tell you that it's You didn't finish You didn't fill the form out correctly, so You can submit a complaint anonymously. Let me explain you how something simple here. Anonymous would mean you didn't put your name and phone number. So you took the anonymous part out. >> matter. Okay. Whatever. Certain parts of it can be Certain parts of it can be anonymous. I don't have to give I don't have to give you my name. I don't have to give you my address. >> You don't, but You're just being difficult. Sergeant, a little bit of de-escalation training will take you a long way. You need to learn. I understand you learn from your chief, who's also a bully and a tyrant, but you need to learn. Don't talk to people that way. You understand? All right. Have a safe day, okay? Yeah. Tyrant. Crazy. These guys looking for any reason to lock me up. I know you didn't get involved really, but a little bit of de-escalation training goes a long way. There's no No one was breaking any laws here. No one was doing anything wrong. I told you what was my purpose here. I didn't have to tell you that. I didn't have to tell you anything. I could have remained silent. I told you I'm an independent journalist gathering content for a story. There's no need for any of this. You guys want to escalate the situation. Are you a detective or a sergeant? I'm just an employee, man. You're just an employee? Yeah. All right. Well, hopefully you're you you'll see you'll see you this this this behavior is going to be put on display for the world to see. And I I know you didn't say much while you were here, which is probably the smartest move, but your department's going to be under major public scrutiny. So, maybe things can change going forward. That's That's the That's the whole point. Hopefully you guys can get some education and and learn that you can't bully people on the street, law-abiding citizens. All right? You take care now. All right, man. Take care. You too. All right, guys. So, trespass from the public lobby in the police station. Trespass from publicly accessible parking lot. But, um we're going to stay around for a little bit. Record what we could see from public to prove the point that we can record what we can see from public. It's not worth uh getting arrested over just to step foot on their parking lot, but we're going to film from the sidewalk here. Their parking lot still, so kind of defeats their purpose of, you know, kicking me out of the parking lot, unlawfully trespassing me, but we're just going to stick around for a few more minutes, and then we'll get out of here. >> Inside the police lobby, officers attempted to prohibit recording and treated the complaint process as though it were a privilege rather than a right. The Georgia Open Records Act OCGA Section 50-18-70 declares that public records shall be open for personal inspection and copying to promote transparency and accountability in government. The refusal to immediately identify officials and the resistance to accepting an anonymous complaint reflected poor leadership and a misunderstanding of constitutional protections. In the end, the confrontation wasn't about a parking lot or a camera. It was about what happens when a smart citizen knows the law and refuses to be intimidated by bad cops.