Apparently, the inner harbor of Maryland is a private location. If you are taking pictures, make sure you have everyone’s consent before you do so, because according to Maryland’s finest and the prosecutors who back them, it’s against the law for citizens of Maryland to videotape police officers as they are conducting themselves in a manner unbecoming to the uniform. In the inner harbor. Or at the Preakness. Because, I guess, those are private places.
So, before I head out the door on this beautiful Wednesday, I leave you with some images of what it is that the Baltimore Police do not want you to see. I don’t blame them, do you?
This first one is of a motorcyclist who is, in fact, breaking the law. Of that there is no doubt. Cop in an unmarked car, no uniform, jumps out with a gun. What would you think if this happened to you? (go to the end, the beginning is just him doing the motorcycle thing)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7PC9cZEWCQ]
I am sitting here in stunned silence while I watch the following video. The cop goes on a rampage on a couple of young kids riding their skateboard. He puts one kid in a chokehold while screaming about respect. The kid, rightly so, says he didn’t do anything. At the end of the video the cop asks if the camera is on and will he see himself on video. The camera is turned off after that:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzbeEnnptR4]
My kids are not yet three, but Yonas is going to be a skater boy. I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t go to the Inner Harbor.
Then I saw this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWF3Ddr7vdc]
Listen to the end where the cop tells the guy videotaping that it is against the law to videotape this. Because, as you can see from the video, they were in a private place with 20,000 of their closest friends.
