Baton Bob Strikes Back Against Police That Coerced Facebook Post From Him 203
McGruber (1417641) writes "In June 2013, Atlanta police arrested costumed street performer "Baton Bob" during the middle of a street performance after Baton Bob was allegedly involved in a verbal altercation with mall security guards. Now, a year later, Baton Bob has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Atlanta police of violating his constitutional rights, assault, discrimination, privacy violations and identify theft. Atlanta Police allegedly forced Baton Bob to make a pro-police statement on his Facebook page before officers would allow Bob to be released on bond. According to the lawsuit: "At approximately 3:40 p.m., while Plaintiff sat handcuffed and without an attorney, he was told to dictate a public statement to Officer Davis, who then typed and posted the message to the Baton Bob Facebook account. The message read: 'First of all, the atl police officer that responded to the incident thru security has been very respectful and gracious to me even in handcuffs. So, the situation escalated from a complaint from a security officer in the area and for some reason she rolled up on me like she didn't know who I was and like I had not been there before. For them to call police to come to intervene was not necessary. So, out of it, because of my fury, the Atlanta police officer did not understand the elements of the situation, so he was trying to do his job, respectfully and arrested my ass!!!!!!!!! I'll be out tomorrow so look out for my show at 14th and Peachtree. So now I'm waiting to be transported so I can sign my own bond and get the hell out of here. I want to verify, that the Atlanta police was respectful to me considering the circumstances. See you when I see you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' As promised, Plaintiff was then given a signature bond and released from jail."
Re:Why (Score:2, Interesting)
I have no idea why ANYBODY would even consent to logging in to his Facebook account on a computer or unlocking his phone while in custody, let alone post a coerced message like that.
While people are busy ignorantly demanding that NO ONE access their Facebook account and threatening to sue on Constitutional grounds, Facebook is busy whoring out every last click of your data to the highest bidder.
But hey, let's keep screaming about privacy. Might as well tweet about it too.
The only issue that should be on the table here is the issue of coercion that appears to have taken place to release a man from jail. Other than that, let's just drop the Facebook privacy bullshit. If you want privacy, then get the fuck off social media.
Re:Why (Score:5, Interesting)
Had a friend who was arrested and there was a $15 filing fee.
They wouldn't make change.
They wouldn't accept $20's.
Seriously.
Re: America: Its just completely fucked (Score:5, Interesting)
Oddly, if you read Dante, the deepest circle of Hell is reserved for those who dared to stand up against power: Brutus is there for assassinating Caesar and defending the liberty of the Republic, and Satan is there for disobeying God. Hell, like prison, is designed to reinforce authority.
Re:Why (Score:4, Interesting)
So that story was a few years back, a few even before that, I had a friend at my house who was a pot dealer. Now when I say friend, I mean, he pulled out his wad and asked me to count it for him while his hands were busy. Which, is of course, the only reasons I know this story is fact, I counted his wad with my own two hands and eyes.... it was exactly $1000 in $20 bills. Exactly, and ALL 20s.
After he left my house, he managed to get arrested. The exact details of how this happened are not as important. The key facts are that it was night, the place he was heading was the absolute nearest place to my house where one could spend any money, and he never made it even that far.
Now where this gets interesting is.... the police report actually said he had $850. Not $840 or $860 but, in fact, $850, an amount that one cannot make with $20 bills....meaning that they did, in fact, make change.
Re: America: Its just completely fucked (Score:4, Interesting)
No.
The lowest circle is for those who betrayed someone. Standing up to power is something else.