consent

We won’t be crossing the Maryland State Police any time soon. As Anthony Graber recently found out, exceeding the speed limit and showboating on your bike can easily end with having a gun pulled on you, your personal property confiscated and a trip to the clink. Graber was enjoying the weather on his bike, admittedly speeding and popping wheelies, all the time recording his exploits via a helmet cam. When he slowed for a stoplight, a car pulled in front of the bike, and the driver exited the vehicle with a gun drawn, demanding Graber get off of his motorcycle.

Here’s where things go from bad to worse. Graber gets his citation and heads home, only to have the state police show up a few days later with a warrant for four computers, two laptops and his camera. Why? Turns out there’s a law against audibly recording someone without their consent. It’s a felony.

Full Story – HERE

The Video:

[youtube width=”560″ height=”340″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHjjF55M8JQ[/youtube]

The problem I have with this:

• The car is unmarked, has tint, and is not even a regular police car model
• The officer not in uniform
• The officer did not immediately display his badge
• Took the officer a good 5 seconds to say “state police”.. and really why should that be believed?

I think it’s lucky the guy on the motorcycle didn’t freak out and take off, or else pull out a concealed gun of his own, because he probably would have got shot.

Also, I love how recording someone without consent is a felony… classic. :roll:

If the same thing happened to me, I would instantly think that the guy was some pissed off motorist that I cut off or something and that he was going to shoot me.  I definitely wouldn’t have stuck around to find out what was going to happen next.

Right at the end of the video you see a marked Maryland State Police car, but no siren or lights appear to be on.

UPDATE: there is a 2nd video HERE… it contains a bit more footage before and after, but the sound is cut out so we can’t tell if the siren was on.

Was it really necessary for the officer to pull his gun, rather than just flashing his badge and telling the guy to turn his bike off?  There doesn’t seem to be any sort of a threat that would warrant the gun coming out.

What do you guys think?

28 COMMENTS