Body cams work for criminal cops. Not for the people.

Body cameras help cops, not the people. There are a multitude of reasons. Off the top of my head:

1. Cops (and their prosecutors) get to review them to build a case. Defendants never get to do that. This allows cops and prosecutors to redraft affidavits to justify illegal and corrupt policing.

2. In most places cops get to choose when to turn on and off their cameras. In many places they can do the same with dash cams. The drug planting Baltimore cop videos that have come out over the past week are just a tiny glimpse into the corruption of policing that body cameras have been used as a workaround for (the cops screwed up, but those body cams have been used to throw likely dozens or even hundreds of innocent people into prison).

3. The camera is looking at it from the perspective of the cop. Studies have shown that people are much more likely to judge the person being filmed than the person filmed. This is why the most progressive places have prohibited interrogation videos that film from behind the investigators.

4. Victims of police crimes do not get to see the videos. They need lawyers to be able to get them. FOIA rules allow cities to endlessly suppress video, especially if it is “part of an investigation” that they are dragging out.

5. Even when video shows the cops doing wrong, it doesn’t matter. Cops still get away with their crimes. But if it shows the people doing anything marginally questionable they get nailed to the wall. The only type of cameras we support are those in the hands of the people, pointing at the cops, with no ability for the police to “lose” or suppress the video.

6. There have been some great articles written by folks on the ground highlighting how body cameras are a way for cops to act like they’re being oppressed with constant surveillance when they’re just trying to “protect and serve,” while politicians can beat their chest and say that they’re doing something to rein in out of control cops. It is a way to make people think, “finally, something has been done — now I can stop paying attention to terrorist policing.”

Retired Undercover Austin Police Officer Records 4 Texas Police Chiefs Committing Racketeering

Cops get away with felony crimes all the time. Cops are a protected class of thugs that gets favorable treatment from politicians, judges, and prosecutors. Cops get to craft the narrative when they commit crimes, usually slandering the victims of police brutality and corruption, the media then runs with it, and juries fall all over themselves to believe the lies of cops if the cases ever find their way to court. Cops are so above the law that they do not even care about creating compelling narratives because no one in positions of power and influence ever calls them out for their lies. This is why we have for so long demanded a grassroots insurgency to root out the terrorists of the thin blue line, or for the mythical “good” cops to go after the “bad” cops since no one else has the ability or power to do it.

A grassroots insurgency is pipe dream in today’s society, as virtually everyone has been conditioned to believe the fairytale that we need cops to protect us and that the profession of policing is somehow honorable. Even among marginalized and oppressed communities, civic leaders and business owners forge relationships with the police, preventing real alternatives to policing to come from the people. Few are willing to hold cops personally accountable for their crimes by ostracizing them and running them out of town, because those who push back on the police are so quickly painted as the troublemakers. And no one is willing to bring violence to the police in response to violence because the protected class of thug cops will use the full power of the state to kill anyone who tries. Society needs to come a long way for real alternatives to policing to bubble up.

At the same time, hoping for good cops to come forward is also a pipe dream. Policing today is a criminal profession that requires every police officer to buy into the thin blue line ethos of protect criminal cops even if you have to destroy the lives of victims in order to do so. Just from PUBLIC stories that are released, we know that over 1000 people are murdered by cops each year, scores of thousands of people are raped by cops each year, hundreds of thousands are framed by cops each year, and hundreds of thousands are beaten by cops each year. If there were good cops, these bad cops would not be destroying the lives of people on a daily basis.

But every once in a while a police officer sticks his or her neck out and says something, and then the head gets chopped off. When we ask for examples of “good” cops we get the usual responses. Serpico (shot in the face when fellow cops abandoned him), Adrian Schoolcraft (harassed, kidnapped, and forcibly institutionalized), Cariol Horne (beaten and fired), Joe Crystal (harassed and run out of town), Shana Lopez (fired). We are sure there are others, but we will never know because a fellow cop ended their watch. The only people cops will kill as eagerly as they do to people of color or puppies are the rare cops who dare to cross the thin blue line.

It is the strength of the thin blue line which may one day be its downfall. Cops are so sure in the support they will receive from others in blue that they can get quite careless about what they say and do in front of other cops. This extends to anyone in the fraternity, even those who are retired.

Lyndon Lueders is a former Austin Police Officer. Now he is a private business owner. Some Austin Police thugs decided to break into his business one night and destroy some of his property. When he took this issue to the Austin Police Department it went all the way up to the Chief of Police. It’s ok when cops fuck over the little people, but in this instance they fucked over a fellow cop. So the chief of police, Hubert Arturo “Art” Acevedo got involved to smooth things over. What Hubert did not realize is that Lyndon understood what a pig Hubert was, and decided to record his interactions. In the process, Lyndon recorded evidence that shows that Hubert and his deputy chiefs all engaged in criminal acts to cover up crimes by fellow police officers and to dismiss serious concerns about the behavior of the police monitor.

We are now sharing that video with you.

By Kicking Woman, Austin Police Officer Demeans Entire Community

The Austin Police Department’s blatant disregard for safety and human dignity was, once again, on display during an incident recorded on 6^th Street in downtown Austin, Texas.  Around 2:35 a.m. on Sunday, August 7^th, 2016, the Peaceful Streets Project continued to document APD’s weekend ritual of clearing drunken, wayward pedestrians from the street using horse mounted officers.  Peaceful Streets Project members have documented numerous instances of the Austin Police Mounted Patrol using their horses to “push” people out of the street, and even push them off of sidewalks.  This has resulted in people being needlessly injured, trampled, and knocked to the ground.  People who have attempted to pet the horses have been assaulted and charged with interference with a public service animal. People who have attempted to avoid being assaulted by the horse mounted cops have also been assaulted and charged.

In this particular instance, an apparently inebriated woman wanders across the mounted patrol’s path, and nearly makes it to the curb, when Austin Police Officer Michael Wade #6699 decides to kick her as he passes.  The blatant disregard for the woman’s safety and dignity publicly showcased by Officer Wade is profoundly appalling. The woman was within inches of the curb and posed neither threat nor obstacle to the passing patrol. She is simply kicked like she was some stray dog (as if kicking a dog could have any desirable effect).  She may or may not be a tourist, a coworker, a friend, or a family member, and yet, that should have absolutely no bearing on the reaction of a reasonable viewer. She is, above all, a human being.  The utter contempt and disdain shown to a member of our community by Austin Police Officer Michael Wade is deplorable.  That this is what passes for professional “policing” in the city of Austin, should outrage even the most cynical sensibilities.  If this is how an officer treats a weekend reveler of the Austin club scene, then it should come as no surprise when an officer decides to skip the less-than-lethal options and shoot dead a naked, unarmed, teenager with neither restraint nor due process.

When Austin police officers are captured on bystander or dash-cam video abusing their authority, joking about rape, or generally blurring the line between law enforcer and law breaker, Police Chief “Art” Acevedo is quick to remind us not to judge his officers before we have all of the facts.  He will speak to his officer’s impeccable record while reminding us of their past professionalism.  Yet, Chief Acevedo has, at times, rushed to slander victims and trot out criminal records, as if it somehow justifies trampling civil rights when his officers run amok.  Ignoring any possible deep-seated issues pertaining to professionalism, race, class, or misogyny, this video makes crystal clear that Officer Wade’s wanton actions are both demeaning and reprehensible.  At no point in this video, does a reasonable viewer connote any “prior convictions” nor witness any “professionalism”.  A human being was needlessly kicked with sheer contempt by a fellow member of our community; a public servant, no less.

The Peaceful Streets Project implores Austin’s local media and the public to contact the Austin Police Department, Office of Police Monitor, and Mayor Steven Adler to inquire as to whether they find this behavior appropriate.  More importantly, ask our elected officials what they will do to hold this officer accountable and ensure this never again happens in our community.  Do not settle for promises of “more training” and be sure to ask, “How much training do officers require to understand that this is just wrong?”  If we refuse to demand any semblance of basic human decency, we can only be complicit in our silence.  If these actions, by those sworn to protect and serve, in any way, reflect the mood or general attitude of the media, the public, or our leaders, then we should all be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves. The people deserve answers, the people deserve better, and this young lady deserves an apology.

Did I save a man from being killed by the Austin Police?

Yesterday morning (around 10:45a), it was pouring down rain in Austin. I was driving north in bumper to bumper traffic on HWY 183 to get to City Hall, and I noticed cars around me swerving just before the bridge that crosses over the Colorado River. I saw the silhouette of a man standing in the middle of the road, facing traffic, moving from side to side. As I got closer I noticed him hitting cars as they passed by, and shouting at them. When he approached me I was pulling to the far right lane, he shouted something, threw up his hands, and then turned back around to shout at other drivers.

At that moment, I decided to stop the car. I rolled down my window and shouted at him to get in the car. He looked stunned, and walked over to my window, and just stood there. I told him to get in. He then ran over to the passenger side of the car, and jumped in.

I asked him where he needed to go. He said that he was just kicked out of his house by his partner, and that no one was willing to stop to help him out. I asked him again where he needed to go, and he said back to his house. I told him that would be a very bad idea, and that we needed to get him to a safe place where he could calm down and dry out. No more than 40 feet down the road, he shouted, “turn there!”

It was too late to turn so I kept going straight, but there we saw an Austin Police Department squad car slowly approaching the intersection. Another 50 feet down the road was another APD cruiser that had pulled to the side of the road driving southbound, with it’s emergency lights on (but not siren).

I asked the man if he realized that the police were about to taze or shoot him. He said no, and didn’t understand why the police would harm him, because all he needed was a ride after getting kicked out of his house. I explained to him that Austin Police beat, frame, rape, and murder people all the time. That they have particularly quick trigger fingers when it appears that someone is having a mental health episode. And that he needed to be very careful in Austin.

I dropped him off at a gas station, and gave him a $10 bill. I don’t know if he was able to calm down and fix his situation, but I do know that if I hadn’t stopped that the chances that he would have been seriously injured or killed by the police were much greater than the risks I faced in picking him up. And I know that the police would have been fully supported by the public if they executed a “crazy man who was attacking cars in the middle of Highway 183 during a rainstorm.”

There’s a difference between protecting & serving people and preying on people. The members of the Peaceful Streets Project seek to protect & serve the public. We have repeatedly come to the aid of people in need. The Austin Police Department, however, has repeatedly used threats of violence, actual violence, and arrests to harm people who are in need. We do not need violent, criminal cops. What we need is more community.

The City of Austin continues their war on the homeless

Over nearly four years of filming the police, we have found an undeniable pattern of selective policing in the City of Austin. While the City of Austin often claims to be progressive and compassionate, and that takes into account the dignity and rights of the homeless population, the reality is that the police force sees this populations as one to be bullied and beaten for sport.

We have observed and filmed numerous instances of the Austin Police Department harassing, abusing, and arresting the homeless for “crimes” that the rest of society (except people of color) does not get harassed for.

On the evening of December 3, 2015, independent photojournalist Julian Reyes filmed Austin Police Officers Corporal Quint Wayne Sebek #3454 and Officer Douglas Ellis #6966 assaulting a handcuffed, black, homeless woman in Caritas on 6th and Neches. Observing and then joining in on the assault is Officer Jeffery Aumada Rodriguez #6977. You’ll also see Officer Zachary Scott Baldridge #7042 and Sergeant Thomas Hugonnett #2568 standing around watching the woman being abused. SGT Hugonnett is the supervisor of the gang of thug cops.

According to the information we gathered the police claimed they had probable cause to arrest the woman because she allegedly littered near the Arch. While littering is a ticketable offense, SGT Hugonnett thought it would be more appropriate to arrest the woman and throw her in jail for the night than to ticket her. This is part of the city’s continued war on the homeless. While walking to Caritas, Officer Baldridge gave an illegal order telling the photojournalist that he had to stand back for no logical reason other than preventing him from effectively filming the situation.

And when the photojournalist filmed through the window of Caritas, it made sense why the cops wanted him to stand back. They don’t mind assaulting people on camera, but they prefer to do it off camera.

Cops are terrorist scum. The Austin Police in particular are terrorist scum who target people of color and the homeless. This woman was unfortunately both black and homeless. The City of Austin’s war on the homeless must end. If there were any “good” cops in Austin they’d be going after other cops before they went after those who are the weakest.

Originally filmed by Lizzardo Giganticus. His YouTube channel can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC799Js51k__8lGA5WR1tdVw

PRESS RELEASE: Austin Police Illegally Arrest Peaceful Streets Project Organizer Joshua Pineda; Continues to Wage War Against First Amendment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

April 10^th, 2016

The Austin Police Department continued their practice of violating the First Amendment rights of police accountability activists on Sunday morning. At approximately 12:58 A.M., Joshua Pineda, a lead organizer with the Peaceful Streets Project, was arrested while filming police officers harassing a young black man. 

While filming the police downtown, Joshua Pineda and a half dozen other Peaceful Streets Project copwatchers observed Austin Police repeatedly shoving a young black man near the northeast corner of Trinity & 6^th Streets. The young black man did not appreciate being repeatedly shoved, and began to legally voice his displeasure to the police. While most of the police turned and walked away, Officer Cameron Staff #6830 decided that he would escalate the situation. Officer Staff apparently didn’t like the young man’s protest, and proceeded to follow the young man across the street. By doing so, Officer Staff highlighted APD’s tendency to needlessly escalate situations as opposed to mindfully deescalating them.

With the Peaceful Streets Project following behind to document the situation, various other APD officers followed. Joshua legally went to a knee to film Officer Staff bullying the young black man. While Joshua Pineda never interfered by any stretch of the imagination or the law (TX Penal Code 38.15), Corporal Richard Mears #3564 walked over to him and ordered him to move back. In doing so, Corporal Mears violated APD Policy 302.2(c)6. Given an illegal order, Joshua Pineda continued to exercise his First Amendment right to document government officials engaging in racist policing. Corporal Mears then illegally arrested Joshua Pineda.

The Peaceful Streets Project has had previous contact with both Officer Staff and Corporal Mears. On November 18, 2015, a Peaceful Streets Project volunteer filmed Staff refusing to identify himself in violation of APD Policy 900.4.4. And on March 20, 2016, a Peaceful Streets Project volunteer filmed Corporal Mears defending Officer Cameron Caldwell #7408 who illegally assaulted a handcuffed, detained, young black man during SXSW. In the video, you can hear CPL Mears claiming that Officer Caldwell was a “great guy” who “took care of business” and “took the fight out of [his handcuffed victim].”

We have no doubt that these two officers have been emboldened by the cowardice of the Chain of Command up to and including Chief Hubert Arturo “Art” Acevedo, city and county prosecutors, City Manager Marc Ott, Mayor Steve Adler, and the City Council who have repeatedly turned a blind eye to the repeated and endless train of criminal acts by the Austin Police Department against the people.

The Peaceful Streets Project dares the Austin Police Department to immediately release the videos that Joshua Pineda took of the incident, as well as the HALO videos and body camera videos that will prove Joshua Pineda’s innocence. We want the people of Austin to see for themselves that the only criminals in this incident were the Austin Police. Or does the Austin Police Department have something to hide? The answer to that question will lead you to the reason that the Austin Police Department continues to wage war against peaceful activists who dare to exercise their First Amendment right to film the police.

 

The Austin Police continue to bring violence to our streets; politicians and prosecutors need to stop sitting on the sidelines

“The protection of life is the primary core value and guiding principle of the Austin Police
Department.” –Austin Police 2015 Policy Manual

On Monday, February 8, 2016, Austin Police officer Geoffrey Freeman shot and killed 17-year old David Joseph. According to Asst. Chief Brian Manley, young Mr. Joseph was naked, running toward the officer, and refusing to obey the officer’s orders, causing Officer Freeman to shoot him, in spite of the fact that APD officers are usually issued Tasers, pepper-spray, and batons, and given training in hand-to-hand combat as part of their academy training.

We, in the Peaceful Streets Project remember the outcry after the 2013 APD shooting of Larry Jackson Jr., “Don’t run from the police, and you won’t get shot.” Apparently, running toward the police isn’t much better, or for that matter, and if the death of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo. is any indication, neither is kneeling down with your hands in the air.

As the name, “Peaceful Streets” would imply, we seek peaceful solutions to the problem of APD violence and brutality, but it seems to be of no avail. Several of us have trusted in the system, and spoken for our allotted three minutes to the Austin City Council, the Public Safety Commission, and the Citizens’ Review Panel, only to be ignored by the members of all three panels. Our members marched and protested in a Rally Against Police Brutality, only to be tackled, tased, pepper-sprayed, threatened with shotguns, and arrested by the Austin Police.

Needless to say, there will be protests and demonstrations over the coming days. The momentum is building, as every new APD shooting brings even more activists to the cause, and as the families of those killed in the past link up with the newest victims, to seek the justice that they have yet to find in our flawed court system. Knowing APD’s history of violent reaction to any criticism of APD violence, we fear that, in spite of our mission, the streets of Austin will be anything but peaceful over the coming days. We will be there, not only providing video documentation of APD’s actions, but first aid and support for the protesters, bringing antacids, baby shampoo, and water for pepper-spray victims, and ice and bandages for taser and baton injuries.

We do, in fact, seek a peaceful resolution to this situation, to avoid a violent resolution. We ask that the Austin Mayor and City Council step in and protect the safety of the public from their Public Safety department. We ask that APD’s policy actually be implemented as true policy instead of simply being a “guideline,” and we ask that the Travis County District Attorney investigate and prosecute this case vigorously, through the Grand Jury hearing, criminal trial, and any appeals.We fear that if APD officers continue to kill with impunity, sooner or later, a family member is going to seek justice outside of the court system.

We’re still trying to “trust the system.” We ask that the “system” validate that trust, instead of abusing it.

We Can Say Screw Daniel Holtzclaw and Still Advocate Abolishing Prison: To End the Police State We Must #AbolishPrison

The Peaceful Streets Project had long ago given up on trying to appeal to or appease the sensibilities of the average tough-on-crime, law and order, police-loving American. We toyed with the idea of appealing to the average person so that we didn’t offend or turn off large segments of society in our attempts to bring an end to institutional violence. But over the past several years it has become more than apparent that the average American is irrelevant to our efforts. Not because we would not appreciate their support, but because their support cannot efficiently be won, and because it is adds little to nothing to our efforts.

We live in a society that appreciates order, even if that order is oppressive and destroys the lives of millions. Our society is no different than any society that has preceded it. While there have been tiny flashes of revolution and progress over the centuries or millennia, even in those limited remarkable moments in time, the general populace has most often wanted to moderate the efforts of the tiny number of revolutionaries to limit the change so that daily life would not be disrupted too much.

Today, we see the pathetic racists and classists who support the police. These people claim that there is a “war on police” and that “Blue Lives Matter.” They reflexively defend cops who are caught murdering or raping people, while slandering their victims. And when we point out or mimic their hypocrisy, they whine and cry about how cold-hearted we are. These people are the obvious enemy of a freer society wherein terrorists could no longer pose as peace officers. However, another enemy of bringing an end to the police state are the many who believe they are advocates of progress and change. These are the “reformists.” The people who believe that we can alter the current system of tyranny and oppression that has destroyed or significantly harmed the lives of scores of millions of Americans by simply changing the incentives or policies of police, prosecutors, and politicians. They think they are helping, and many have wonderful intentions, but in reality, they are impediments to change.

The current system of policing was built to oppress and marginalize the marginalized and oppressed. It was built to murder indigenous peoples, to enslave and kill black people, and to crush labor movements. Trying to turn this system of policing into something that is socially beneficial is akin to what would have happened if the Nazis won World War II and people tried to argue that they later needed to simply alter the mission of the Schutzstaffel or SS so that they could promote peace in a more progressive society. Systems of oppression should be abolished, not reformed. This is why we advocate for the abolition of prison.

Prisons perpetuate injustice and they create more victims than they help. The overwhelming majority of people in prisons are there despite not having harmed anyone, or they have previously been victims themselves. When they are taken away from their friends, families, and communities, they are further traumatized and become more likely to harm others in the future (either inside or outside of prison). And when they are incarcerated, the friends, families, and communities they leave behind are being punished despite not being responsible for the alleged crimes that the incarcerated were imprisoned over.

And aside from a sense of vengeance from a hateful populace who wants to see people they typically do not know punished for going against the social order, prisons do not benefit society in any appreciable way. The victims of crime rarely receive “justice” by having their perpetrators thrown in a cage. Prisons do not help make the victims whole. They do not reimburse the victims for their ordeals. They also do not provide the victims with trauma counseling. Prisons do not undo assaults, burglaries, rapes, or murders. All they do is take an alleged victimizer (or law breaker) off the streets and create more victims out of the people who care about the victimizer.

This past Thursday, January 21, 2016, serial rapist and Oklahoma City Officer Daniel Holtzclaw was sentenced to 263 years in prison for raping 13 black women in 2013 and 2014. We celebrated this rare conviction because hundreds of thousands of American police have beaten, framed, raped, and/or murdered people without consequence. We mocked him for crying like a little baby when he was convicted in part as a reaction to seeing far too many innocent people convicted for simply standing up to a cop, or for being black, or for being homeless, or for being mentally ill. And if prisons exist, we sure as hell want criminal cops to see the insides of them.

But we still demand an end to prisons. We still envision a future where prisons do not exist. We envision a future where society prioritizes helping the victims and their families via restitution, therapy, and compassion. We envision a future where offenders are treated, as well. Even rapists and murderers need help. They need treatment to deal with the factors that drove them to harm others. They do not need to merely be thrown in a cage to rot away for years or decades. We need to move beyond the focus on punishment and retribution, we need to move toward rehabilitation, restitution, and healing.

Many reform-minded people have attacked us recently for demanding an end to prisons even though Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted. They claim that this is a proper use of prisons. That finally, the system worked, and that that is somehow a reason to support prisons moving forward. But we can appreciate that the system has finally treated a cop like the system treats poor people or people of color, for a change, while still being offended at the notion of prisons.

Is one terrorist cop being thrown in a cage for the rest of his life sufficient to argue that prisons have some value? The answer is a resounding no. Daniel Holtzclaw is a scumbag of the highest order. He is the logical extension of the violence and corruption that is inherent in American policing. There should be severe consequences for these individuals who have the greatest power to use violence in our society, and who use it in the most horrific ways. However, arguing that this scum bag is an argument for prisons completely glosses over his many victims. How many of his victims were coerced precisely because of the power he had to send them to prison? And how many people has scum bag Holtzclaw sent to prison? Does sending one scum bag to prison for life make up for scores of millions of lives destroyed or damaged? Of course not.

Prisons simply do not belong in a civilized society. On death row alone, where (if you believe in the barbaric notion of state executions) the standard for a death penalty conviction should be nothing less 100% proof of guilt, the state exonerates one death row inmate for every ten it executes. Think about that for a moment. That is an error rate of 9% (assuming that trend continues for all the people still on death row). An error rate of 9% where the consequence of a mistake is an innocent person being murdered. If our society screws up to such a high degree on the most violent criminal cases with the most severe consequences, imagine how many more of the 2.2 million people in prison or jails are innocent? Is sending one filthy scum bag cop to prison for life worth so many innocent people behind bars? Is it even worth so many “guilty” people in prison or jail?

We as a society must evolve. We must seek to become a civilized society. Societies with prisons and jails are the opposite of civilized. We must seek nothing less than the abolition of police, jails, and prisons.

However, until that moment we are willing to compromise with the state and with the reformists. Empty the prisons and fill them with police.

 

Updated Cop Watch Code of Conduct

The Peaceful Streets Project has decided to update our Cop Watch Code of Conduct. We are fully committed to anti-oppression in principle and practice. As such, we commit to being vocally anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobia, anti-xenophobia, and anti other forms of oppression. We commit to distancing ourselves from police accountability activists who choose to continue to engage in oppressive language and acts. And, knowing that we are imperfect and always need to improve ourselves, we commit to continued internal discussions, trainings, and actions to combat our own biases and shortcomings.

The newest addition to our Cop Watch Code of Conduct is “PSP participants will be committed to anti-oppression in our dealings with each other and the community. We do not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, or other forms of oppression.”

Peaceful Streets Project Founder Files Complaint Against Corrupt Police Chief

The Peaceful Streets Project and her members have long been targets of the criminal cops of the Austin Police Department. Ever since the illegal arrest of founder Antonio Buehler on New Year’s Day 2012, the Austin Police Department, with the help and support of prosecutors, have attempted to bring Buehler and the Peaceful Streets Project down. Buehler has been arrested a half dozen times, while other members of the Peaceful Streets Project have been arrested an additional half dozen times — all for daring to try to hold the police accountable. Fortunately for the Peaceful Streets Project, we have had good representation for each bogus charge brought forth, and we have been cleared of all charges.

Unfortunately for us, the police have gone much further than just arresting us on the streets. For example, they had previously tried to have us labeled as domestic extremist threats, they have lobbied the District Attorney to attempt to indict us on trumped up felony charges, and they continue to slander us in the media. And these actions haven’t been led by a few “bad apples” in the department–they have been directed and led by the Hubert Arturo “Art” Acevedo, the Chief of Police.

Most recently, after the illegal arrest of Antonio Buehler and Mike Smith on August 2, 2015, Hubert Acevedo and his minions floated the lie that Buehler had gotten in the officers’ faces which would supposedly give the cops enough probable cause to arrest Buehler for Interference with Public Duties.

However, there are two problems with such an assertion. First, all the video evidence that exists proves that the cops lied. Buehler never got in the cops’ faces. Instead, Buehler stood still as the police officers repeatedly approached him, violating his space, and intimidating and threatening him for exercising his First Amendment rights. In all, there are a half dozen videos that were taken by the Peaceful Streets Project, and HALO video and cell video taken by the Austin Police Department that proves that the cops lied.

Second, irrespective of guilt or innocence, the Chief of Police nor any other police officer should never comment publicly in a manner which could suggest guilt against a criminal defendant. On August 29, 2015, Hubert Acevedo violated basic decency and professional standards in sending out a tweet which suggested that Buehler gets in the faces of police officers when filming them. Through his unprofessional actions, Hubert Acevedo brought discredit to an already corrupt department and profession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buehler filed the official complaint with the Office of the Police Monitor (OPM) on January 20, 2016. As with all complaints, we fully expect this one to be papered over. We post the contents of the complaint below, publicly, as a service to the people who the system does not represent. We will provide an update when Hubert Acevedo or one of his minions determines that he did not violate policy.

Narrative-description of what happened:

I am a member of the Peaceful Streets Project. We are a grassroots community activist organization that attempts to change culture so that police do not abuse people or commit crimes, and so that members of the public will hold the police accountable. One of our primary activities as an organization is filming the police (“cop watch”) while they are performing their duties in public. On the night of August 1, 2015, I joined a group of Peaceful Streets Project volunteers downtown to cop watch in the Sixth Street area. During that cop watch, I was harassed on multiple occasions for filming the police, and ultimately illegally arrested for exercising my First Amendment rights.

More specifically, I was arrested by SGT Randy Dear, Officer Aljoe Garibay, and other police officers for Interference with Public Duties while I legally stood in a public street filming the police. SGT Dear had approached me in the moments leading up to the arrest, and at previous times in the night, getting so close that he placed his face in front of my camera. At no point in any of my interactions with SGT Dear did I ever move my body or my arm toward him to place a camera in his face. Every single time that my camera was in close proximity to his face he had moved his body and face toward my stationary or retreating camera.

In the days following the arrest we released multiple videos that proved that the claims made by Officer Aljoe Garibay in the probable cause affidavit, and by the other officers in their supplementary reports, were abject lies. It is apparent to even the most inattentive person that the only reason why a camera was ever in close proximity to SGT Dear or any other police officer’s face was because they approached me and stuck their face in my camera. I will be able to transfer those videos to a hard drive during my interview with IA/OPM. Furthermore, the HALO cameras that the Austin Police operates and controls also showed that the only time that my camera ever got close to any police officer’s face was when the police officer approached me while I stood my ground.

Despite having irrefutable evidence that I was not guilty of any crime, that the arrest was illegal, and that the affidavits and statements written against me were filled with lies, Hubert Acevedo chose to use his position as Chief of Police to mischaracterize my actions while there were pending criminal charges against me. On August 29, 2015, he reposted on Twitter a screenshot of a Peaceful Streets Project Facebook post I had authored. My initial post was intended to highlight the manner in which police and their supporters often slander the dead immediately after an officer involved shooting, and it also highlighted the hypocrisy of many police officers and their supporters who get offended at public information office tactics when used against police officers. In his tweet, Hubert Acevedo added, “This is how mind of so-called peaceful activist works & why police officers don’t want him inches from their face.”

My complaint(s) is/are:

1. Hubert Acevedo violated APD Policies 301.1, 301.2 by using his position and reach to perpetuate false criminal allegations against me. This was discriminatory in nature because he does not use social media to suggest other criminal defendants are guilty of the crimes they are charged with, but has repeatedly targeted me in his social media posts.

2. Through his actions, Hubert Acevedo violated APD Policy 301.3, further eroding APD’s standing with the community.

3. Hubert Acevedo violated APD Policy 455.5(b)1 by using Twitter to make comments suggesting that I was guilty of the fraudulent charges levied against me on August 2, 2015. At the time he made these comments, the charges were still pending against me.

4. Hubert Acevedo violated APD Policy 900.3.1 by perpetuating the lie that I get within inches of police officers’ faces.  If Hubert claims that he was ignorant of the ample evidence that proves that I wasn’t getting within inches of officers’ faces then he is either lying or profoundly incompetent.

5. Hubert Acevedo also violated APD policy 900.3.2. Hubert’s position as Chief coupled with his misuse of social media to attack the character of someone who was wrongfully arrested by his police officers is in every way a despicable act. Even if I were legally arrested, which I wasn’t, it would have still been improper for him to mischaracterize my actions in a way that could potentially influence a jury pool.

This is a formal complaint. This incident presents policy violations that warrant closer examination to identify, address and correct officer conduct. I request that Anthony Hipolito not be staffed on this complaint given his prior role misleading the media regarding my now infamous New Year’s Day 2012 arrest.