ABC News: “it wasn’t his daredevil stunt that has the 25-year-old staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard facing the possibility of 16 years in prison. For that, he was issued a speeding ticket. It was the video that Graber posted on YouTube one week later — taken with his helmet camera — of a plainclothes state trooper cutting him off and drawing a gun during the traffic stop near Baltimore. In early April, state police officers raided Graber’s parents’ home in Abingdon, Md. They confiscated his camera, computers and external hard drives. Graber was indicted for allegedly violating state wiretap laws by recording the trooper.”
Update: “Charges dismissed against Md. man who taped traffic stop.”
U.S. Citizens should be allowed to videotape and record police. Imagine if Rodney King had not been filmed showing LA cops beating King with batons; and more recently The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police shooting of Oscar Grant. Too frequently Citizens are at the mercy of Police testimony that is fabricated or false. Every week corrupt police are reported arrested by the FBI. For many Citizens a video camera and recording device is their only defense not to be unjustly injured by police or imprisoned. If police are acting lawfully they shouldn’t object to cameras and sound recording equipment. Citizens should be exempt from filming and recording police.