offduty cop pulls gun on biker - aftermath WTF?!?

**pecha** · 07-19-2010, 10:09 PM

original video
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHjjF55M8JQ[/ame]

the aftermath: Videotaping Police Is Often Cause for Arrest - ABC News

That Anthony Graber broke the law in early March is indisputable. He raced his Honda motorcycle down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, popping a wheelie, roaring past cars and swerving across traffic lanes.
Anthony Graber was arrested for posting a video of his traffic stop on YouTube.

But 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 without his consent.

Arrests such as Graber's are becoming more common along with the proliferation of portable video cameras and cell-phone recorders. Videos of alleged police misconduct have become hot items on the Internet. YouTube still features Graber's encounter along with numerous other witness videos. "The message is clearly, 'Don't criticize the police,'" said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is part of Graber's defense team. "With these charges, anyone who would even think to record the police is now justifiably in fear that they will also be criminally charged."

what do you think?

**SHines-IT** · 07-19-2010, 10:14 PM

I have been watching this ever since I herd of months back... I am still waiting for updates on this case. He put his bike up forsale, and turned his self in on his own behalf... I He explains it pretty good on his youtube descriptions.

**gwballin** · 07-19-2010, 10:15 PM

I think the ACLU isn't going to get much support on this forum but agree with their argument in this case.

If dash cameras in police cars are allowed I don't see why this isn't. What's good for the goose and whatnot...

**0rion** · 07-19-2010, 10:16 PM

so they can record us without our consent but we can't record them? That's what I'm taking from it. If anyone needs to be recorded it's them.

**SHines-IT** · 07-19-2010, 10:18 PM

Full video from before he past the cop, till he got busted. He did one stretch and a little wheelie, probably never went over 110 in an open area. Cop never introduced his self and just jumped out the car with a gun out....

http://www.youtube.com/user/nikotyc#p/a/u/0/G7PC9cZEWCQ

**gwballin** · 07-19-2010, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by 0rion

so they can record us without our consent but we can't record them? That's what I'm taking from it. If anyone needs to be recorded it's them.

Typical saints fan, lol

**SHines-IT** · 07-19-2010, 10:21 PM

3/5/2010: Pulled over for speeding
4/7/2010: 6 Cops show up at my house with a search and seizure warrant for all of my computers, cameras and electronics.. They also bring an arrest warrant for "wiretapping" and 2 additional traffic violations. I could not go to jail due to health issues (surgery).
4/14/2010: I turned myself in and spent the night in jail. I was charged with "wiretapping." Felony- 5years $10k max fine. Bail set at $15k?
4/15/2010: Bail review - Released on my own recognizance.

**cant.b.caught.z28** · 07-20-2010, 02:24 AM

that would really suck ^

**SHines-IT** · 07-20-2010, 02:41 AM

First words out of the guys lips should have been,"Police get off the bike." Gun should have never been drawn, maybe hand on gun ready. Also maybe have his badge out in the other hand?

I just imagine something like that would be proper for the police officer... Probably would save so much time and money in the end...

**GTP231** · 07-20-2010, 03:18 AM

I find it odd its a state trooper did that. That would clearly be the actions of those fucking tunnel rats crawling all over Maryland aka Maryland Transit Authority police.
Just more reasons why I'm so happy to be out of the ass crack of the East Coast

**GTP231** · 07-20-2010, 03:22 AM

Originally Posted by SHines-IT

Full video from before he past the cop, till he got busted. He did one stretch and a little wheelie, probably never went over 110 in an open area. Cop never introduced his self and just jumped out the car with a gun out....

http://www.youtube.com/user/nikotyc#p/a/u/0/G7PC9cZEWCQ

Wrong link sparky

**SHines-IT** · 07-20-2010, 03:43 AM

Originally Posted by GTP231

Wrong link sparky

Okay.

**BrntWS6** · 07-20-2010, 09:13 AM

Camera's are everywhere now thier not going to be able to stop this. And what if a local news team is present for an arrest? Are they going to sue the papers as well?

**pecha** · 07-20-2010, 09:19 AM

Rocah said actual wiretapping prosecutions, though rare, are happening more frequently. But intimidation with the threat of arrest for taping the police is much more common.

"Prosecution is only the most extreme end of a continuum of police and official intimidation and there's a lot of intimidation that goes on and has been going on short of prosecution," he said. "It's far more frequent for an officer to just say, 'You can't record or give me your camera or give me your cell phone and if you don't I'm going to arrest you. Very few people want to test the veracity of that threat and so comply. It's much more difficult to document, much more prevalent and equally improper."

intimidating public with a gun and a badge is so wrong
USA will become USSR if this shit continues to happen
very sad

**Zinergy** · 07-20-2010, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by pecha

intimidating public with a gun and a badge is so wrong
USA will become USSR if this shit continues to happen
very sad

Haha agreed, this is insane. He had a helmet cam on before he was pulled over and becasue he still had it on they arrested him for wire tapping. This case will go to court and the tax payers will pay this guy money because the cops are power hungry morons. Remember these are the people who are supposed to protect and serve and many do but there are so many that dont. I have had enough bad experiences with law inforcement to know there is little justice anymore. IK there are some cops on this site and they usually come in and try to comprehend what the cop was thinking or what is going through there head but cops are out of control these days in almost every city. Its cops like these that give good cops a bad name, only problem is it seems alot more cops are like this these days. Less and less respect for laws and the common citizen as a person. Cops speed, cops do rolling stops, cops drive agressivly through traffic, cops pull guns for situations that dont require it, cops can give you a ticket for just swearing at them. Cops can pretty much arrest you as they see fit and waste everyones tiem and money with court cases like this. They give tickets for many of the same laws they break on a daily basis and the system has become a joke of its former self. You give people the right to ticket and enforce laws its only human nature to abuse that duty and go above the laws, after all who is gonna ticket a cop? How often does a citizens reporting a cop breaking a law really do anything?

**86 IROC-Z** · 07-20-2010, 10:26 AM

I cannot believe the replies I'm seeing in this thread. All of you are looking at this the wrong way.

"Cop should have had a badge" - He has a badge cuz he's a cop. Duh. He doesn't have to show it. You think if he goes and raids some trap house with armed felons he's like "oh hey before we have this little shoot out, inspect my badge, i dont wanna get in trouble".

"Cop shouldn't have had his gun drawn" - Who are you kidding? He was pulling over a motorcyclist. The hollywood and the social media prove that guys who ride motorcycles are the epitome of badass and rebellion, so this guy could have be a criminal, gang member, terrorist, or worse. The cop needed his gun to protect himself.

"In shouldn't be illegal to videotape a cop" - YES IT SHOULD!!! God damn, if you guys were cops would you want people videotaping you all the time! of course not, it would be the equal of being a celebrity and being surrounded by paparazzi all day, it's annoying. So they made a law against it. It's not a big deal. Cops deserve this.

"Cops need to be on the same level as citizens" - No, fuck that. Cops need to be above the law. They carry guns and drive cool cars for a reason. They are here to protect. You know how many more shitty people there are in the world than cops? lots, which makes a cops job real hard. So yes they do deserve certain things like free food and not to be videotaped.

"Dude wasn't doing anything wrong" - Man you guys, cry me a river. If this dude came on here, prior to all of this, and said, hey dudes check out this video of me driving down the highway" and he posted the video of himself doing wheelies at 100+ and doing insane passes between cars, I know half of you would be like "get off the fucking road dumbass" or "I hope you die next time you do that" or "what if some guy did the same thing you were doing and crashed and killed your daughter" and all of that sort of stuff. Jeez it's like you guys jump from high horse to high horse, onto which ever is easiest to seem like a saint in the given situation.

"I could not go to jail due to health issues (surgery)" - what the fuck is this shit? So if I go rob a bank and the police catch me I can be like, "whoa, hang on a sec guys, can't take me to jail today, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow" and the cop is gonna be like "oh okay, well promise me you sure will turn yourself in afterwards!" and I'm like "sure thing occifer!" as I board the airplane to Brazil.

You guys are all wrong in this thread.

**Aetos** · 07-20-2010, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by 86 IROC-Z

I cannot believe the replies I'm seeing in this thread. All of you are looking at this the wrong way.

"Cop should have had a badge" - He has a badge cuz he's a cop. Duh. He doesn't have to show it. You think if he goes and raids some trap house with armed felons he's like "oh hey before we have this little shoot out, inspect my badge, i dont wanna get in trouble".

"Cop shouldn't have had his gun drawn" - Who are you kidding? He was pulling over a motorcyclist. The hollywood and the social media prove that guys who ride motorcycles are the epitome of badass and rebellion, so this guy could have be a criminal, gang member, terrorist, or worse. The cop needed his gun to protect himself.

"In shouldn't be illegal to videotape a cop" - YES IT SHOULD!!! God damn, if you guys were cops would you want people videotaping you all the time! of course not, it would be the equal of being a celebrity and being surrounded by paparazzi all day, it's annoying. So they made a law against it. It's not a big deal. Cops deserve this.

"Cops need to be on the same level as citizens" - No, fuck that. Cops need to be above the law. They carry guns and drive cool cars for a reason. They are here to protect. You know how many more shitty people there are in the world than cops? lots, which makes a cops job real hard. So yes they do deserve certain things like free food and not to be videotaped.

"Dude wasn't doing anything wrong" - Man you guys, cry me a river. If this dude came on here, prior to all of this, and said, hey dudes check out this video of me driving down the highway" and he posted the video of himself doing wheelies at 100+ and doing insane passes between cars, I know half of you would be like "get off the fucking road dumbass" or "I hope you die next time you do that" or "what if some guy did the same thing you were doing and crashed and killed your daughter" and all of that sort of stuff. Jeez it's like you guys jump from high horse to high horse, onto which ever is easiest to seem like a saint in the given situation.

"I could not go to jail due to health issues (surgery)" - what the fuck is this shit? So if I go rob a bank and the police catch me I can be like, "whoa, hang on a sec guys, can't take me to jail today, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow" and the cop is gonna be like "oh okay, well promise me you sure will turn yourself in afterwards!" and I'm like "sure thing occifer!" as I board the airplane to Brazil.

You guys are all wrong in this thread.

Epic reply is epic

Don't know whether to laugh my ass off, congratulate you for the the semi-seriousness on-topic, or cry because some people will completely misread your reply .

**0rion** · 07-20-2010, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by 86 IROC-Z

I cannot believe the replies I'm seeing in this thread. All of you are looking at this the wrong way.

"Cop should have had a badge" - He has a badge cuz he's a cop. Duh. He doesn't have to show it. You think if he goes and raids some trap house with armed felons he's like "oh hey before we have this little shoot out, inspect my badge, i dont wanna get in trouble".

"Cop shouldn't have had his gun drawn" - Who are you kidding? He was pulling over a motorcyclist. The hollywood and the social media prove that guys who ride motorcycles are the epitome of badass and rebellion, so this guy could have be a criminal, gang member, terrorist, or worse. The cop needed his gun to protect himself.

"In shouldn't be illegal to videotape a cop" - YES IT SHOULD!!! God damn, if you guys were cops would you want people videotaping you all the time! of course not, it would be the equal of being a celebrity and being surrounded by paparazzi all day, it's annoying. So they made a law against it. It's not a big deal. Cops deserve this.

"Cops need to be on the same level as citizens" - No, fuck that. Cops need to be above the law. They carry guns and drive cool cars for a reason. They are here to protect. You know how many more shitty people there are in the world than cops? lots, which makes a cops job real hard. So yes they do deserve certain things like free food and not to be videotaped.

"Dude wasn't doing anything wrong" - Man you guys, cry me a river. If this dude came on here, prior to all of this, and said, hey dudes check out this video of me driving down the highway" and he posted the video of himself doing wheelies at 100+ and doing insane passes between cars, I know half of you would be like "get off the fucking road dumbass" or "I hope you die next time you do that" or "what if some guy did the same thing you were doing and crashed and killed your daughter" and all of that sort of stuff. Jeez it's like you guys jump from high horse to high horse, onto which ever is easiest to seem like a saint in the given situation.

"I could not go to jail due to health issues (surgery)" - what the fuck is this shit? So if I go rob a bank and the police catch me I can be like, "whoa, hang on a sec guys, can't take me to jail today, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow" and the cop is gonna be like "oh okay, well promise me you sure will turn yourself in afterwards!" and I'm like "sure thing occifer!" as I board the airplane to Brazil.

You guys are all wrong in this thread.

that's badass.....you managed to be wrong in every single paragraph of that.

**ls1bandit** · 07-20-2010, 03:35 PM

Quite frankly I was expecting the video to be a lot worse, that is very easy to articulate why he drew his gun, he only had it out for a few seconds, he ID'd himself as a state police and his badge was showing on his belt next to his gun, he didnt point it at anyone, this is well within the scope of his duties since LEO's have 24/7 police powers. He is off-duty and alone and is confronting a wreckless driver. The cop did not do anything wrong by drawing and exhibiting.

HOWEVER, I dont believe the rider should be charged with anything more then a few tickets and fines, this video BS should be thrown out, the cop was in a public place and his conduct is viewable to all the public.

**wheeliE-maxx** · 07-20-2010, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by Zinergy

Haha agreed, this is insane. He had a helmet cam on before he was pulled over and becasue he still had it on they arrested him for wire tapping. This case will go to court and the tax payers will pay this guy money because the cops are power hungry morons. Remember these are the people who are supposed to protect and serve and many do but there are so many that dont. I have had enough bad experiences with law inforcement to know there is little justice anymore. IK there are some cops on this site and they usually come in and try to comprehend what the cop was thinking or what is going through there head but cops are out of control these days in almost every city. Its cops like these that give good cops a bad name, only problem is it seems alot more cops are like this these days. Less and less respect for laws and the common citizen as a person. Cops speed, cops do rolling stops, cops drive agressivly through traffic, cops pull guns for situations that dont require it, cops can give you a ticket for just swearing at them. Cops can pretty much arrest you as they see fit and waste everyones tiem and money with court cases like this. They give tickets for many of the same laws they break on a daily basis and the system has become a joke of its former self. You give people the right to ticket and enforce laws its only human nature to abuse that duty and go above the laws, after all who is gonna ticket a cop? How often does a citizens reporting a cop breaking a law really do anything?

I try not to be all "fuk da popo", but my vehicle with me driving has nearly been wrecked into thrice by marked squad cars. More instances in other vehicles and with other people driving. Not to mention the endless traffic violations and going 15-40 over the speed limit anywhere they go with no lights or siren. I've seen them stop at places to eat etc. after, so it can't be an emergency every time. And never once have I been in a car that got pulled over by a decent cop, only dickheads. My family is nothing but courteous and respectful to them anyway. I need a dashcam for this crap..