imported post
This driver is an idiot.
First, he was doing 100mph on a motorcycle and popping wheelies on I-95.
Second, he was taping his criminally reckless ride with a helmet cam. I suppose he thought he was going to post his exciting ride on YouTube to get some sort of hooligan street cred or something...
Then he says in the interview that the cop shouldn't have pulled his gun because th edriver wasn't a criminal. Last time I looked, reckless driving and endangering others, are, in fact, statutory violations, so in fact, he IS a criminal...
And lastly, he didn't inform the LEO that he was recording. In MD, THAT is a crime as well. MD is a "two party consent" state, and if you are recording any conversation, activity, or interaction, both parties must be informed that they are being recorded, and both parties must give consent for the recording to continue. (unless you're a cop, and then you don't have to ask for consent--two laws for two classes of people...)
Honestly, this guy is lucky they didn't Taze and then "Rodney King" his sorry ass for "Egregious Contempt of Cop". He will get convicted of speeding AND breaking the MD Wiretapping Statutes, and he WILL do time, or see a massive fine, and probably have his DL revoked. And knowing how they do things up there in MD, the MSP will probably try to get the Air National Guard to somehow sanction him as well. In MD, if you mess with the police and embarrass them publicly, they will do everything in their power to ruin your entire life.
So yeah, this guy was treated poorly, but he IS an idiot, he DID break several laws and was acting extremely recklessly, and the fact that he was recording his law-breaking driving habits just adds fuel to the fire of his stupidity.
I hope he has a REALLY good lawyer. And he might as well start looking for a place to live in VA or PA, because as long as he lives in MD, he is going to be "red flagged" on the MSPs "naughty list". And you can bet that he will NEVER be "allowed" to buy a firearm in MD after this episode...
But where this story starts to make Mr. Graber look like the victim is the way MSP treated him AFTER the video was posted. The raided his house, seized his computers and other equipment, and just generally are treating him with the thuggish totalitarian disregard that they are famous for. The MD Attorney General is actually threatening Mr. Grabel with up to FIVE YEARS in prison for recording the cop without his consent...
http://www.agingrebel.com/?p=3169
http://orwellsdreams.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/man-who-filmed-plainclothes-cop-pulling-gun-on-him-getting-threatened-with-prison/
Welcome to the Peoples Republic of MD, folks.
Ihre Papiere, Bitte?
All those things said, the one thing I find MOST interesting about this story is how when the mainstream media posts stills or clips from the video, they blur out the gun-qaving MSP's face. Well, I have screen capture, access to the original video, and Photoshop, and I'm not afraid to use it...
Here's the vid of the entire ride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7PC9cZEWCQ&feature=related
So while I agree that MSP perhaps over-reacted in the stop, and has DEFINITELY over-reacted with the subsequent retaliatory raid and "wiretapping" charges, I don't have much sympathy for this guy.
If I had $10 for every testosterone-laden crotch-rocket jockey that has nearly run me off the road in MD in the last 10 years with their hooligan driving style, I could buy a brand new top-end ParaOrdnance, and still have money left over for a months worth of range ammo and a new holster...