This Cop Did Not Want to Be Filmed: Assaults Man, Breaks his Camera & Wipes Bloody Elbow on Him So tonight driving downtown a man is slammed into the street right infront of me. So i begin to record the event. Then the officer refused to give my phone or his name to me. he threw my phone back at me resulting in damage to my property. He also wiped his blood on me on purpose. I was then detained illegally. Called the A1 Precinct to be insulted. Max Bickford was out riding his moped with some friends on Wednesday evening when he claims he saw an unidentified Boston Police officer kicking a handcuffed and face down man in the head. Image provided to The Free Thought Project by Max Image provided to The Free Thought Project by Max Just like we should all be doing, Bickford pulled out his phone to film the encounter. The officer becomes visibly agitated as he sarcastically thanks Bickford repeatedly and demands he move his moped. Bickford complied and moved to a legal parking spot, yet continued filming. This is when the officer becomes completely unhinged and illegally grabs the man’s phone. After demanding his phone back, the officer then threw the phone violently back to Bickford, shattering the screen. Bickford, who was being illegally detained, passed his phone off to his friend before the officer ripped it away again. More officers arrived on the scene and Bickford’s phone was returned before he was handcuffed and subjected to more intimidation. “I asked multiple times if I was free to go, and if not- what was I being charged with.” Bickford told us. Bickford also told The Free Thought Project that the officer was insisting “you are going to regret this,” and saying “your night is wasted because of a…” (he never finished his sentence). The angry officer then ranted about how Bickford was looking out for a criminal, cried about how “dangerous” being a police officer is, then wiped his bleeding elbow on Bickford’s shirt. Bickford was ultimately released, with the officers refusing to provide him with names or badge numbers. After leaving the incident, Bickford called the Boston Police Department to report the misconduct and violation of his rights. The lieutenant he spoke to reportedly told him that the officer had every right to take his phone if he believed he had filmed part of a crime. Unless this officer was trying to gather evidence of his own crimes to turn himself in, this explanation seems highly unreasonable. The lieutenant also asked Bickford if he was a lawyer, and maintained an overall condescending tone throughout the call. If departments refuse to police their own police, it is time we all arm ourselves with cameras and police them ourselves. Always film the police.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 01:15:56 +0000