Reports:
Bonney Lake, WA — A Bonney Lake man says he was assaulted, arrested and his cellphone stolen by police, because he was filming a fire in his neighborhood.
Silis Verdant like all of his other neighbors were curious about a car parked on their street that was on fire, so he began filming.
“I hopped out and I just started filming with my phone,” said Verdant.
According to KIRO 7, Verdant lives a few doors down and says he wanted to record the chaotic scene; there were fire trucks and two police cruisers — one from Bonney Lake, the other Pierce County.
“I asked the officer from Bonney Lake his information and he didn’t say anything, so I kind of just walked past to try to film what was going on. They asked me to step back and I stepped back,” Verdant told KIRO 7.
Verdant said when he asked for the Bonney Lake police officer’s name and badge number for the second time, the Pierce County deputy grabbed his phone, grabbed him, put him under arrest, and ticketed him for obstruction— all while neighbors watched.
KIRO 7 interviewed a witness at the scene who actually yelled out at police that what they were doing was brutality.
“I just watched him go like this and just stiff-arm this guy right in the chest,” neighbor Easton Richards said. “And I was like ‘man that’s police brutality!’”
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s office, Verdant was arrested because they said he was warned that he was too close to a potential crime scene. He disagrees and so does the other witness, Richards.
“He didn’t go past the fire truck, he didn’t do nothing,” Richards said.
Verdant’s phone was confiscated and despite him filing a request to have it returned, he was told it would be 6 months before they would return it. Verdant claims the video on the phone would vindicate him while the cops claim it’s evidence that he committed a crime.
Well video does not lie, when it becomes publicly available, the Free Thought Project will report it. Verdant is now facing obstruction charges.
As more and more people film police who do not want to be filmed, we will probably see things like this more frequently. Video can only incriminate someone if others are allowed to see it; so why not trump up bogus charges, and confiscate the evidence? It will keep the video from being seen and the person who took it a criminal. When it finally becomes publicly available, “Whoops the phone was damaged in lock up.”
That is why you should always livestream when filming around police. For a list of apps designed to help you expose corruption and helpful tips for interacting with police you can visit this link.