I was thinking about countermeasures like shining a laser at the phone or wearing a QR code that would cause their phone to download viruses. But apart from the criminality of damaging their equipment, I realized that it would be pointless. They can still pretend they are filming and it would be difficult to see that they were not. They just have to hold up the phone like they were filming and it would get the same effect.
To be even more of a pedant, everyone is part of multiple protected classes. You can’t ban someone because of their religion whether they are Christian or Jewish.
I’ve mostly seen it at governement offices- but in my case, the government offices are not the sort where “public business” is being conducted, by which I mean that there are some government offices like motor vehicles offices where anyone is free to walk in and others ( such as CPS offices) where only people who have business/appointments with that office are admitted. The auditors walk into one of the latter, and insist that because it is a “public” building, they have the right to be there for as long as they want to be , filming anyone they want to,
Of course that’s one of those situations the cops live for. You can stack a lot of charges on somebody puling that, and even more if they don’t instantly back down when told.
Oh, I don’t doubt it. But the ones I’ve seen are typically in a government office that accommodates the public, so the “auditors” are technically correct (in this case, not the best kind of correct).
I’ve also seen ones where they stand on a public sidewalk taking video of the cars entering and leaving a police parking lot. Again, they have the right to be there recording, but they’re real assholes about it.
We had one of those jerks try that at our lab. He stood on the sidewalk filming through the window. We pulled the shades down and ignored him. Later he and some cohorts went over to the local campus and got some footage of students being outraged over whatever it was they were doing. That footage made their Youtube channel; we didn’t.
These guys like to beat their chests that they are defending First Amendment rights but they are really just garden variety trolls and assholes. I prefer ignoring them whenever possible, conceding that it’s not always possible nor desirable.
What charges?
If a government building is open to the public (e.g. city hall, public library, post office, BMV, police department), then a person has a right to peacefully record video inside the building, of anything their eyes can see.
And when they wander into the non-public areas, then what? that was the situation I was referring to.
It’s not a gray area to me. “Seeking to provoke conflict” is definitely disturbing the peace as far as I’m concerned.
Agree. But in most the videos I’ve seen, the auditors are careful to not enter any restricted areas. Even then, a lot of cops will still demand their ID and threaten them with arrest.
It’s not a gray area, but it does matter who owns the parking lot.
The owner of the parking lot unambiguously has the right to exclude people who the owner has reasonable cause to label a nuisance. “He’s Black” or “she’s Christian” are not reasonable cause. “He’s filming my customers and making them uncomfortable” is reasonable cause.
Whether the owner chooses to exercise that right depends on a lot of things, including whether they are made aware of the nuisance.
On the other hand, the owner doesn’t have the right to tell the filmers to leave the public sidewalk next to the parking lot, and they can probably film the parking lot from there.
The key word is “peacefully”
If they’re causing a disruption, if they’re blocking access/egress for others, and so on then there may well be cause to have them either leave or be removed.
Reluctantly, I went to youtube and typed in “First Amendment Auditors”, and all the thumbnails that popped up told me all I needed to know.
“Crazy cops and Karens exposed by First Amendment Auditor! Must see!”
“Top ten best Karens getting pepper sprayed moments!”
“Crazed boxer attacks and gets sauced! Freedom of the Press - First Amendment Audit!”
“Cops mess with the wrong citizens! Top First Amendment Audit moments!”
No, I didn’t click on any of the thumbnails. I didn’t want to give them any more views.
But that’s true even if the person is not recording video.
If pigs run free, why not me
Across the swamp of time?
My mind weaves a symphony
And tapestry of rhyme
ETA:
I guess it depends on to what extent it’s something that needs to be opposed. Since I’ve never in my life encountered one of these ‘First Amendment Auditors’ my inclination is that if one shows up around here, the more people just walk on by, the better.
If they become a problem, I suppose I could use on them the whistle I carry against the (remote, in my neck of the woods) possibility that I might see ICE in action. But if I did that the first time one showed up, people would probably complain about me to the store, rather than complain about the ‘1A Auditor.’ So maybe not.
I’m afraid I did, and I wish I hadn’t. Two things to note: (a) all the top comments were positive - “Yeah, show that effin Karen!” etc.; and (b) the #1 top suggested video that came up on the sidebar was about Helen Keller’s existence being a hoax, another new form of destructive idiocy I only recently learned about.
Guys, we are doomed.
Oh, and regarding confrontation with any rando in public, the Briny Rule says that 10% of anyone you meet in public is batshit crazy, 10% are enraged, and 10% are armed. 1/10 x 1/10 x 1/10 is a 1 in 1,000 chance of disaster. I keep my head down in public, mostly.
I watched “Crazy cops and Karens exposed by First Amendment Auditor! Must see!”, and the only real complaint I have about the guy is that he slapped a misleading clickbaity headline on an extremely dull 15 minute video in which nobody even raises their voice, much less gets “Crazy!”
He’s standing on what is clearly a public sidewalk, filming the parking lot of a cannabis dispensary. Eventually the manager comes out, this skinny burned out hippie guy. I’m sure this “auditor” wouldn’t have left even if the manager had asked politely, which was really his only card to play. But instead he tries to claim that his weed shop is a “medical facility”, and therefore videotaping his customers going in and out of the store is a “HIIPA violation”. The auditor is clearly delighted to have found someone dumber than he is, and the conversation which follows is the only even mildly amusing bit of the video.
Then the cops show up, and they are unfailingly polite and professional. The auditor is also quite polite and non-confrontational. He tells them he is exercising his First Amendment rights and is under no obligation to explain to them why he is doing so at that particular time and place. They do exactly what they’re supposed to do, which is nod politely, wish him a good day, get back in their cars and drive away.
I was quite impressed to see cops acting professionally and not coming up with bullshit reasons to arrest someone for not answering their questions. It sounds like some of these auditors are being jerks, but based only on this particular video, I have no problem with this guy. It looks like he is educating the public about their Constitutional rights, which is a good thing, even if his journalistic standards are dubious and his primary motivation is financial (which it pretty clearly is…at one point he interrupts the “action” for a couple minutes to direct attention to his GoFundMe for car repairs).
There are lots of YT videos where the cops blatantly violate an auditor’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. Check out SeanPaul Reyes’ videos at Long Island Audit.
Oh, I don’t feel the need to watch them, I’m sure they exist in great number. I watched a brief snippet of one where the cops tackled a guy to the ground for not answering their questions, on the pretext that “we have to make sure he’s not armed”. Hope he got a nice payday for that one.
The early examples of these were great and they nearly all were to expose ignorant law enforcement. Those have gotter fewer because law enforcement had gotten better trained to avoid looking like assholes on social media. Now a good percentage of them are assholes being assholes to regular people minding their own business.