The cops also confiscated Faden's cell phone and kept it as evidence even though the charges against him were dropped the day after his arrest. Faden finally got his phone back, and he posted the footage he recorded, which shows that Hialeah police officers need a refresher course on the First and Fourth amendments.
See also:
- "Harlem Shake" Shoot in Hialeah Goes Horribly Wrong
The 39-second clip shows Hialeah Officer Fritz Janvier aggressively pointing his finger at Faden. "Stop recording me," Janvier orders. "Stop recording me and disperse."
Faden refuses, informing the officer it is not against the law to film him on a public street. Before the clip ends, another cop angrily grabs Faden and tries to snatch the phone. That's when the officers pounced on him and threw him to the ground. Faden alleges the cops hit him in the head when they had him restrained.
The incident was not the first time Hialeah police officers went overboard when a citizen was filming them. Faden's attorney, Jose "Pepe" Herrera, says he represents another client who was Tasered by a Hialeah police officer for pulling out a cell-phone camera. In March, blogger and photojournalist Carlos Miller wrote about Hialeah resident Juan Santana, whose Sony Bloggie camcorder was confiscated by a police officer outside his house.
The cop allegedly feared the camera was a gun, according to an interview Santana gave Miller. Santana was filming the officer and a colleague manhandling a friend whom they believed was a suspect they were looking for.
A Hialeah Police Department spokesman did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Follow Francisco Alvarado on Twitter: @thefrankness
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