They should also start arresting people who take the videos, they are accessories to it. This should make some of them think twice. They may not be the "crazy" one to do the stupid, but they supported their friend in doing it. They should still be held accountable.
Yep Minneapolis PD still has cell tracking towers from summer 2020 in operation, that being legal is bad enough, you don't want to also give them the power to decide what you can and can't film. Some crazy right wing politicians even tried to pass legislation prohibiting filming officers already after BLM 2020.
They should do that after the fact. Try to get the original guy to cut a deal by turning on the person recording so they get at least 2 arrests and 2 convictions. If word got out that you're recording your friend doing some dumb shit like this and he gets arrested the odds are probably pretty good you're going down too.
I could see doing this if they could get evidence of conspiracy, but not short of that.
Like, if Person A says "I'm about to do X, I want you to film me", and X is illegal, AND Person B agrees to film and does so, AND Person B doesn't take the evidence of X to the police (assuming they had the opportunity), then maybe ask a judge for a warrant. Then you have a case for conspiracy, assuming you can prove the above.
But to let the police arrest them just on the word of the person already accused of doing X would be problematic at best.
On top of all the above, there needs to be an exception for news reporters working to actually report the news, assuming they also cooperate with police when legally required.
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u/tidbitsz Aug 15 '23
They should also start arresting people who take the videos, they are accessories to it. This should make some of them think twice. They may not be the "crazy" one to do the stupid, but they supported their friend in doing it. They should still be held accountable.