PathFinder

👮‍♂️ It's Hilarious When A Police Officer Thinks That Just Because They "Have Been Doing This For 22 Years" That They Must Be Doing It Right!👮‍♂️ On October 31, 2023, and again on November 20, 2023, a First Amendment auditor with the YouTube channel I.A.M. Free – Inland Auditing Media went to the Washington State Department of Corrections Work Release Office in Port Orchard, WA 98367. He was there to film publicly accessible areas and submit a public records request after tips about issues at the facility. DOC staff confronted him, claimed the state property was effectively private (comparing it to a library), refused full identification at points, and ordered him to leave, saying he needed permission or a pass. Port Orchard Police responded. Officer R. Luke (Badge #720) and Sgt. T. Holden (Trey Holden, Badge #716) arrived. Officers issued a verbal trespass warning, stating that remaining or returning could lead to arrest for criminal trespass under Washington law. They treated the location as subject to exclusion after warning even though it is state/public property. The auditor argued the site is public property, that he was in an accessible area without adequate restrictive signage, and that he was engaged in protected activity. He maintained that arbitrary exclusion for viewpoint or press activity requires proper time/place/manner justification. The DOC employees called higher ups and realized the mistake they were making then withdrew their trespass warning. 👮‍♂️The police sergeant who had bragged of knowing the law after having been on the job for 22 years was proven to be completely wrong about the law. Outcome: No arrest. No public court records or mainstream news reports indicate charges, a formal complaint outcome, or further legal action from this specific incident. ❓Is it appropriate for uncomfortable staff to call police simply because someone is filming and asking for records, with no other disruptive behavior? ❓How often are public areas unrestricted until an employee sees someone walking around filming and then suddenly they're a restricted or secured area?

🚨Amagansett Press Walks Out With a $9500 Check: This Is What Happens When Police Act as Muscle for an Uncomfortable Postal Clerk Instead of Enforcing the Law On Feb 22, 2020 at the USPS post office in Silverthorne, CO, Amagansett Press (Jason Gutterman) filmed in the public lobby as a First Amendment audit, citing USPS Poster 7 which allows news photography there. Employees/customers objected. Gutterman refused to leave, saying he needed to buy a stamp and demanding a written trespass order: “You either trespass me in writing now or I’m going back in.” He insisted “call the sheriff” and that verbal orders weren’t a formal trespass. Sgt. Rachel Dunaway and Officers Jacob Arneson & Kaelan Schartung (plus Summit County SO Sgt. Taylor Piper) ordered him out at the postmaster’s request. No written trespass issued; no arrest. Town of Silverthorne later paid Gutterman a $9,500 settlement. Chief Minor said officers did what they thought was best at the time but the department might handle it differently next time. ❓If someone is recording in a post office and another person objects, does that qualify as a disturbance? ❓If a person objects to being filmed in a post office and causes a scene about it, who created the disturbance? --- Was it the person who was filming or the person who objected and then got loud and confrontational?