Ruben An v. City of New York, First Amendment Right to Record Police in Public (Cell Phone) from Legal Aid Society Of New York on Vimeo.
The NYPD knows that citizens have a First Amendment right to record cops on the street, but they keep busting amateur videographers anyway — and now one fed-up Queens man is looking to make an example of the practice.
Ruben An, 24, filed suit in Manhattan federal court Wednesday over his 2014 arrest for using his cellphone to document three cops rousting a man they found lying on a sidewalk near Astor Place.
But An doesn’t want money damages — just a judge’s ruling that his rights were violated, and a permanent injunction barring city employees from acting against anyone who “records or attempts to record police officers who are performing official duties in a public place.”
An’s two-minute video clip, filed along with his Manhattan federal court complaint, shows one of the cops accusing him of blocking the sidewalk, then grabbing and arresting An when he refuses to show ID.
Video of the arrest from a nearby building. An enters at 30:45.
Ruben An v. City of New York, First Amendment Right to Record Police in Public from Legal Aid Society Of New York on Vimeo.
The cop, Bekim Becaj, is not unfamiliar with cameras — he appeared on live TV kissing ex-Playboy Playmate of the Year Jenny McCarthy during the 2012 New Year’s celebration in Times Square.
An was charged with obstruction of governmental administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but a jury cleared him of all counts last July.
His arrest came just 11 days after the infamous caught-on-camera chokehold death of Eric Garner during his arrest for illegally selling cigarettes on Staten Island.
The following month, the NYPD issued a “Finest Message” to remind all cops that “members of the public are allowed to record (by video, audio or photography) police interactions.”
An’s suit claims that despite the official policy, the department “maintains a widespread practice and custom of arresting, threatening to arrest or otherwise interfering with” anyone who does.
It cites two other suits filed by citizens who claim they were busted for taking video of city cops, as well as the pending indictment against Officer Jonathan Munoz for allegedly falsifying charges against a third videographer.
A spokesman for the city Law Department said: “The complaint will be reviewed.”
Dennis Flores of the police-watchdog group El Grito said: “Cameras in the hands of civilians add a layer of accountability that solidifies true community control over the police. We must preserve those democratic rights.”