‘My Blood Boiled’: 4th of July DUI Checkpoint Video Goes
Viral After Officer’s Comment
Jul. 8, 2013 9:02am
Many
municipalities set up checkpoints for law enforcement to cut down on drunk
driving over the Fourth of July holiday, but one stop in particular is getting
national attention.
The
now viral video posted to YouTube showing a man getting stopped at a DUI
checkpoint in Rutherford County, Tennessee, has more than 2.8 million views as
of Monday morning after being posted the night of the event. The video includes
what the driver believes to be a unconstitutional search of his car where an
officer is even recorded saying the man is “perfectly innocent and he knows his
rights.”
Interestingly,
the resistance on the part of the driver and his recording of the incident was
planned.
The
video shows driver, 21-year-old Chris Kalbaugh, has his window cracked as
Deputy A.J. Ross walks over asking the man to roll it down further. Kalbaugh
says he thinks the level he has it rolled down is “fine” because he is able to
hear the officer adequately. Ross asks how old Kalbaugh is (who before providing
his answer responds asking if that’s even a relevant question), walks briefly
toward the back of the vehicle, returns and then asks Kalbaugh to pull over.
(Image:
YouTube screenshot)
Kalbaugh
repeatedly asks if he is being detained, not moving the car, while Ross doesn’t
answer his questing but tells him to either pull over or step out of the
vehicle.
“After
he keeps using intimidation to get me to do what he wants, all the officers
surround my vehicle like I’m a criminal,” Kalbaugh wrote in the video.
Kalbaugh
eventually pulls over. He then is asked to unlock his car door — he again asks
if he is being detained with no response from Ross — and takes off his seat
belt. Kalbaugh steps out of the car and out of the camera view.
Kalbaugh has
inserted text of the conversation that took place with a faint recording of it
audible on the video.
“Are
you an attorney or something? You know what the law is?” Ross asks.
“Yes
sir, I do,” Kalbaugh replied.
“Ok,
what is the law?” Ross said.
“The
law says at checkpoints I have to stop. And I did,” Ross said.
“That
is all. I’m not required to answer any questions. I have Constitutional freedom
to travel without being randomly stopped and questioned,” Kalbaugh continued
after Ross prompted him further.
More
mumbled conversation can be heard but Kalbaugh didn’t translate the text into
the video at this point. The young adult later wrote that he was asked to
provide his I.D., which Kalbaugh believes he legally didn’t need to as he
didn’t commit any traffic violations or other infractions.
Kalbaugh
then wrote that the officer asked if he could search the vehicle, which
Kalbaugh said he would not consent to. Ross then got a K-9 to sniff around the
vehicle.
(Image:
YouTube screenshot)
But
Kalbaugh then referenced the so-called ability of K-9s to issue a false alert.
Previously, TheBlaze has reported on the questionable constitutionality of other stops where the
vehicle owners felt the dog had been commanded to issue a false alert to allow
the officer to legally search the interior of the car.
This
is what Kalbaugh seems to believe happened to him when the K-9 handler says
“check here” and the dog begins scratching.
“That
is how police can give themselves permission to search your car without your
consent,” Kalbaugh wrote.
Officers
then search his car. While doing so, Deputy Ross is recorded saying, “he’s
perfectly innocent and he knows his rights. He knows what the Constitution
says.”
(Image:
YouTube screenshot)
Another
officer said, “it wasn’t a very good alert.” He then shines his flashlight on
the camera, noticing it and alerts Ross that it is recording. Shuffling can be
heard as the search continued but the picture goes blank.
Kalbaugh
wrote that they found no illegal drugs in their search.
“All
this because my window was not lowered enough to his preference. I broke no
laws whatsoever. On a day that we are supposed to be celebrating freedom and
liberty,” the video description stated.
Watch
the footage:
The video began going viral
after being uploaded to the website Libertarian Republic and then making its way to the social
news site Reddit.
The
Tennessean has reported the response of a Libertarian to the video:
“We’ve
gotten worldwide response for this,” said Axl David, communications director
for the Libertarian Party of Tennessee.
“I
watched the video when he uploaded it, and my blood boiled. I think that’s why
it went viral.”
David
said the organization is not anti-police, and the demonstration was aimed to
send the message that “any abuse of the constitution will be exposed,” David
said.
David
told the Daily News Journal that Kalbaugh said he had
planned the confrontation as a “crash the checkpoint party” to “exercise his
rights.”
The
Tennessean reported Rutherford County Sheriff’s public information officer Lisa
Marchesoni saying the incident is being reviewed ”to determine if there are any
policy or procedure violations.”
Let
us know what you think of this planned exercising of rights by taking our poll
below.
–
Other must read stories:
- Real
or Fake? Video of 'Alien' at 'UFO Crash Site' in Siberia Becomes Viral Hit
- Hilarious
video of 'Arnold Schwarzenegger driving around' goes viral
- The
Viral Video of a Gutsy 12-Year-Old Demanding the Badge Number of an
Illegally Parked Motorcycle Cop
- 'We
Will No Longer Accept the Lies': Glenn Beck's Powerful Speech at
Washington, D.C. Rally | Video (op-ed)
No comments:
Post a Comment