
Man arrested at Kansas City library speech after asking “provocative” questions - kyleblarson
http://boingboing.net/2016/10/04/jewish-man-arrested-at-kansas.html
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neaden
"On-duty officers posted to the event apparently did not get involved until
later: he was arrested by a man out of uniform and paid by the event's
organizers."

The idea that we allow people to hire off-duty cops who are allowed to carry
firearms and arrest people is, to put it mildly, an incredibly bad idea.

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eridius
Not only this, but apparently you can be charged with resisting arrest by
refusing to go along with the out-of-uniform off-duty cop-cum-security-guard.

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neaden
Yeah, IANAL but my understanding in the US is that a cop is always a cop, even
if they are off duty and wearing a bathrobe they can still arrest you,
question you, etc.

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njharman
Sure but the problem is, some random, ununiformed dude maybe or maybe not
claiming to be a cop starts to man-handle you and trying to physically subdue
you.

It should be reasonable to resist that. How can anyone tell that is a lawful
arrest vs an assault/prelude to kidnapping?

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flubert
>How can anyone tell that is a lawful arrest vs an assault/prelude to
kidnapping?

[http://www.jimwagnerrealitybased.com/images/If_you_are_place...](http://www.jimwagnerrealitybased.com/images/If_you_are_placed_under_citizens_arrest.pdf)

~~~
njharman
That document seems to describe the ideal of the law. The reality is much
different. DA's will side with and protect police, courts will believe police
testimony over mine or other citizens. It also, mostly deals with citizens.
not off duty police who can appear as citizens but then, after fact,
apply/claim their authority as LEO.

Case in point, the man in above article is still being charged even though he
was resisting a bogus arrest. Despite that article saying that "won't" happen.

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cestith
Apparently someone invited to an event and whom the operators of the event do
not want arrested for trespassing can be trespassing, and the operators of the
event can be arrested for saying they don't want him arrested for trespassing.

~~~
mcguire
The ones paying the security guards are the Jewish Community Foundation,
presumably of Kansas City. They are, I assume, the ones who wanted an attendee
and a library employee arrested.

Their web site seems to be down at the moment, though.

~~~
dalke
The underlying article from BORDC says:

> ... the library agreed to allow off-duty police to be on the scene. However,
> the library set two conditions. First, nobody could be forcibly removed for
> asking an unpopular question. Second, nobody could be removed at all without
> consulting with the library staff, who would only allow an individual to be
> removed if staff concluded they were an imminent threat.

~~~
kevin_b_er
The man, this "off-duty cop", attacked and battered two other people and held
them against their will (kidnapping). Where are the charges for this?

~~~
mcherm
I can only assume that the district attorney has chosen not to prosecute these
crimes.

In fact, it seems to me that police are very rarely ever prosecuted for
crimes.

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freddealmeida
We need another Voltaire. We risk losing so much.

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miraj
"freedom" of speech! indeed!!

