LAPD appears to have a new policy dealing with photographers...unless it has always been this way. The police surrounded Shawn in larger and larger numbers at each scene. They intentionally tried to provoke him into a confrontation by repeatedly violating their own written policies and procedures. When they could not provoke a reaction out of him, they arrested him for trying to complain about their behavior for a second time in about an hour.
Notice he calmly walks up to the police, then they handcuff him. Originally they stated that he j walked, but then magically the police surrounded him and his alleged j walking citation turned into a PC 148 arrest complete with spending the night and morning in jail.
Also notice that he was in the street with hundreds of other people, recording in the midst of hundreds of other people, but he was constantly singled out for retaliation and harassment.
Everything Shawn did, I did as well. He did not do anything out of the ordinary. He maintained a calm polite attitude. He remained professional from the moment we met up, until the minute the police hauled him off to jail.
This description and video is all put together using my opinions only. I did not consult with Shawn during or after the videos.
With that in mind my opinions are mine, but for the most part they are accurate.
Obviously this video has been edited for length. In addition to that, my main camera died by the end, and I had to use a second camera you may notice the audio is poor.
It is what it is.
The police certainly were not protecting and serving Shawn or his right to record. Although several police were courteous to Shawn...there appeared to be others that were aggressive and hostile specifically toward him for reasons I could not identify. Some of these cops who appeared hostile toward him were actually decent to me...some not all.
I can only think of two reasons for that.
1.Retaliation against Shawn.
2. A double standard against Shawn.
This video is a story of LAPD retaliation against a street photographer named Shawn Nee.
Thanks for watching.
TMFZ