By Aaron Kesel
The Colorado Independent’s editor, Susan Greene, was handcuffed and detained in July for attempting to photograph police as they responded to a call on a public sidewalk, Huffington Post reported.
According to the Colorado Independent, Greene was driving along East Colfax Avenue near the Colorado State Capitol building on the afternoon of July 5th when she noticed Denver police surrounding a half-naked African American man sitting handcuffed on the sidewalk. So Greene stopped to see what was happening.
Ironically, Greene is an investigative reporter who is no stranger to police brutality, known for writing about instances where police have harassed and killed African Americans.
Police responded to Greene’s attempt to take pictures of the scene by blocking her from committing her civil duties as a journalist to investigate what was going on.
As Greene detailed in a post the next day, and as video obtained by the Colorado Independent confirms, she approached the scene and was immediately blocked by Officer James Brooks. Brooks is then joined by Officer Adam Paulsen and the two inform Greene that she is forbidden from taking photographs because it violates the HIPAA rights of the man laying there half naked and handcuffed. It’s an absolutely laughable statement — HIPAA is short for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which outlines an individual’s rights to medical privacy.
“There’s also a First Amendment,” Greene retorts. “Have you heard of it?”
“That doesn’t supersede HIPAA,” Paulsen responds back.
Brooks repeats Paulsen and adds, “Step away, or you’ll be arrested for interference.”
The tension between the three picks up and then Greene is seen directing her Iphone at Brook’s police badge. Which, then at some point Brook’s swats at her phone repeating himself: “Step away, or you’ll be arrested for interference.”
It’s after this that we see the officers handcuff Greene, who screams in pain, “Ow!”
“Stand up straight,” Paulsen orders Greene. “Act like a lady.”
“Stand up and act like a lady,” Brooks reiterates.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Greene responds. “Act like a lady?”
“There you go,” Brooks says. “Now you can go to jail.”
Greene worked at newspapers in California and Nevada before joining The Denver Post as a reporter and columnist. She and a Post colleague were finalists for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting about the destruction of DNA evidence in criminal cases, Colorado Politics reported.
The video is a shocking abuse of civil rights, liberties, and an abhorrent display of law enforcement violating the constitution, the right to an unimpeded Free Press.
However, none of this bothered the District Attorney Beth McCann who had a phone call last week with Greene informing her that the D.A.’s office would not be seeking to press charges against the officers, despite their misconduct.
Greene detailed the call in a post last week:
(McCann) said a charge of false imprisonment wasn’t an option because there’s an exemption for cops. And she said her office likely would have a tough time convincing a jury that Brooks assaulted me.
I asked McCann about her take on the incident beyond the question of criminality. “I don’t know that he knew you were a journalist, for one thing,” she said. “But people are entitled to take pictures as long as people are not” getting in the way of police. She added that Brooks’ “act like a lady” comment “was a little unnecessary.” And she said we’ll likely be hearing something from Hancock’s administration now that she has made her decision not to prosecute.
As a result, The Independent notes that the news organization may take legal action on its own.
“If we need to file a legal action to hold the city accountable, so be it,” Mari Newman, a lawyer for Greene and The Independent said.
Newman added the officers excuse that Greene was violating HIPAA is “ridiculous.”
HIPAA does not apply to an individual on the street. It’s designed to protect private medical information — for example, information that a medical provider or an insurance company might have about a patient. HIPAA does not impose any obligations on a private individual walking around on the street.
Greene wrote that the context for her interest in the scene came from “Denver’s history of uniformed officers harassing, hurting or killing folks, sometimes without offering them medical help.”
“It stems partly from the fact that Denver sheriff deputies stood around the limp, lifeless body of Marvin Booker, a homeless, black street preacher after they killed him in Denver’s jail in 2010,” she wrote. “And it also stems from officers similarly having stood around Michael Marshall, a mentally ill, homeless, black man, after having fatally restrained him in 2015.”
Essentially, once again, police made up laws that didn’t exist and won’t be reprimanded for their failure to understand the law they are sworn to uphold, all while mocking a woman, arresting her and possibly intentionally hurting her as a message to her during the confrontation.
Their only mistake is that they didn’t realize she covers police brutality issues, so it’s inevitable that this blows up.
Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.
Image credit: CBS Denver
Reporter was interfering with legitimate police work. She should of been tasered.
It is difficult to tell if you are serious or being sarcastic.
One would hope that you are being sarcastic.
she has to be….nobody can qualify videoing cops as interfering….unless they are morons.
Yes, but I am surprised at the number of Copsuckers walking around.
ha ha ha
do you think maybe they objected to being videoed because they wanted to rough him up? She ought to do a followup and see if they did.
I’ve seen a cop beat the hell out of someone who was almost unconscious. He saw us watching so he drove to an empty store parking lot and continued the beating. I knew because I followed him.
You should have used an exclamation mark then everyone would know that you were being sarcastic.
Cops just obeying orders. Citizens complained about a nude homeless person annoying pedestrians. Liberal City hall tells cops to remove trash from the street.
Denver is a joke as is their police. I was robbed in broad daylight, beaten and stabbed in the state capital building bathroom. Spent 10 months in the hospital and 3 major surgeries dying twice on the operating table. People openly deal drugs in the park around the capital with out getting arrested.Where were the police then? The police came to the hospital to take a report but never found the perps. Denver is a liberal crap hole.
the whole state is….
such a shame because it’s so beautiful but apparently it attracts morons too
Is Colorado still owned and operated by narcissistic, elite types such as John “Wet-Start” McCain who assist with the subversion of the US ?
Colorado….2nd only to California in nutcases
Gee….the police there don’t know the laws either….just another liberal hellhole we should avoid
I’m getting darn sick and tired of cops getting away with this. SERVE & PROTECT….live up to the motto, or get another job.
I ONLY respect cops who deserve it. I wouldn’t spit on these 2 if they were on fire.
Do they even have to take a test? How do they qualify? Before arresting someone like in this case shouldn’t they have called their sargeant if they didn’t know the law and asked him? How could they not know it’s not against the law to film cops….it’s been reported on over and over and over. When she brought up 1st amendment they should have backed down. When you SWEAR TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION it means you should do just that…..unless of course you are a liar and a chicken___.
It is the police chief who should be fired for having ignorant officers on his force. They should have been properly trained before hitting the streets (and people).
And the stupid liberal judge let these boobs off the hook….so they are going to civilly sue. If I was on the jury she’d win. Claiming interference because you are being filmed is pretty flimsy.
I guess they enjoyed hurting her while handcuffing her….there is no need to do that. 2 big men against a woman….give me a break. Psychos
Superficially hurting her reflected what they would like to have done to her, similar to the tip of an iceberg.
Remember, In our existing police State they do what they want and don’t worry about consequences.
first: kudos Ms Greene .. please continue your reporting. Police: we need to change the profile of police candidates. It all starts with the tone and timber of prospective law enforcement candidates. It seems like the profession attracts too many with a past history of aggression. Let’s start with service orientated and downplay the qualities of dominance / unresolved past frustrations? / aggressiveness.
Unfortunately these things happen all over the US. It is just another symptom of a broken and degenerate democracy and the rejection of the rule of law! The US has been destroyed from the inside, not from external influence.
Illuminati capitol police are above the law.