Mississippi sheriff’s deputies entered a man’s home uninvited and without a warrant, then threatened to arrest him if he did not stop recording them.
Now Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance is saying the deputies “erred” in telling the man he was not allowed to record.
But no, the cop did not err. He lied. And bullied. And intimidated a citizen into forsaking his rights.
And for that, the local media in Mississippi has blurred the face of the two deputies in an apparent attempt to protect them from scrutiny.
But who is protecting the citizens from deputies barking unlawful orders?
The deputies entered the home of Cardravious Crump early Sunday morning after he hosted a Halloween party.
Crump, who lives in the home with his mother, said the cops were investigating underage drinking, but the party had ended and there was nobody underage drinking.
Crump, a 20-year-old business student, said the cops then demanded identifications.
That was when Crump’s mother ordered the deputies out.
According to News Channel 3 out of Memphis, which posted the video with the blurred faces:
“I asked him nicely to step out. I said, ‘Well then, I can talk to you, but can you step outside?'” said Crump’s mother, Carla Echols.
But Echols said the deputies refused.
“So I cursed him out. I was like, ‘You gonna get the [expletive] out my house ’cause I did not tell you to come in here,'” she said.
That’s when Crump said he took out his phone and started recording.
One of the deputies responds by saying, “You can turn that off. You can turn that off.”
Crump, a 20-year-old business student, said he continued to record as the same deputy continued to demand he stop. It is not illegal in Mississippi to film a police officer.
“You’re gonna turn that off, get that out of my face,” the deputy says.
When Crump asks why, the deputy replies, “Because,” then says, “I just told you to turn it off. I’m not gonna tell you again.”
Crump said he turned the camera off after 49 seconds because the deputy started to pull out his handcuffs to arrest him.
But here we are more than two days later and we still don’t know the names of the deputies nor do we even know how they look like, thanks to the local media protecting their identifications.
