"The First Amendment right to observe and record law enforcement officers has proven instrumental in documenting violence by federal immigration enforcement and critical to a nationwide resistance movement. "The right to record is fundamental to holding government accountable. People can't protest or even evaluate what they can't see," said David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition based in Northern California. Cell phone videos filmed by witnesses have provided critical details about what happened when federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis and other uses of force against civilians."
"But the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have also stoked fear that people who record or otherwise monitor federal immigration operations risk arrest. "We are in a moment that's kind of unprecedented in terms of the use of force against people who are observing, bystanding, recording," said Saira Hussain, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for digital privacy and free speech, during a town hall this month. The San Diego Union-Tribune consulted local attorneys and guides published by civil liberties groups on how people seeking to document law enforcement can exercise their rights safely and lawfully. Experts say people should know their rights but caution that exercising them can come with risks, and people need to balance First Amendment freedoms with their own safety."
""Absolutely know your rights - but we have to be clear that this is also a world where people have to know their risks, and that's an individual determination that each person has to make," said Frederick Carroll, legal director of ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. "People need to exercise good sense and discretion to not put themselves in harm's way.""
The First Amendment protects the right to observe and record law enforcement, including federal immigration agents. Witness-shot cell phone videos have provided crucial evidence in cases of use of force, including fatal shootings in Minneapolis. Recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have increased fears that people who record federal immigration operations could be arrested. Advocates describe an unprecedented rise in force used against observers, bystanders, and people recording. Civil liberties groups and local attorneys advise people to know their rights while carefully weighing personal safety and legal risks, and to exercise discretion to avoid harm.
Read at The Mercury News
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