JohnA lifeBlog

Tonight’s post will likely piss off some of my readers, but hey, that’s life

As most of you know, I’m quite the civil liberties nut. Tonight, I had a chance to practice what I preach.

On my way to baggage claim at Fresno Airport, I noticed a TSA employee verbally dressing down another traveler. A uniformed Fresno PD officer was walking in front of me, and saw the altercation. He went to the traveler and says “Show my your ID.” Now, the TSA agent didn’t ask for this officer to engage the situation, but he did anyway. For some reason, this really didn’t sit well with me. So, I took out my cell phone, and began to video record the entire altercation between this officer and the traveler. When the traveler noticed me doing it, I simply mouthed “Just in case” to him. He smiled and winked.

In the end, the officer told a couple of white lies, but the entire situation was rather calm. The traveler nodded to me and said “Cheers!” as he walked off. I continued through the security exit with all of the TSA people glaring at me. Knowing exactly what was to occur next, I decided to go to the arcade, and begin playing the Terminator 2 pinball game. About 30 seconds later, this conversation occurred:

Officer: So, I understand that you were video taping me.
Me: Yes sir, officer.
Officer: Show me your I.D.
Me: Why do you want to see my ID, sir?
Officer: I want to know who was video taping me.
Me: Then I’ll tell you that. My name is John Anderson.
Officer: It’s the law that when I ask for ID, you have to give it to me.
Me: Actually, officer, the law is that if asked, I need to give you my name & address (I then gave him my name and address)

The officer then stares as me as he calls on his radio for a warrant / arrest check for me. While we are waiting, I turn and continue to playing my pinball game. About a minute later came the reply:

Dispatch: “Airport 21. I have an identification of John Anderson. No warrants or arrests, valid CDL, current address is (the address I told him)”

The look of disappointment when he discovered that I was a law-abiding citizen who knew his rights was breathtaking. He went on:

Officer: So what are you doing at the Airport?
Me: Just got back from a business trip.
Officer: So you’re leaving then?
Me: After I am done playing pinball.
Officer: Have a nice day

And he walked off.

So the questions are 1) Why did I video tape the confrontation in the first place, and 2) Why didn’t I show the officer my ID when he asked?

For one reason, I videotaped the confrontation because it is my right to do so. There needs to be no other explanation in my opinion. A quick search of Google News for the word “taser” will show you why citizen journalism is more important now than ever before.

So why not show the ID? Again, it boils down to the law and my rights. California does not have any stop and identify laws, and as I was not under suspicion of committing a crime.

Could the officer been a hard ass and tried to manipulate the situation. Of course. But in this case, I think he realized that I was fully aware of my rights, and that I was the type of person who wouldn’t simply shirk away were someone to try to take them away, especially not through threat or intimidation.

Yes, I have the video, but out of respect of my fellow traveler, I’ve decided not to post it.

Update: Actually, it turns out that in California, you are not even required to give your name. Had I known that, I probably would have only offered my name and not my address, but that would have most likely lead to some sort of false charge or arrest, so YMMV.