Man Arrested for Filming Police Wins Lawsuit

In 2021, independent journalist Justin Pulliam was arrested while filming a police encounter. Justin was arrested, handcuffed, and jailed for asking a police officer to explain why he was kicking Justin off the scene. That arrest came months after the sheriff personally kicked Justin out of a press conference claiming Justin was, quote, not media for using YouTube to report. But the government cannot choose who reports the news

and how they do it. So Justin teamed up with IJ to file a First Amendment lawsuit in federal court. And last week we won. A US District Court judge ruled in favor of Justin following a trial last summer.

Judge George Hanks said that Justin's arrest was motivated by the lieutenant's hostility towards Justin's speech and that the arrest was, in quote, retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights and to discourage this speech based on its content. Justin's First Amendment victory sends a powerful message.

Filming the police is free speech, and law enforcement cannot arrest you for vague crimes Filming the police is free speech, and law enforcement cannot arrest you for vague crimes like interfering with public duties as an excuse for silencing people and their views.