A smug-looking douchebag of a cop who wears his sunglasses behind his head claimed a man recording him in public was carrying a concealed weapon after spotting a pocket knife legally attached to his belt.
This was after the cop’s partner tried to grab the man’s phone, but was unable to snatch it out of his hand.
More cops arrived, including one dressed like GI Joe, who accused the man of “trying to start a confrontation.”
The incident took place in Tracy, California Friday as Troy Stevenson decided to record a training exercise taking place on a side of a busy street.
The cops apparently believed they had an expectation of privacy as they played their war games in full view of the public.
They also believed they had the right to demand the man’s identification, even though he was not breaking the law.
In fact, the whole spiel about the concealed weapon was just that as [__California law permits__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/california-knife-laws.html) folding knives to be carried completely concealed.
The cops were able to snatch his wallet out of his hand anyway as they aggressively patted him down. One of the cops snuck it off to a vehicle where he apparently rummaged through it to pull out Stevenson’s identification.
They eventually handed it back to him along with his knife, giving him the old, “have a nice day” that cops tell you when they no longer want you around.
According to Stevenson’s Youtube description:
> On Friday Oct. 17th I saw what appeared to be a police swat team raid in Tracy, Ca. I just so happened to live behind the house that was being raided when I was a kid 15 years ago. Our landlord from when we lived there owned and lived in the house that was being raided.I dont know if he still does or not, but he was a friend of my Aunts. So I had a particular interest to film what was going on.
> I realized pretty quickly it was a training raid while I was across the street filming. After a few minutes of being there, a plain clothed officer approaches me from behind, does not identify himself and begins to question me about who I was and what I was doing out here. I let him know that I was simply filming and that I was also going to record our conversation. He stated that I was not allowed to do so, but thankfully I started recording anyways.
> A few seconds into our conversation, he tries to grab my phone out of my hand. I put my right hand up in the air while keeping a firm grip on my phone. A short struggle followed and this is when my recording was stopped. His partner came up midstruggle and thats when he let go of my phone. They continued to ask me for my ID and ask what I was doing here while I was trying to start recording again. Thats when the second part of the video starts.
> I continue to tell them I dont believe I am doing anything wrong. And let them know I dont feel I have to ID myself since I have done nothing wrong. Thats when one of them sees my pocket knife clipped to my pocket. At this point I tell him he can actually take that if he likes, purely for my safety. I move my hip forward and voluntarily allow him to take my legally carried and partially concealed pocketknife. Then all of a sudden the “Concealed Weapon” is the cause for the investigation and my detention.
> Let me be clear here. As you can see at the end when he gives it back to me, it is a
> FOLDING POCKET KNIFE IN A CLOSED POSITION, WHICH IS 100% LEGAL TO FULLY CONCEAL IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
> The rest you can watch for yourself.
> Sorry for the shakey video. I was pretty nervous.
