A New York State police officer threatened to file criminal charges against a man for video recording him during a traffic stop.
“How about if I see you post this on Youtube, I’ll find a way for the D.A.s office to arrest you,” said the trooper, whose name is Rosenblatt, according to the Youtube video posted Sunday.
“Is it illegal to record police officers?” asks John Houghtaling
“When I tell you to put the phone down and you disregard what I’m telling you, yes, it is,” Rosenblatt responds.
“So am I being detained for recording?”
“Put the phone down.”
“Is it illegal to record officers,” Houghtaling asks.
“Give me your license and registration,” the cop says.
Houghtaling complies with this request, but continues recording.
The cop tells him he is being pulled over for having a loud exhaust pipe but continues to order him to “get the phone out of my face.”
The video ends with the cop walking back to his car for something, telling Houghtaling he’ll be right back.
Houghtaling apparently has a habit of recording his every interaction with police, even going into the police department to record, judging by a comment from the cop, but this is his first video posted on that particular Youtube channel.
This is how he described it on Youtube:
The real reason for me being pulled over was the fact that I’ve been known by their organization to film all of my interactions with police.
