A Denver man uploaded a video to YouTube on May 28 of an interaction he had with Denver police where he was arrested for sitting outside a library using the library’s wifi.
Anthony Clark said he frequently sits outside the library with his laptop during after-hours to communicate with friends and other hip hop musicians while creating his own music.
The video starts off with Corporal John Albergotti identifying himself and asking Clark for his identification. But Clark refuses, telling the officer he knows his rights.
But the officer then asks Clark if he knows the state’s “stop and ID” law, insinuating that he was wrong about knowing his rights.
However, he was not wrong because the law states that citizens are only required to identify themselves to police if the “officer reasonably suspects you are committing, have committed or are about to commit a crime,” according to the ACLU of Colorado.
After realizing the officer was set on violating his rights, Clark asks Albergotti to please call a commanding officer.
“I fear that you’re trying to get something of me when there are other crimes you should be getting to,” Clark tells the cop.
“People are being raped, being murdered, being drugged, overdosing out there, and you’re not tending to that more important stuff.”
But Albergotti advises him to go file a complaint at “2100 South Clay Street,” which is the District 4 Police Station for the Denver Police Department.
They go back and forth for several minutes with Albergotti never explaining exactly what crime did he suspected Clark of committing and Clark continuing to ask for a commanding officer.
The confrontation escalates once more cops arrive with the new officers telling Clark they legally have the right to ask.
“Reasonable suspicion,” one of the new cop says. “You’re behind a closed business. We can ask for your name, your birthdate and a reasonable explanation for your actions.”
But Clark is insistent that sitting outside a public library, even if it is behind the library in what appears to be a publicly accessible alleyway, is not a crime, so he refuses to identify himself.
“Let me ask you this, do you want to go to jail for resisting?” Albergotti asks.
Clark states that he is not resisting but the video ends with the sound of handcuffs.
Photography Is Not A Crime reached out to Clark to confirm if he was arrested and he confirmed he was arrested.
Last month, a California man who was jailed for refusing to identify himself while sitting in the back seat of a car that had been pulled over was awarded a $60,000 settlement.
Watch an edited, shortened video above or the unedited, original version below.
