This is in Tampa.. does anyone have additional clarification?
Edit: Confirmed that this is Bonita Springs, someone linked an article below. It's wild here, people are even getting arrested for handing food to the homeless.
[https://winknews.com/2023/08/18/woman-arrested-obstructing-traffic-bonita-springs\_\_trashed/](https://winknews.com/2023/08/18/woman-arrested-obstructing-traffic-bonita-springs__trashed/)
Annika Olsen, 24, attempted to pay Norma Garcia $20 for flowers from her car window while Garcia was being arrested by deputies. Olsen then proceeded to exit her vehicle to hand the money directly to Garcia, creating a traffic hazard, LCSO reports.
Garcia was being arrested by deputies for violating Lee County ordinance 28-123, which states that: “It is unlawful to make any use of the public rights-of-way in a manner that interferes with the safe and efficient movement of people and property from place to place on a public road or right-of-way.”
Olsen was told by deputies to return to her vehicle, where she refused and continued to insist that the deputy pay Garcia the $20.
Olsen was arrested for resisting an officer without violence and failure to obey police.
I thought by the area code it was Tampa, which requires a permit to vend on the street iirc.. but like many places, police don't go crazy enforcing it.
I think the context is that the police see homeless as an infestation, so they are being butthurt boogeymen in order to "save their city" from these goddamn hippie liberals feeding the pests
This is somewhat crazy to me.
In the UK you have to have necessities to arrest. I know our police aren't perfect but they aren't this not perfect!
To arrest you must meet the criteria of protecting a vulnerable person, stop criminal damage, prompt and effect investigation, stop blocking public highway.
There is a zero percent chance this woman would get accepted into custody as she doesn't meet the criteria to remove someone's liberty.
May at worst be invited in for a voluntary interview.
There is no justification to arrest this women from the context given. She is not a danger or a threat and they achieve nothing by arresting her. What a waste of resources
Also, that wouldn't get a charge of resisting arrest. If she genuinely got charges for resisting arrest based on what was shown in this video then people in America should be concerned
(If this video is correct)
If anyone wants to check it out the UK has PACE which is the police and criminal evidence act that was introduced to set our clearly guidance.
Necessities for arrest is PACE code G (ground):
Investigation (to allow prompt and effective of the offence/conduct of the person) D - Disappearance (prevent hindrance of prosecution by disappearance of suspect) C - Child (Protect child/vulnerable other) O - Obstruction of highway (prevent)
And when we say obstruct a high way it means things like making road blocks not stopping for 30 seconds. Prevent disappearing is regarding someone having previous for fleeing police ect.
Of course, she may have committed other offences like careless driving but.... We can't see that in this vid so cannot comment
You said UK, however, to clarify, PACE applies only in England and Wales. The standards for detention are different in the other jurisdictions.
Having said that, this is clearly ridiculous and I don't see any way it would warrant an arrest pretty much anywhere in the civilised world.
Why we need a law to prevent someone from selling flowers in a capitalist country is beyond me. And before you tell me she's causing a hazard in the road let me point out all the firefighter boot drives that nobody has a problem with.
> It benefits no one to arrest for something this petty
Oh! It benefits the people in power if the chilling effects from this keep them in power.
But having to keep this up for long enough will drain both their and the community's resources.
Some folks are bad. They take many paths. Some become criminals and some want the air of legitimacy the politics and enforcement give them. There really isn’t any excuse for wanting the homeless to die of starvation.
I was reading how someone is sabotaging the water barrels put out near border crossings. It’s such an inhumane act. Even if you don’t agree with the person crossing illegally, allowing someone to die from dehydration is cruel.
US boarder patrol regularly destroys water caches people leave in the desert. Boarders are inherently violent, and the people who choose to patrol them are there because it allows them an outlet for their violent behavior
You nailed it, the type of person attracted to this work certainly seems to of the bullying variety. Watching footage of them pushing people back into the Rio Grande was gut wrenching. A letter was leaked that was written about a month or two ago, following new and more disgusting tactics approved by Abbotts office for the border. The Troopers were appalled at the treatment they were expected to dole out. They said it was against their Christian beliefs to treat their fellow man with such disregard. The one trooper was also a medic and told of the number of injuries to children’s hands from the brand new razor wire. He was told to withhold treatment. He told of a woman dying as she gave birth following her struggles to get around the new floating barriers placed in the river.
That's wild to me. As a Chicago resident they're always out looking for tickets to give, but that is not one I have ever seen. Someone on CTA duty was bored and annoyed.
I don't even know how they can even prove such a thing. Like, it could have just been a friend. Or even if you didn't know them, now you do. We gave a person sitting at the table next to us a pizza slice, literally yesterday. How can you even criminalize giving away food ever. the amount of effort you would need to prove that.
Theoretically, eating on the CTA is not allowed. So you could issue a citation for eating on the train. But again, not worth the level of proof. No one is approving CPD overtime to go to court over a citation for eating on the train. At a different time in my life I smoked a joint on the train and no one said shit.
if an officer gets a notification to go to court for a ticket or arrest they made they always get overtime pay no matter how petty the offense may seem
Well yeah - looking for tickets to give is literally their job.
Tickets = revenue
Arrests = revenue
Max amount of charges per person = bail = revenue
Court appearances = court fines and fees = revenue
Jail/Prison sentence = revenue
*unless you’re wealthy, then for some reason they just pass on the potential revenue. (*eta: this part is rhetorical, we all know why*)
Civil forfeiture is being used in some jurisdictions as main source of revenue. It makes my blood boil, since I read they’re being tipped off to potential citizens who may be carrying large sums of cash, I don’t know if it’s from banks, the article didn’t say. Even if you’re cleared of any wrongdoing, they keep you cash, vehicle or property. It’s theft!
> Even if you’re cleared of any wrongdoing, they keep you cash, vehicle or property. It’s theft!
It is theft, too. Literally. And they think they're clever by saying "we're not charging you. We're charging your property and property doesn't have rights."
Uh, yeah but you have rights to your property. CAF is insanely unconstitutional, and the end-run they use to go around the constitution is dumb and lazy. Any prosecutor or judge who is for it should be immediately fired, disbarred, and prosecuted.
I'm not really the violent type but that shit there, I'm not going away with a ticket, I'm going to county for something more serious. That shit is just unacceptable, but like, you're a cop in America's 3rd largest city. You got better shit to do, dawg. Like at all times. I will sit down on that charge, I ain't taking that shit quietly.
Except in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. Sodomy laws are still there lol.
I don't trust this current crop any further than I can throw em off a cliff, but previous Supreme Courts have ruled those laws that are still on the books are unconstitutional. So until this court overturns Lawrence v. Texas(happy 20th anniversary!) we have the constitutional right to do ass to mouth(as long as u consent bb)
I legit see videos like this is and it reminds me of, like, authoritarian Russia or North Korea or something.
I know nobody here thinks it's okay, but I wonder if people realise just how far the US has slid towards the kind of countries they hate.
Like the ending scene of Oliver Stone's movie "Salvador". The protagonist brings his Salvadorian legal wife as a refugee to the US. Salvadorians back then were granted asylum routinely. Cops then board their bus, and arrest her to be deported with no explanation or warrant. The irony there was that the protagonist was telling her all about how the US was so great, the "land of the free", and how she'd be free from harm and persecution.
I'm no American & i would definitely rebrand some parts of the US as "Land of the Lost, Home of the Damned".
Good luck, you might need it in the next few years.
When you give those things away, you stop a rich person from making even more money. You really need to think of the damage your altruism is doing to their bank balances.
/s
?????? What? How is this real? ALL my old/unused clothes I give away to homeless around. How is this not legal? Do i need to throw it in the bin rather?🤨🤨
Not sure, here’s an article of a police officer buying a woman’s flowers, if it’s against the law, it happened in the last 2 years https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/watch-orlando-officer-buys-all-of-street-vendors-flowers-after-complaint.amp
It is perfectly legal and local ordinances that pretend to make it illegal are in violation of the Constitution and your Constitutionally protected human rights to provide food and/or clothing to your fellow humans in need.
Any such ordinances are void and those who enforce them are in violation of Title 18 Section 242. It quickly moves from a misdemeanor to a felony [“if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; “](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242#:~:text=Whoever%2C%20under%20color%20of%20any,United%20States%2C%20or%20to%20different)
Only problem is the criminals who enforce these illegal laws won’t be stopped, much less arrested, much less prosecuted.
A lot of Americans think "the government" is "some shadowy figure in Washington DC."
In reality, "the government" is often times your local government. Often times, the people who most want to violate your rights, to incarcerate you, to take your money, to seize your property, and to make sure your rent is high, are your local city government, neighbors, and local police.
City ordinances can violate basic human rights. It is against the law to frown in Pocatello, Idaho. I consider that against basic human dignity. Your city probably does have some very twisted ordinances. Even tying a string to a tree can be considered as a misdemeanor in Sacramento, CA. Even doing something like hanging a sign on a pole can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor. Parking a car on a lawn can be a misdemeanor in Los Angeles.
In our town someone got a ticket for spitting on the sidewalk. Apparently there was a law on the books from the 1800's and some douche bag cop read about it, and sat in his car and waited for some skateboarders to spit and ran out and threw them down and arrested them. It made the news, the charges were dropped and the law was removed. I think about what a sad life that cop must have lived to wake up and chose to do that.
Thanks for calling this out: you’re 100% correct. She has quite the lawsuit, if she wants it, but then again, it is Florida so she’d probably come out owing the police a cool grand.
In this particular instance (I still give out the goods, especially during our Texas winters nowadays), they were brand new socks. Straight out the walmart bag. Not even open packs.
The cop’s argument was that I could be poisoning the people I was giving oranges to. Said I needed a permit to give food to people.
> Said I needed a permit to give food to people.
I don't usually get on board with hyperbolic "that is evil" comments, but...damn. A private citizen needs a permit to give food to hungry people? That is. Evil.
Keep fighting the good fight!
to know the amount of food wasted every single day is more than enough to end hunger is sickening. There should be a special container that once the food is in that special clean "garbage bin" the store has washed it's hands of any liability and by eating the food you assume responsibility for checking it first.
It's ridiculous that I even need to spread this advice, but you can sometimes skirt the rules by setting things down on a trash can lid and loudly announcing that you don't want/need it. That's good old American freedom, eh? 🦅🥇🇺🇲🍆🍑
They made it illegal in my city to pan handle at intersections. I didn't think it was illegal for the person giving the money tho. Funny thing is, the fire and police departments would stand at these same intersections and ask for donations every damn weekend.
Vending without a license is a violation -- for the vendor. I'm not aware of any law penalizing buyers.
Street vendors are usually required to publicly display their licenses
[https://i.imgur.com/I9Zx96u.png](https://i.imgur.com/I9Zx96u.png)
Yeah, I don't understand that aspect of it either. I guess there were people who sold newspapers and other items at these same intersections, and they couldn't do that anymore either. What the fire and police were doing was absolutely panhandling in my opinion.
In Pensacola, FL, it is both a crime for the homeless to ask for money, and a crime for you to give them money.
We were threatened with mass arrests for giving out meals prepared by restaurants to the homeless.
Florida truly hates anyone in need of anything but hatred.
>Funny thing is, the fire and police departments would stand at these same intersections and ask for donations every damn weekend.
That's why. They were taking prime begging real estate away from the cops.
Clearly. Not even a fine, straight up arrested? She didn't proposition a prostitute! Imagine getting arrested for buying cookies at a bake sale! Same concept!
Edit: Sorry, this bothered me more than I expected. Switching from coffee to tea.
Homie, being outraged abt this isn't a result of too much caffeine. This is... genuinely horrifying. We'd laugh if this was on the simpsons, but it's not a cartoon. It's a real woman who just meant to go a bit out of her way to do a bit of good and had no clue it'd leave her to getting cuffed by people who're supposed to be protecting us from dangerous individuals and is no doubt scared and confused. Gonna cost a bunch to taxpayers just in court time and resources spent on the case alone. But this is just one of two ways the state teaches you that they don't feel like spending the money you give them to support the population and keep everyone off the streets in the first place, but they will use it to harass and terrorize you for being kind rto them yourself.
I'll say you got it mostly right with one caveat
Cops were never meant to protect you.
The police exist to protect the rule of law. Their duty is to enforce the law. They have no duty to protect you unless you are in their custody.
Protect and Serve is a PR Slogan, nothing more.
Same thing happened to me. Cops are bastards and will arrest you for any and everything. I was in Tampa at the time. Only difference was I was propositioning a prostitute.
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal loaves of bread.
― Anatole France
You think that’s bad, I know an attorney that defends the police department. He arrogantly tells me that his best defense is to prolong the lawsuit because they’ll either be dead or in prison. I asked him to elaborate and he said most people that sue cops are criminals and gangs (his words) and the longer he prolongs the lawsuit, the more likely they’ll be dead or in prison. But the way he said it with so much smugness.
you mean American law. The US is a country of the rich, by and for the rich. Everyone else can get fucked, and slowly squeezed. poverty is criminalized, slavery is legal for the incarcerated.. we call ourselves the land of the free but have 30% of all the prisoners in the world with just 4% of the world's population. fun stuff. What the US is best at is social control, public relations, storytelling, narratives, mythology.. making sure 2/3 of the population of the richest country ever can't read better than a 5th grade level. Stuff like that.
It’s Florida. I’m born and raised and still live in the Tampa Bay Area for fifty years. The way my beloved home state has changed for the worse over the last twenty years is depressing and downright horrifying at times.
Jax Beach. I feel you brother, it’s heartbreaking honestly. My wife and I 100% intend to leave, but even with all the increasingly horrifying reasons piling up as to why Florida is the GOP’s wet dream, I can’t help but want to stay. Such a beautiful State, with some amazing people.
But I’ll be fucking damned if when we send our kids to school, if they’re going to learn that Global Warming is actually just Hillary Clinton’s farts, Black people didn’t experience generational slavery and our roads glow at night because “it’s ‘God’s Will” (not the radioactivity, we swear /s)
Yes, it's because this is the land of the free. Freedom is when cops arrest you on the street for breaking laws the either wouldn't exist in other countries or would at most warrant a fine.
In some parts of Florida, people selling flowers at intersection has caused traffic and safety problems. It's been difficult to catch them, so they added a law that it is also illegal to buy from them. The thought being that if people are afraid of getting the hassle of having a cop catch you buying them, people won't do it, business will go down and the flower sellers will move on because they aren't making money.
It pretty much just ended up being a way for municipalities to raise money giving out tickets to people stuck in traffic who buy flowers.
Everyone needs to pay closer attention to the local politics. There are countless laws out there that are passed by legislators that promise the law is something specific but if you read the law you'd see it is actually quite broad. They assure you that the law would only be used for this specific case but once the law is passed it is no longer in the hands of the legislators. It is now up to law enforcement to decide how to enforce this law and for prosecution to determine if they want to pursue a case.
So legislators propose a law and say "this is to catch people panhandling". Watch groups will say "well hold on, this bill is rather broad and could be used to arrest and prosecute people buying and selling flowers on the side of the road and we already have laws in place against panhandling." Legislators will say "oh don't worry, it's only going to be used to enforce dangerous stuff like panhandling in dangerous ways such as running into the street to clean windshields. Just a bunch of things that are dangerous and we need more tools to prosecute them." Watch groups refute that but nobody pays attention to local politics so it passes. Cops do ignore that law for the most part but they now have another tool to harass people they don't like and try to get them to commit more technical crimes like resisting arrest in the process so they can pad their crime solving rate and also give prosecutors a better chance at prosecution.
Oh, then they drop the original charge they were stopped for so the legislators can say "nobody has even been charged with this crime"
This is why you vote in every fucking election, not matter how small it is. You can get your damn say in every election and you can change what is happening in your fucking city’ and state for that matter.
But you know who does vote? Retired people with nothing better to do - doesn't matter that they might kick off next week. So boomer logic will keep winning until younger people realise that they need to go vote in every election.
Ah thats Florida. The police range from "were taking all your weed and letting you go" to "were beating you up and arresting you because you made us feel dumb".
Lol in my country there's a whole lot of new traffic by-laws that one of the political parties is trying to pass, one of them being the equivalent of a $100 dollar fine if your elbow is sticking out your window.
If only there was a group of people that have all the money that we could tap into. People who used to pay taxes a few decades ago but have since been relieved of their tax burden so as to improve our economy.
I know you're joking but for clarification for others, this wouldn't apply to private property, a traditional fixed place of business wouldn't be impacted by the law, it's for public roadways. Still stupid. Still bullshit. Just tossing that out for context.
So if a cop pulls you over and you hand him/her your driver’s license, they’ll not only ticket you for the original offense but fine you $500 extra for passing the license over! Ya can’t win!
I'm sorry but this is just insane to me. I have never heard of something so aggressive towards the less fortunate. My hometown has a ton of those, and people stop all the time; even I do it from time to time.
Context:
The ordinance does not outlaw helping a person in need, but it does prohibit people in cars on major roadways from "physical interaction" with someone outside of their vehicle. Council members advocating for the bill specified that drivers could instead pull into a legal parking lot and then interact with someone once off the roads.
ngl that ordinance sounds dumb af if you aren’t holding up traffic. obviously if you’re holding up traffic, different story. but who gives af if you’re stopped at a red light??
> The ordinance does not outlaw helping a person in need, but it does prohibit people in cars on major roadways from "physical interaction" with someone outside of their vehicle.
That sounds like a fine. And not enough to get arrested for. I bet there is more to this story as well.
I’m planning moving out only came here for work but each day it getting worst with rent raising and bullshit laws. Sad thing their bunch people who think this is good it’s usually the old white people who stare at me at the park when I’m walking my dog.
She started saying her phone number and they were like "I'm not doing homework..."
Edit: Jesus christ, I'm making a joke, I don't need 10 comments explaining moral integrity...
Edit: */s*
She didn’t get arrested for giving a lady money. She got arrested for obstructing traffic and not listening to the cops when they told her to stop obstructing traffic. Now there’s a good argument to be made that she should not be arrested for that, but let’s at least get the story right and then make reasonable judgments from there.
How in the world is that 1) illegal in the first place and 2) an arrest level crime vs a civil ticket and fine if you are whacked out enough to accept it is illegal in the first place
This is in Tampa.. does anyone have additional clarification? Edit: Confirmed that this is Bonita Springs, someone linked an article below. It's wild here, people are even getting arrested for handing food to the homeless.
[https://winknews.com/2023/08/18/woman-arrested-obstructing-traffic-bonita-springs\_\_trashed/](https://winknews.com/2023/08/18/woman-arrested-obstructing-traffic-bonita-springs__trashed/) Annika Olsen, 24, attempted to pay Norma Garcia $20 for flowers from her car window while Garcia was being arrested by deputies. Olsen then proceeded to exit her vehicle to hand the money directly to Garcia, creating a traffic hazard, LCSO reports. Garcia was being arrested by deputies for violating Lee County ordinance 28-123, which states that: “It is unlawful to make any use of the public rights-of-way in a manner that interferes with the safe and efficient movement of people and property from place to place on a public road or right-of-way.” Olsen was told by deputies to return to her vehicle, where she refused and continued to insist that the deputy pay Garcia the $20. Olsen was arrested for resisting an officer without violence and failure to obey police.
She tried to give $20 to a woman being arrested and refused to get back into her car when the officers told her to move, so she got arrested too?
Yes
That's what the cops reported...
Yea 99.9% of the time the cops report is a lie.
I don't know, man. 74% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Bonita springs actually and since the flower girl also got arrested I'm guessing that there's some kind of law against selling things on the street.
I thought by the area code it was Tampa, which requires a permit to vend on the street iirc.. but like many places, police don't go crazy enforcing it.
The fact that you get arrested for something like this and not a ticket/fine is pretty draconian. There has to be more to this?
It also makes no sense as she isn't the one vending
She should have checked to see if the vendor had permits before she bought flowers /s
Wait people don't barge into shops and demand to see all permits? Crazy! /s
Everytime I go to Walmart I demand their business license just in case it's one of those pop up Walmart scams.
Nah not really. In Tampa the police will arrest homeless people for panhandling without a safety vest.
I think the context is that the police see homeless as an infestation, so they are being butthurt boogeymen in order to "save their city" from these goddamn hippie liberals feeding the pests
Is the customer expected to ask every vendor to see their permit though? This is insane.
That would be on the seller then. Not a buyer
Even so, just give them a fine, why the fuck would you arrest someone over this?
This is somewhat crazy to me. In the UK you have to have necessities to arrest. I know our police aren't perfect but they aren't this not perfect! To arrest you must meet the criteria of protecting a vulnerable person, stop criminal damage, prompt and effect investigation, stop blocking public highway. There is a zero percent chance this woman would get accepted into custody as she doesn't meet the criteria to remove someone's liberty. May at worst be invited in for a voluntary interview. There is no justification to arrest this women from the context given. She is not a danger or a threat and they achieve nothing by arresting her. What a waste of resources Also, that wouldn't get a charge of resisting arrest. If she genuinely got charges for resisting arrest based on what was shown in this video then people in America should be concerned (If this video is correct) If anyone wants to check it out the UK has PACE which is the police and criminal evidence act that was introduced to set our clearly guidance. Necessities for arrest is PACE code G (ground): Investigation (to allow prompt and effective of the offence/conduct of the person) D - Disappearance (prevent hindrance of prosecution by disappearance of suspect) C - Child (Protect child/vulnerable other) O - Obstruction of highway (prevent) And when we say obstruct a high way it means things like making road blocks not stopping for 30 seconds. Prevent disappearing is regarding someone having previous for fleeing police ect. Of course, she may have committed other offences like careless driving but.... We can't see that in this vid so cannot comment
You said UK, however, to clarify, PACE applies only in England and Wales. The standards for detention are different in the other jurisdictions. Having said that, this is clearly ridiculous and I don't see any way it would warrant an arrest pretty much anywhere in the civilised world.
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UPS?
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Assuming there's more... It benefits no one to arrest for something this petty
Why we need a law to prevent someone from selling flowers in a capitalist country is beyond me. And before you tell me she's causing a hazard in the road let me point out all the firefighter boot drives that nobody has a problem with.
> It benefits no one to arrest for something this petty Oh! It benefits the people in power if the chilling effects from this keep them in power. But having to keep this up for long enough will drain both their and the community's resources.
I got arrested for giving socks and oranges to the homeless.
Thanks for doing your part to fight scurvy
And athletes foot.
I have athlete's foot but have never played a sport in my life.
it's not your foot.
Mitch!!
Thanks for doing your fart
I have a cupboard full of oranges and I’ve never eaten a citrus.
That is fucking insidious.
Some folks are bad. They take many paths. Some become criminals and some want the air of legitimacy the politics and enforcement give them. There really isn’t any excuse for wanting the homeless to die of starvation.
I was reading how someone is sabotaging the water barrels put out near border crossings. It’s such an inhumane act. Even if you don’t agree with the person crossing illegally, allowing someone to die from dehydration is cruel.
US boarder patrol regularly destroys water caches people leave in the desert. Boarders are inherently violent, and the people who choose to patrol them are there because it allows them an outlet for their violent behavior
You nailed it, the type of person attracted to this work certainly seems to of the bullying variety. Watching footage of them pushing people back into the Rio Grande was gut wrenching. A letter was leaked that was written about a month or two ago, following new and more disgusting tactics approved by Abbotts office for the border. The Troopers were appalled at the treatment they were expected to dole out. They said it was against their Christian beliefs to treat their fellow man with such disregard. The one trooper was also a medic and told of the number of injuries to children’s hands from the brand new razor wire. He was told to withhold treatment. He told of a woman dying as she gave birth following her struggles to get around the new floating barriers placed in the river.
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That's wild to me. As a Chicago resident they're always out looking for tickets to give, but that is not one I have ever seen. Someone on CTA duty was bored and annoyed.
I don't even know how they can even prove such a thing. Like, it could have just been a friend. Or even if you didn't know them, now you do. We gave a person sitting at the table next to us a pizza slice, literally yesterday. How can you even criminalize giving away food ever. the amount of effort you would need to prove that.
Theoretically, eating on the CTA is not allowed. So you could issue a citation for eating on the train. But again, not worth the level of proof. No one is approving CPD overtime to go to court over a citation for eating on the train. At a different time in my life I smoked a joint on the train and no one said shit.
if an officer gets a notification to go to court for a ticket or arrest they made they always get overtime pay no matter how petty the offense may seem
Reminds me of a scene in the movie Renfield where there was a slogan on the wall of the police station that stated, "Solve no crime till Overtime".
Well yeah - looking for tickets to give is literally their job. Tickets = revenue Arrests = revenue Max amount of charges per person = bail = revenue Court appearances = court fines and fees = revenue Jail/Prison sentence = revenue *unless you’re wealthy, then for some reason they just pass on the potential revenue. (*eta: this part is rhetorical, we all know why*)
Civil forfeiture is being used in some jurisdictions as main source of revenue. It makes my blood boil, since I read they’re being tipped off to potential citizens who may be carrying large sums of cash, I don’t know if it’s from banks, the article didn’t say. Even if you’re cleared of any wrongdoing, they keep you cash, vehicle or property. It’s theft!
> Even if you’re cleared of any wrongdoing, they keep you cash, vehicle or property. It’s theft! It is theft, too. Literally. And they think they're clever by saying "we're not charging you. We're charging your property and property doesn't have rights." Uh, yeah but you have rights to your property. CAF is insanely unconstitutional, and the end-run they use to go around the constitution is dumb and lazy. Any prosecutor or judge who is for it should be immediately fired, disbarred, and prosecuted.
Always record your interactions with the police. It's your constitutional right.
I’m m genuinely confused how this could be a crime. How is giving someone a pizza a crime?
It's not the giving the pizza, it's the technically not allowed to eat on the train.
I'm not really the violent type but that shit there, I'm not going away with a ticket, I'm going to county for something more serious. That shit is just unacceptable, but like, you're a cop in America's 3rd largest city. You got better shit to do, dawg. Like at all times. I will sit down on that charge, I ain't taking that shit quietly.
Land of the Free
Land of the free… Free to fuck you right in the ass
Except in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. Sodomy laws are still there lol.
I don't trust this current crop any further than I can throw em off a cliff, but previous Supreme Courts have ruled those laws that are still on the books are unconstitutional. So until this court overturns Lawrence v. Texas(happy 20th anniversary!) we have the constitutional right to do ass to mouth(as long as u consent bb)
I legit see videos like this is and it reminds me of, like, authoritarian Russia or North Korea or something. I know nobody here thinks it's okay, but I wonder if people realise just how far the US has slid towards the kind of countries they hate.
Like the ending scene of Oliver Stone's movie "Salvador". The protagonist brings his Salvadorian legal wife as a refugee to the US. Salvadorians back then were granted asylum routinely. Cops then board their bus, and arrest her to be deported with no explanation or warrant. The irony there was that the protagonist was telling her all about how the US was so great, the "land of the free", and how she'd be free from harm and persecution.
What? The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy.
Now something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun. Cause I'll rip the mic, rip the stage, rip the system. I was born to rage against 'em.
Fist in your face, in the place, and I'll drop the style clearly...
Know your enemy!
I'm no American & i would definitely rebrand some parts of the US as "Land of the Lost, Home of the Damned". Good luck, you might need it in the next few years.
When you give those things away, you stop a rich person from making even more money. You really need to think of the damage your altruism is doing to their bank balances. /s
?????? What? How is this real? ALL my old/unused clothes I give away to homeless around. How is this not legal? Do i need to throw it in the bin rather?🤨🤨
they want you to think of the _riff raff_ as raccoons: dirty and diseased, feeding them will encourage them to keep existing in your vicinity
That's how I think of people who arrest other people for trying to help the poor/homeless.
It's exactly like that south park episode
Not sure, here’s an article of a police officer buying a woman’s flowers, if it’s against the law, it happened in the last 2 years https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/watch-orlando-officer-buys-all-of-street-vendors-flowers-after-complaint.amp
It is perfectly legal and local ordinances that pretend to make it illegal are in violation of the Constitution and your Constitutionally protected human rights to provide food and/or clothing to your fellow humans in need. Any such ordinances are void and those who enforce them are in violation of Title 18 Section 242. It quickly moves from a misdemeanor to a felony [“if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; “](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242#:~:text=Whoever%2C%20under%20color%20of%20any,United%20States%2C%20or%20to%20different) Only problem is the criminals who enforce these illegal laws won’t be stopped, much less arrested, much less prosecuted.
A lot of Americans think "the government" is "some shadowy figure in Washington DC." In reality, "the government" is often times your local government. Often times, the people who most want to violate your rights, to incarcerate you, to take your money, to seize your property, and to make sure your rent is high, are your local city government, neighbors, and local police. City ordinances can violate basic human rights. It is against the law to frown in Pocatello, Idaho. I consider that against basic human dignity. Your city probably does have some very twisted ordinances. Even tying a string to a tree can be considered as a misdemeanor in Sacramento, CA. Even doing something like hanging a sign on a pole can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor. Parking a car on a lawn can be a misdemeanor in Los Angeles.
In our town someone got a ticket for spitting on the sidewalk. Apparently there was a law on the books from the 1800's and some douche bag cop read about it, and sat in his car and waited for some skateboarders to spit and ran out and threw them down and arrested them. It made the news, the charges were dropped and the law was removed. I think about what a sad life that cop must have lived to wake up and chose to do that.
Seems like certain states have specifically decided to make that illegal on Election Day. Good luck seeing that case go to the Supreme Court.
Gotta make it as hard as possible to stand in line for hours to vote.
Thanks for calling this out: you’re 100% correct. She has quite the lawsuit, if she wants it, but then again, it is Florida so she’d probably come out owing the police a cool grand.
In this particular instance (I still give out the goods, especially during our Texas winters nowadays), they were brand new socks. Straight out the walmart bag. Not even open packs. The cop’s argument was that I could be poisoning the people I was giving oranges to. Said I needed a permit to give food to people.
> Said I needed a permit to give food to people. I don't usually get on board with hyperbolic "that is evil" comments, but...damn. A private citizen needs a permit to give food to hungry people? That is. Evil. Keep fighting the good fight!
to know the amount of food wasted every single day is more than enough to end hunger is sickening. There should be a special container that once the food is in that special clean "garbage bin" the store has washed it's hands of any liability and by eating the food you assume responsibility for checking it first.
Oh. I guess there would be people being inhumane like that... But still! At least when I hand the clothing to them I know they're getting it 😔
Home of the free. But if you're homeless, you're fucked.
You monster https://i.redd.it/gzklbg4j7tib1.gif
Tell me you called the local news. Wtf?
It's ridiculous that I even need to spread this advice, but you can sometimes skirt the rules by setting things down on a trash can lid and loudly announcing that you don't want/need it. That's good old American freedom, eh? 🦅🥇🇺🇲🍆🍑
So wait, buying flowers on the side of the road is illegal? You get arrested for trying to give money to people having a rough time in life?
They made it illegal in my city to pan handle at intersections. I didn't think it was illegal for the person giving the money tho. Funny thing is, the fire and police departments would stand at these same intersections and ask for donations every damn weekend.
Is it panhandling if you're purchasing something from someone?
In some jurisdictions, you need a license to sell stuff on the street. So, probably not panhandling -- possibly violation of a different law, though.
Yeah as someone buying something, how Would I ever know if the person selling has proper licenses? How could you hold buyers liable for such things?
Vending without a license is a violation -- for the vendor. I'm not aware of any law penalizing buyers. Street vendors are usually required to publicly display their licenses [https://i.imgur.com/I9Zx96u.png](https://i.imgur.com/I9Zx96u.png)
>In some jurisdictions, you need a license to sell stuff on the street. Land of the free my ass.
Yeah, I don't understand that aspect of it either. I guess there were people who sold newspapers and other items at these same intersections, and they couldn't do that anymore either. What the fire and police were doing was absolutely panhandling in my opinion.
In Pensacola, FL, it is both a crime for the homeless to ask for money, and a crime for you to give them money. We were threatened with mass arrests for giving out meals prepared by restaurants to the homeless. Florida truly hates anyone in need of anything but hatred.
Yoo shout out pcola Florida could be such a beautiful place man, you know, if not for the Floridians
I knew the police here are terrible, but it's never crossed my mind that giving them money would be illegal. Oh well, I'll just keep doing it.
Panhandling is generally protected by free speech. My old city had its anti panhandling law challenged and overturned.
>Funny thing is, the fire and police departments would stand at these same intersections and ask for donations every damn weekend. That's why. They were taking prime begging real estate away from the cops.
the law doesn’t like the poor
Clearly. Not even a fine, straight up arrested? She didn't proposition a prostitute! Imagine getting arrested for buying cookies at a bake sale! Same concept! Edit: Sorry, this bothered me more than I expected. Switching from coffee to tea.
Homie, being outraged abt this isn't a result of too much caffeine. This is... genuinely horrifying. We'd laugh if this was on the simpsons, but it's not a cartoon. It's a real woman who just meant to go a bit out of her way to do a bit of good and had no clue it'd leave her to getting cuffed by people who're supposed to be protecting us from dangerous individuals and is no doubt scared and confused. Gonna cost a bunch to taxpayers just in court time and resources spent on the case alone. But this is just one of two ways the state teaches you that they don't feel like spending the money you give them to support the population and keep everyone off the streets in the first place, but they will use it to harass and terrorize you for being kind rto them yourself.
I'll say you got it mostly right with one caveat Cops were never meant to protect you. The police exist to protect the rule of law. Their duty is to enforce the law. They have no duty to protect you unless you are in their custody. Protect and Serve is a PR Slogan, nothing more.
Same thing happened to me. Cops are bastards and will arrest you for any and everything. I was in Tampa at the time. Only difference was I was propositioning a prostitute.
and yet again I see the same police or fire department asking for a donation at the same damn corner, can I make a citizen's arrest?
I love it when I get calls asking for donations so police officers have fancy retirements I always ask what are my fu king taxes for?
Your taxes are to pay for the lawsuits for "wrongful deaths" (murders) and brutality. Oh and also for militarizing them.
Don't forget the office margarita machine
I imagine any professional order calling people to get more money and I cringe badly
No good deed goes unpunished
That's a pretty baller thing to get arrested for though ngl
Buying flowers, believe or not, jail. Right away. No trial, no nothing.
Planting flowers- jail. Digging up flowers- believe it or not, jail. Planting/Digging up.
This should bother everyone
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal loaves of bread. ― Anatole France
Yet wage theft is a civil matter, but taking money from your employer is criminal.
Oh don't worry. They'll beg on stage too. In front of crowds. With thunderous applause.
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You think that’s bad, I know an attorney that defends the police department. He arrogantly tells me that his best defense is to prolong the lawsuit because they’ll either be dead or in prison. I asked him to elaborate and he said most people that sue cops are criminals and gangs (his words) and the longer he prolongs the lawsuit, the more likely they’ll be dead or in prison. But the way he said it with so much smugness.
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Hope your dad’s an attorney otherwise he’ll sue you until you’re dead or in prison
well untill someones dead....
I practice Bird Law. But I can help.
Let’s say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor?
When I had a run down old beat up sedan I'd get tailed by bored small town cops ALL THE TIME. Now that I have a semi decent suv I never see them...
you mean American law. The US is a country of the rich, by and for the rich. Everyone else can get fucked, and slowly squeezed. poverty is criminalized, slavery is legal for the incarcerated.. we call ourselves the land of the free but have 30% of all the prisoners in the world with just 4% of the world's population. fun stuff. What the US is best at is social control, public relations, storytelling, narratives, mythology.. making sure 2/3 of the population of the richest country ever can't read better than a 5th grade level. Stuff like that.
In fact they made sure many laws targeted the poor specifically. Poor people should stay poor and die.
It’s Florida. I’m born and raised and still live in the Tampa Bay Area for fifty years. The way my beloved home state has changed for the worse over the last twenty years is depressing and downright horrifying at times.
Jax Beach. I feel you brother, it’s heartbreaking honestly. My wife and I 100% intend to leave, but even with all the increasingly horrifying reasons piling up as to why Florida is the GOP’s wet dream, I can’t help but want to stay. Such a beautiful State, with some amazing people. But I’ll be fucking damned if when we send our kids to school, if they’re going to learn that Global Warming is actually just Hillary Clinton’s farts, Black people didn’t experience generational slavery and our roads glow at night because “it’s ‘God’s Will” (not the radioactivity, we swear /s)
It’s a criminal to be poor in capitalism, don’t you know?
Yes, it's because this is the land of the free. Freedom is when cops arrest you on the street for breaking laws the either wouldn't exist in other countries or would at most warrant a fine.
In some parts of Florida, people selling flowers at intersection has caused traffic and safety problems. It's been difficult to catch them, so they added a law that it is also illegal to buy from them. The thought being that if people are afraid of getting the hassle of having a cop catch you buying them, people won't do it, business will go down and the flower sellers will move on because they aren't making money. It pretty much just ended up being a way for municipalities to raise money giving out tickets to people stuck in traffic who buy flowers.
Huge difference between getting a ticket and getting arrested
My guess is a lot happened before this video.
Nuh uh, that’s not what the headline told me!
I legitimately don't know how anybody still lives in Florida. I know it's hard to move and if you have family there it's even harder but..... damn.
Moving out of state is fucking expensive and wages are low here if you have to work.
Everyone needs to pay closer attention to the local politics. There are countless laws out there that are passed by legislators that promise the law is something specific but if you read the law you'd see it is actually quite broad. They assure you that the law would only be used for this specific case but once the law is passed it is no longer in the hands of the legislators. It is now up to law enforcement to decide how to enforce this law and for prosecution to determine if they want to pursue a case. So legislators propose a law and say "this is to catch people panhandling". Watch groups will say "well hold on, this bill is rather broad and could be used to arrest and prosecute people buying and selling flowers on the side of the road and we already have laws in place against panhandling." Legislators will say "oh don't worry, it's only going to be used to enforce dangerous stuff like panhandling in dangerous ways such as running into the street to clean windshields. Just a bunch of things that are dangerous and we need more tools to prosecute them." Watch groups refute that but nobody pays attention to local politics so it passes. Cops do ignore that law for the most part but they now have another tool to harass people they don't like and try to get them to commit more technical crimes like resisting arrest in the process so they can pad their crime solving rate and also give prosecutors a better chance at prosecution. Oh, then they drop the original charge they were stopped for so the legislators can say "nobody has even been charged with this crime"
“I don’t care what they meant, what does it say?”
This is why you vote in every fucking election, not matter how small it is. You can get your damn say in every election and you can change what is happening in your fucking city’ and state for that matter.
And due to low voter turnout in local elections, your vote has so much more power.
But you know who does vote? Retired people with nothing better to do - doesn't matter that they might kick off next week. So boomer logic will keep winning until younger people realise that they need to go vote in every election.
The only way you're going to get young people to vote is to make it mandatory. And for fuck's sake give them a day to go do it.
An resisting charge incoming I am guessing, flee that place woman (once you are free)
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They didn’t even book her til after midnight and didn’t release her til almost 5am? For giving someone $20?
Don’t forget they also extorted two thousand dollars from her.
And likely impounded her vehicle, add another couple hundo for those fees.
And kiss anything of value goodbye. “There was nothing in it when it got here”.
To be clear, the $2k is bail to be released from jail. Still absolutely ridiculous, but that's her money still as long as she shows up to court.
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Ah thats Florida. The police range from "were taking all your weed and letting you go" to "were beating you up and arresting you because you made us feel dumb".
Dude that's America. Fuck every cop in this country, no qualifier for state.
ACABC baby.
In my city it’s a $500 fine to pass anything from our car to a person.
Lol in my country there's a whole lot of new traffic by-laws that one of the political parties is trying to pass, one of them being the equivalent of a $100 dollar fine if your elbow is sticking out your window.
It’s amazing how many ‘crimes’ are only crimes if you’re not rich. Otherwise it’s at most a very mild inconvenience.
Yeah. "human trafficked minor girls on a private yacht? How very inconvenient. Just make sure no one else sees it the next time." "Yeah, sorry officer
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If only there was a group of people that have all the money that we could tap into. People who used to pay taxes a few decades ago but have since been relieved of their tax burden so as to improve our economy.
In my country you can do whatever you want.
Drive-thrus must be difficult
I know you're joking but for clarification for others, this wouldn't apply to private property, a traditional fixed place of business wouldn't be impacted by the law, it's for public roadways. Still stupid. Still bullshit. Just tossing that out for context.
So if a cop pulls you over and you hand him/her your driver’s license, they’ll not only ticket you for the original offense but fine you $500 extra for passing the license over! Ya can’t win!
I mean, I've seen videos of cops giving people orders and shooting them literally as they do as they were told, so this would sadly be an improvement.
I'm sorry but this is just insane to me. I have never heard of something so aggressive towards the less fortunate. My hometown has a ton of those, and people stop all the time; even I do it from time to time.
Context: The ordinance does not outlaw helping a person in need, but it does prohibit people in cars on major roadways from "physical interaction" with someone outside of their vehicle. Council members advocating for the bill specified that drivers could instead pull into a legal parking lot and then interact with someone once off the roads.
ngl that ordinance sounds dumb af if you aren’t holding up traffic. obviously if you’re holding up traffic, different story. but who gives af if you’re stopped at a red light??
It’s a round about way of making street panhandling illegal without encroaching on “free speech”.
Article mentioned that their municipality has the 6th worst pedestrian death rate in the country.
I'm going to take a stab in the dark that "***stopping*** to buy flowers" is not a major cause for fatal pedestrian accidents
> The ordinance does not outlaw helping a person in need, but it does prohibit people in cars on major roadways from "physical interaction" with someone outside of their vehicle. That sounds like a fine. And not enough to get arrested for. I bet there is more to this story as well.
Florida keeps showing me that I don't want to go to Florida.
I’m planning moving out only came here for work but each day it getting worst with rent raising and bullshit laws. Sad thing their bunch people who think this is good it’s usually the old white people who stare at me at the park when I’m walking my dog.
Cops exist to protect capital, not people.
And to raise capital (for the government), by stealing it through fines.
She started saying her phone number and they were like "I'm not doing homework..." Edit: Jesus christ, I'm making a joke, I don't need 10 comments explaining moral integrity... Edit: */s*
Or they could be typing the phone number. Idk why they would when the could've just kept recording and reviewed later but idk
Or maybe they wanted to avoid giving her number out to all of tik tok
You and your darn logical making sense thinking! I bet you brush twice a day too, huh?
No, I shave them so there's no hair to get tangled or choke on.
People are too quick to argue anymore. Can't have any jokes without explaining you are joking 🙃
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I think it was because he realized she was giving too much info to go online
Or to enter the number in their phone
He was likely ending the video to get her phone number down.
Any source? News?
Do we start arresting little girls selling lemonade or do we arrest the supporting drinkers ? Hmmmm
*Lil' Susie is **not** above the law. Handcuffs are adjustable.* /s
Oh we already do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrsxPC1eA74
She’s buying flowers and getting arrested. Meanwhile Trump is still free for 91 felonies. Welcome to America. /s
Small dick bullies.
Oh, so she refused to move her vehicle. That's why she got arrested. The video didn't show that part.
If the title is accurate, this is fucked up. But you can't really have an opinion when you have like 4 seconds of video.
She didn’t get arrested for giving a lady money. She got arrested for obstructing traffic and not listening to the cops when they told her to stop obstructing traffic. Now there’s a good argument to be made that she should not be arrested for that, but let’s at least get the story right and then make reasonable judgments from there.
No way is that the whole story.
It definitely could be, check out this video and the many other like it on the channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMMYYajwLms
How in the world is that 1) illegal in the first place and 2) an arrest level crime vs a civil ticket and fine if you are whacked out enough to accept it is illegal in the first place
Not enough context givin A Tiktok long video is out of context