I often think that people who use the word fascist don't truly know the meaning of the word but I will make an exception in this case. The whole town must have tissue paper for skin.
@@mikecrooks8085 In this case it's the city government officials who don't know the meaning of the word. All they know is "fascist" is an insult and "YOU DARE INSULT US, IT IS A CRIME TO INSULT YOUR LEADERS!"
Authoritarian would be more of a correct statement, cause communist do this, monarchies do this, theocracy's, basically it is just something any corrupt government or business does. Evil people and liars in general don't like to be called out or have their stances questioned why there is generally no debates in corrupt organizations cannot risk their BS or crimes being called out to a general audience. Lincoln did this to and yes he was a tyrant America's first dictator who didn't care what the courts declared he would lock judges up, journalists up, his rivals up, when he was part of the Wig party rather than have a vote or discussion on ending the federal bank at the time barred the doors and then jumped out the window than have a vote, actual history is great not the propaganda they teach in schools.
I should have and could have been a little more clear expressing my thought. A lot of people throw the word fascist out there and use it inappropriately for any sort of government or personal overreach. When you start hauling folks off to jail and charging them for speaking their mind during open comment period you are putting yourself in a bad position. Sometimes you get a mayor who makes a bad decision or a police chief. I think Steve was making the point even tho these people should have known better at what was obvious, I am sure this town had a city council and a city attorney, that some of those people had to know better but even so they all stood by and let the mayor and the police go ahead, jail and charge the guy. This inaction by others in a position of authority actually bothers me even more than the direct action of the mayor and police. Back in good ol Hitler's day there were lots of Germans who stood by and did nothing when they knew the Nazis were doing wrong.@@Archone666
I LIVE in this town. I am currently running for mayor to ensure that NOTHING like this EVER happens again for at least the next two years while I’m in office. This is SUCH an embarrassment to our town! The irony is that this kid’s arrest was because he was criticizing the handling of a DUI where the suspect blew a .000 and was THEN brought in for a drug test…passed that also. My two opponents in the mayoral run were two of the council members who sat IN SILENCE while this young man was arrested!!! Also, the city attorney sat there and said NOTHING!
So in a sense he was arrested three times and all three he was 100% innocent. It’s time to end qualified immunity and make officials and officers responsible for their own actions. It’s a first amendment right to speak out against and share your grievances against your government.
But he wasn't actually innocent, he did what they said he did. They, however, did something they weren't allowed to do. What he did should not have been illegal and wasn't according to the Constitution.
// Responding to OP Tommyb123 // Love the profile picture avatar. It was a gr8 entertaining movie. You've reminded me to try and watch it again today. :)
Where are you getting three times? Are you referring to the OWI arrest? If so, that was actually another young man. This fellow saw that arrest on you tube and chose to speak out about it, but got arrested twice.
Hello Steve and fellow followers: I live in Newton, IA which is the subject of this video. Thank you, Steve, for brining your analysis to this subject. It seems most in our town have been living in an uninformed bubble concerning what the Mayor, councilmembers, and police have been doing over the last decade or so. They are in for a rude awakening when this lawsuit starts making it through the local media. Currently, the Mayor has stated that he will not seek reelection, (BIG SURPRISE THERE) and several council seats are also up for reelection and so far looking at all the political yard signs around the neighborhoods they are being hotly contested. GOOD FOR US! Now, if we could just get some police officers and sheriff's deputies that understand that it is their job to UPHOLD rights--not violate them.
Remember, the Sheriff is an elected official as well. Find someone who will respect the constitution and clear house of all the bad deputies under the previous tyrant of a sheriff.
It may be the police chief, not the sheriff. I believe it was a city officer who arrested the kid for OWI when he clearly was not impaired. That arrest was an embarrassment, and now this travesty is as well. Makes me ashamed to live in Iowa. @@im2yys4u81
@@lordchaa1598in this case, the police chief who is an official appointed and approved by the mayor and city council is of concern. And cities that have their own Incorporated the Sheriff's Office generally only performs service for things like court orders like evictions and subpoenas.
Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, I would say the cop has an obligation to make sure he doesn't know what the law is so that he can always be protected from being sued
It's crazy how common it is in America for government officials to think they can just ignore basic constitutional rights. There needs to be real consequences for these people for this stuff, otherwise it will just keep happening.
It is not crazy, they get away with it. They do not get arrested, and strip searched and put in a holding cell etc. The taxpayers pay out. If they had to carry mal-practice insurance instead of immunity like a doctor does, the quality of their work would increase dramatically.
They're way ahead of the game. Imagine how life will be when all of the people who know their constitutional rights are dead and gone , the young have been purposefully denied an education in all things civic for a reason , once WE who know our rights are dead they will run rough shod over anyone they please , it'll be like the movie idiocracy in the courts ..
@@azhockeynut8297 when are you going to buy free speech liability insurance? Running for and holding office are also enumerated rights, require insurance for one right's expression, require it for all, including voting malpractice insurance.
We need mandatory sentencing for officials who engage in wrongful arrest. Ever attorney or official involved with his wrongful arrest needs to be disbarred, charged, have their trial and be sentenced to about 2-3 years in prison. Examples need to be made.
Yes, the self-serving relationships in the justice system and the legal fiction of immunity have gone way too far. This was such an obvious and egregious breach of the constitution that everyone involved MUST be removed from power
For sure. Also, everyone that voted that stupid rule into place needs to join them. I know Steve once talked about why SCOTUS doesn't get involved in the law making process, but I think they should be. If not the higher levels, at least the lower levels where the court can say, "Hey, this ain't going to fly."
Illegally arresting somebody needs to be viewed as KIDNAPPING, and should result in criminal charges against those involved. When various immunities are granted to those in positions of power the result is always fascism.
Problem is with that "kidnapping" offence would only affect the wrong people and not the actual perp, it's very different seeing these things sitting on your chair and not from the perspective of the cop having to arrest the individual even if he doesn't agree with it since he could lose his job, his career and possibly other things if he refused to listen to the mayor.
If the mayor and police chief aren't arrested and charged, then the Constitution isn't taken seriously. Unless severe penalties are brought against tyranny, it will grow.
Thing is, all my life these officials of every stripe have sworn an “oath”, yet in all my decades I have never seen anyone punished for blatantly violating it. An “oath” is meaningless without consequence when one breaks it.
@@choccolocco Those words are wind to placate the sheep. That oath is just pleasant mouth noises so the labor chattel respects their non-existant authority; How can they swear an oath to a document they've never read?
@@docsavage4921My guess, very. We think D.C. is bad, in my experience the real bastions of corruption and fascism are at the local level. They rarely see this kind of scrutiny and backlash, so they think they can get away with anything. And most of the time they do.
An innocent man was CRIMINALLY arrested by a criminal power structure. Those in positions of power, who violated the constitutional laws of the United States, should be facing CRIMINAL charges. Any civil action should be in addition to criminal charges for their criminal behaviour.
That town attorney needs to be disbarred. You don’t even have to take a single law class to know it was a violation of freedom of speech and the right to redress your government , 4th amendment violation because of the unlawful arrest and seizure of the person. That attorney need to be investigated a lot deeper .
That would be the Jasper County Attorney (I used to live near Newton; I practiced emergency medicine in Iowa before I retired and moved to Costa Rica.) The City of Newton definitely sees crime as a revenue generator. Tax revenues went into the toilet after Maytag left Newton. The county then built a BIG, fancy jail that houses inmates from multiple counties, and not only do they get money from those contracts, they charge ROOM AND BOARD for the "privilege" of being incarcerated in the Jasper County Jail, to the tune of $75/day. I'll never forget treating an inmate from the jail who had been held for three months on a public intox charge, awaiting trial. I think it's worth noting that the MAXIMUM jail time he would have faced is 30 days, and the fine maxes out at $300, I believe. The county has five jails and two prisons, while the county's population sits at around 37,000 people. Jails and prisons employ HUNDREDS of people in Jasper County. They've turned law enforcement into a revenue generator!
Every day Steve slips closer and closer to becoming directly affiliated with the institute for justice; or becoming a civil rights auditor; either way good for you Steve.
I think that’s probably a great observation. I never thought about it much but usually you do hear a 0.0 ask as the amount. So I will default to your answer and go with it unless somebody comes on here and screams at us about some thing else :-) I’m sure somebody out there has an opinion contradictory if they didn’t then it really wouldn’t be Steve’s channel :-) have a good weekend. Thank you for reading my comment. It’s greatly appreciate it
As we all say, he should run for judge but I don’t think he would have the patience to be in politics. I thinking he loves what he does now, and will keep doing it until he hits 1 million people on his channel. I’ve been with him for quite a while and you’re correct, but Institute for justice I think after they gave him a fruit basket at the conference just kidding. He’s really looking out through their stuff and making sure everybody knows what could work they do. I have donated a couple times to the Institute, but wish their donation process was easier to do. He will keep up the good fight he is protecting us. He’s got a lot of kiss my way money. I’m sure at this point great comment.
@@seanmaury7844 that would be a red letter day for sure. I don’t think this country deserves somebody like Steve so they can pick them apart and criticize everything. He does not that he would make mistakes, but people seem to always wanted to find the worst. Maybe I lived in New Jersey too long :-)
@@DMS20231It's not quite the same. The president is commander in chief. He's the general of the generals. The Mayor isn't the Chief of Police, he cannot issue orders. He just has political influence over them, can get them fired or hired.
For those interested, there is a case in Texas involving Sylvia Gonzalez, identical to this, that is now going before the Supreme Court. The Institute of Justice just released an article on this. Hopefully we/society get a favorable ruling on this. Our elected officials need to be put in there place and held accountable.
Especially good to see younger people standing up for their rights....... It shows a real sense of patriotism. I'm 70 and enjoy seeing this kind of calling out our elected leaders..... Thanks to the young man and IJ for backing him up.....
_ may not be able to do that anymore - y'all gotta realize once demons are given free reign, thanks to qualified immunity, it will take "hell" to shut it down !
I saw this arrest in a video. The mayor told him you cant speak about the chief of police like that. He referred to him and the mayor as fascist. When he repeated it, the mayor banged his gavel again, again said he wouldnt tolerate the chief of police being spoken about like that and arrested him. The guy was super calm just reading his statement. Unbelievable when you find officials disregarding the 1st Amendment like this. Thank god for social media now as we can identify and expose this kind of behavior in these towns across America where innocent people have been convicted of nonexistent crimes and many of whom have been jailed.
I used to donate to the ACLU but I have recently lost confidence in them. I like what I see with regard to the Institute for Justice and I am now donating every month. May only be $5 but it's for a worthy cause. Thank you Steve for bringing this institution to my attention.
Very small town in the Florida panhandle, a commissioner suggested that the board of commissioners video record their public meetings. After heated discussion back and forth the chairman defended his view that it wasn't necessary by saying, "What goes on here is nobody's business!" Room silence. He resigned the following day. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The only information we have (or at least I have) was an article written by one of the litigants in an ongoing lawsuit. It is crystal clear this is not a clear headed look at what happened, but a very distorted one by a member of the group that is taking the guy's case to court. I am not defending him being arrested for what he did, but I don't think for a second that this version of events is anything resembling a fair summary. Nowhere is in this video is there any mention of the charges actually filed. Maybe it _was_ "criticizing local politicians", which we are only told was an comment by the Mayor, but we are not that it was the charge he was booked on. Perhaps it was something like "disrupting an official proceeding" for not stopping when he was told to. In which case it becomes less pure black/pure white, and a judge might easily see this as something that could go to trial.
They all are part of a "click" and that is the world they want. They are what happens when self serving people get jobs that require them to be sefless to do the job right.
@@rhymeswithorange6092so officials can just tell you to stop when you say something they don’t like? Unless there was some other legitimate reason for them to tell him to stop that’s BS. He was giving his statement during the period of time citizens are allowed to make their statements.
I’m glad to hear this young man is fighting the city. I grew up in Iowa, and Newton had a reputation for corruption when I was growing up, 55 years ago. The only time my mother (who drove for 78 years) got a ticket was when we were driving through Newton on our way to somewhere else.
We need an end to Qualified Immunity because it is empowering politicians, bureaucrats, law enforcement and other public official to do whatever they desire without considering or fearing consequences. Excellent episode. Thank you.
Qualified Immunity is essentially granting our officials and police the excuse "I was just doing my job, just following orders." We didnt let the Nazi's use that excuse at Nuremburg but apparently it's okay for those in power here at home. Abolish Qualified Immunity
You people need to stop with chanting "end qualified immunity". That will make no difference. At all. The cops do not pay themselves. They are covered by the city. The taxpayers foot the bill. But rarely is it enough to wake the taxpayers up to vote for people who will not violate people's rights and cost them more money. No, what you need to be chanting for is that the politicians, judges, prosecutors, and cops are held CRIMINALLY accountable for their crimes. And qualified immunity has nothing to do with that.
@@vernowen2083 QI was put into place by conservative judges. There were previous cases, but the 1967 and 1982 Supreme Court decisions are the key ones. The states that have recently limited QI claims are considered liberal, while the ones with the most extensive QI are very conservative. Oddly political free speech used to be considered a key conservative ideal, with liberals often accused of wanting to limit speech. But the sides have switched on this issue with conservative often meaning authoritarian.
He has every right to, but as much as he has the right to he and his minions don't realize or don't care is that the public also has a right to as well if you don't like it resign!
One of the most absurd parts of this is that the district attorney or prosecutor actually brought the charges without dismissing them early. That just goes to show you how much their prosecutor or district attorney knows about the first amendment. I submit to you that things like this have been going on in that town for a long time and this is not the end of it. Imagine that, a district attorney or prosecutor and the solicitor for the town and the chief of police the dumbest of the dumb and the mayor who comes in a close second, who’s thinking in that town? Or someone should check the credentials of the district attorney or prosecutor, they may have paid for their shingle.
The Job of the district attorney or prosecutor is to take a garbage case that should be thrown out for bad "investigation or conduct" that was brought forth by their law enforcement and spinning it into a case that can be sold to a jury to get a conviction no matter how wrong the case is. If it is the wishes of higher ups saying this person must be silenced or put away so as to not interfere with the actions of the town for example, it's their job to make the (or sell) case to the Judge and jury and a lot of the times (now that I mention it) the Judge will be working with them to make it so.👍👀
Rural areas it's pretty common for a DA to take the cops word over a "kid" even though the "kid" is a legal adult with full rights, privileges, and protections under the US constitution. The DA should be grateful the trial ended in not guilty and isn't being sued or investigated over it (yet).
Guess they don't teach Constitutional Law in whatever Law School that these prosecutors went to. Probably should check if the Prosecutors actually went to Law School.
The prosecutor should be sued as well because he also violated his civil rights. The prosecutor needs to taken before the bar for prosecutorial misconduct.
This kind of conduct by police and politicians is becoming more and more commonplace . This man deserves a MASSIVE payout AND the Mayor and the police chief need to be held personally responsible as well as their respective offices . Both these officials need to be fired not only fired but have their qualifications revoked to prevent them holding any type of public office again. This young man is an inspiration and absolutely my hero too. Huge credit also to the institute for justice for supporting and prosecuting these cases .
All government employees involved in this need to be removed from their positions! Let their pensions pay for the settlement! End qualified immunity now!
This exact thing has happened before many times, person criticizes or complains and they are either silenced, kicked out or arrested after being interrupted.
Even when exonerated, he still has an arrest record and his information is in the system. This results in decreased job and travel opportunities. It also increases your chances of follow on arrests and malicious/erroneous charges.
That’s not true. He was acquitted and will not go on his record. If he has a felony conviction then it stays on. If you are exonerated then it gets demolished
@@leo29hornsfan Not everywhere. You would also be surprised to see how much information is kept. The state rarely ever truely eliminates all records. How do you think you repeatedly hear news stories where they specifically state previous arrest records with charges that were dropped?
@@leo29hornsfan wrong. Had a property trash accumulation charge from inherited property. When trying to rent a home in a state that I moved to, I was denied rental "because you're a criminal, you have a record". Something shocking to me, given my security clearance being active. Suffice it to say, that real estate office has since folded, as no referrals from our local military base housing were allowed again and the home owner, who insisted on such a travesty gets regular inspections of the property, out of an abundance of caution over the safety of the tenants. Don't get mad, don't get even, get ahead and take the shoulders with it.
The Police Chief ought to be charged with assault, battery, and false imprisonment, for starters. The prosecuting attorney should be disbarred. And the mayor ought be considered a conspirator or participant in any crimes the Chief committed.
It seems so bizarre that they wouldn't know how wrong they were . I can only guess that the mayor, cop, and prosecutor knew what they were doing was wrong, but just figured that this kid wouldn't pursue a lawsuit.
I think he was the one that was just laughing at the cops cause he knew how awfully wrong they were and he was shocked he was actually the one going through police corruption. You see it on videos then you think it won’t happen to you but it’s really bad out there. 98% of LEOs have a power trip on their “authority” that comes with the badge…
I remember watching this video of the first arrest and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I love stories like this, It renews my faith in justice. Thanks for the up-date. Can't wait to see the final outcome.
Plenty of other countries handle this a lot better without the US constitution. It was pretty unique in its time, but 250 years later it isn't that special. Nor is our common law system better by any real measure.
I hate even thinking about it! We just have to enforce it better. I don't want to be a serf who is beheaded for gazing at the king as he passed. The US constitution rocks!
What's even more disgusting is that the DA dragged this case before the judge. So who's in charge at the prosecutor's office? The lawyers or the cops? I guess that's self evident.
The county attorney, the regular criminal prosecutor, refused to prosecute the case. The city attorney then took it over and proceeded as a municipal offense.
I'm always curious why they never include the prosecuting attorney as a defendant in these lawsuits. As an attorney, they should know the law better than most people, and held to a higher standard. In cases where the prosecutions are so baseless and groundless, no one can legitimately argue a defense of qualified immunity.
@@CrazyRFGuySo the person who makes a living holding people accountable for their actions is themselves immune to accountability? That sounds incredibly hypocritical!!!
@@CrazyRFGuy Yes I get it. No one would take the job if they could be sued by any and everyone that becomes a defendant in a criminal case. And yes, I supposed the thinking is that the prosecutors and the judges will ultimately be held accountable at the ballot box. But come on, some things are so blatantly and obviously illegal and corrupt there has to be some accountability.
Same as the whole Trump cult players. I was beginning to think all the many perps would never be held accountable, but it is taking years to do so. Somehow, we have got to have swifter justice.
@@glynnetolar4423 Either you misunderstand me or you are replying to someone else. Please explain. I have a massive problem with such deviant behavior as well as government accepting bribes for doing the bidding of Big Corporations.
God bless this young man for standing up. Although I spent 33 years in the Army defending the Constitution, I have the utmost respect for this guy who is truly a hero for liberty and justice. I'd love to have just 10 men like this in my unit and we could defend the planet.
The kid is a bit of a fat body and looks a little slow and beat down mentally (like a lot of young men today he isn't being taught to stand up straight). He needs a good stint in the Military to help gift him with some self pride, confidence, get him in shape, and teach him discipline and leadership. He's clearly got the backbone thing locked down and solid, so he'd be an fine addition to the military and it'd benefit him to no end. As he is right now, he doesn't look like much, but if he gets a good DI and NCOs with their heads on straight, they'll encourage and support him and teach him to hold his head up high and have good military bearing, then get him into the officer academy and teach him how to lead from example. Kid has potential.
@@snex000 *facepalm* Okay, let me help you with that. Consider, if you do not have a military, do you think that other nations will respect your borders and your laws? The correct answer is no, they will not. The military is the front line, the sword and shield that defends your lands, your people, and your rights. Or at least that's what it's there for ostensibly. So while in the military you are defending the constitutional rights of the people of your nation. Without the military no country will survive long as an independent entity and those rights of that nation will not extend or protect the people of that land. So you defend the constitution from all enemies... foreign and domestic.
Police, DA, City officials, etc. all should be immediately arrested and charged. Some of the crimes committed include multiple counts of felony conspiracy against rights, multiple counts of felony deprivation of rights, assault, battery, kidnapping/abduction, false imprisonment/unlawful restraint, sexual assault/abuse, etc. etc. etc.
@@wmason1961 Arrested by anyone with the power to do so. That includes FBI, state and local cops that have jurisdiction, and even potentially citizens since "citizen arrest" powers are a thing. Looks like the local DAs office is complicit so it would likely be state AG or go the federal route for charges. These traitors clearly violated USC 18.13.241 and 242 for example. Now will they? No. Because they are all corrupt.
@@wmason1961 The department of justice is supposed to prosecute these crimes. 18 USC 241 Conspiracy against rights and 18 USC 242 Deprivation of rights under color of law. Remember that false arrest is a kidnapping. 18 USC 241 If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured- They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death. 18 USC 242 Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and 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; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
In this case not only should the local municipality be on the hook for any judgment that results from the lawsuit, but the council members and the chief of police should also be held personally financially accountable too. Until those in power are held accountable, this type of illegal conduct will continue…
This is something I feel we should all do rather than watching these videos, shaking our head at the injustice then scrolling to the next video. I saw that video (young man not intoxicated yet arrested for DUI) and was outraged as well but it happened in his town and he did something about it. God Bless that young man for having the courage.
Its been long known, that people in power will change the rules to favor themselves. Long Known. Why do you think the 2nd amendment exists? It's the first and last desperate measure available to you if you get desperate enough.
As an American I defend my own rights , right then and there on the street , I ain't waiting around for some judge to violate me again , if I'm in court , the officer who violated me will already be in the ground and I'll be rich ..$$
there is a federal crime of denning someone their rights and freedoms under color of law... I don't remember the exact section at the moment, but the range of penalty is very broad. It goes from as low as 1 year in jail &/or$10K fine too steep as execution if the victim is raped or dies in custody.
Bad idea. Such an agency could be politicized to harass ideological opponents across the country. Imagine Merrick Garland in charge of such an agency... The courts are the place for these things.
The mayor, the city attorney, the entire city council and the entire police department had to be fired, charged, tried and convicted for forming a criminal organization.
They acted in concert to perform a criminal action, sounds more like RICO time. They did not learn the first-time things were thrown out and the city ordinance deemed unconstitutional, so they took another bite at the apple, and again lost. Nothing says political motivation and malicious prosecution like another bite at the apple.
I've often said, we have a policing problem in America, not a race problem. It effects African-Americans more because they are disproportionately poor and working class, but it hurts all regular people, regardless of skin color.
Cops are rather stupid creatures. They just can't seem to understand that a law that says you can't criticize government would not be constitutional. If there is an ordinance, they think that it overrides the constitution. Clearly the cops in the town or petty and vindictive and when he called them out for the bad arrest, I am sure they enjoyed the chance to retaliate against him.
Just set up a monthly donation to IJ. I am a retired police officer and I find this arrest absolutely disgusting. I used to teach Civil Liability for Police at the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy in Tucson. This is exactly what I stressed not to do when someone is criticizing you or government in general. Like your videos, even when you criticize the police. Most of the time, it is deserved.
Know about the battle of Athens TN Aug 1946, stolen election caused a 6- hour gun battle & dynamite at a police station to retrieve stolen ballot boxes, 2-300 locals against 2-3 dozen cops in station.
@user-Id5lm1tu4r I retired as a police officer two years ago with a little over 37 years. I still teach at the academy on a volunteer basis. I teach a 40 hour course called Arrest, Search and Seizure which isn’t about civil liability per se but it sure hits all around your class. I repeat and then leave them with, you have to respect constitutional rights, period. Situations like this sometimes makes the concept easy.
I served 27 years and now train police officers on crime scene processing techniques and documentation in a 40 hour course. Though the course focuses on crime scene processing, we also cover various search warrant requirements and some of the pitfalls that might put an officer in jeopardy of violating the 4th Amendment.
Well as someone who doesn't look to kindly at cops you guys are sorely under trained. You should have 2 and 4 year degree programs in policing. If nothing else weed out the idiots who park on RR tracks with a detainee inside. You need psychological screening for psychopaths. What's the actual failure rate of trainees? You need an entire year learning the Constitution and civil rights law. And the list goes on. What we are tired of is cops violating our civil rights and then getting sued after and then they are protected by qualified immunity. We want less violations and less lawsuits to begin with.
Thanks for covering this! As a public servant myself, I wholeheartedly stand with auditors and constituents who utilize their constitutional rights to speak against issues, ESPECIALLY, the ones who do and are treated unfairly for doing just that. This is why we love you Steve, because you're not just a competent attorney, you're one with empathy AND sympathy and you speak against foolishness as well. I encourage everyone to learn rules regarding speaking at PUBLIC meetings, GO, and SPEAK YOUR PEACE.
@@geraldtakala1721 that too! It's actually both...you see, they go speaking knowledge and truth against hate and tyranny. The voice of the people against it IS peace they bring against those who aren't peaceful and are full of corruption.
Sadly we see too much of that. When a citizen reads a book out loud, approved for 4th grades ( in the local school ). But they are silenced because they the council claims it's pornographic. We have an issue.
Seriously, what the heck is wrong with our Government as of late. This is got to be the craziest arrest I have heard of. I hope they are thrown in jail like they think they can do to innocent citizens. Thanks for bringing this to us Steve. Keep up the great work.
This isn’t new, my friend. Unfortunately it’s probably been like this for all of American history. Truth be told it was probably much worse back then, but the government completely controlled the narrative. We were sold a bill of goods. When I was younger the narrative was certain groups of people were lying about how cops treated them. But now? I can only imagine how people were treated by cops back before even the possibility of a camera being around. Scary to think.
The city attorney should loose his ability to work as a lawyer as well. Either corrupt or incompetent to the point that the constitutionality of his actions didn't matter.
Obviously this is going to be a slam dunk in court but remember this is everywhere there are small governments. Every town, city, county, state, must be challenged regularly to ensure our rights remain intact.
@barrythomas529 Totally political prosecution. If the American people let this abuse of power go unchallenged, we may as well install a dictator and abolish elections.
It’s well past time that we have trained citizens committees to review arrests/prosecutions for Constitutional violations and prevent these governmental abuses. Local governments investigating themselves doesn’t work.
It's IRONIC that the INNOCENT American citizen ACCUSED the police chief and mayor of being FASCISTS, which hurt the police chief and the mayor's little feelings, so what did they do? THEY ACTED LIKE FASCISTS! BIG SURPRISE!
My parents, aunt, and cousins live in Newton, IA. I knew that Newton cops seem to think they can do whatever they want, but this is on a completely different level than I expected. How they thought a "rule" like that could ever stand is just insane to me.
Look into the battle of Athens Tn Aug 1946, stolen election caused a gun battle & dynamite use at a police station to retrieve stolen ballot boxes, 2-300 locals against 2-3 dozen cops in the station!!
Sorry about your kinfolk. They must be tiptoeing around all the time. Newton sounds like an unfriendly place. Americans shouldnt be afraid to open their mouths and peaceably voice their opinions.
@@denisemarie6997 That's the weirdest part to me. It's really not an unfriendly place. My family's lived in the area in and around Newton for over 100 years. Ppl there are generally pretty friendly. It's not like Huxley, IA where anyone not from the town will get a ticket if they go even 1 mph over the speed limit. But there's been a lot of economic hardship in Newton in the past 20 years and it's not quite the same town it was in my childhood. That said, there is an old boys club that runs everything. It's why they're so confident in their clearly unlawful actions - they think they're untouchable. It would be nice if this resulted in the old boys club getting broken up.
@@SadisticSenpai61 Newton is friendly to your relatives specifically because they've lived in the area for over 100 years, and are probably benign to the interests of the Old Money that really runs the town.
Newton, IA isn't just a crappy little corn and cheese burg. It's the home of the Iowa Speedway, as in NASCAR. There's money up in there. And as a trucker, I stopped at their crappy little Love's Truck stop many a time while traversing the US on I-80.
The problem is these local politicians don’t care it’s not their money, and the tax payers are footing the bill for their nonsense. Happens everywhere tax payers losing again .
This case needs national media coverage and seen by as many people as possible. Also, I hope the city's rules against criticism is redacted for unconstitutionality and those who enacted and enforced it are charged with a crime.
I saw the video of the incident. The young man called the mayor and police fascists, and the mayor and police proved him right.
Yes, the irony was palpable.
QED
You seen the goings on in Dolton Illinois (Mayor Tiffany Henyard)?
Imagine a city council so stupid as to pass a law against criticizing government officials. 🤔
Imagine the country if we didn’t have the constitution rights. Democrat dictatorships everywhere
@@arcademaster1Smooth brained projection on your part is duly noted. Fascist.
Imagine a city attorney dumb enough to not be able to tell them it was unconstitutional!!!🙏🙏💪💪
Citizens should ALWAYS resist an unlawful arrest.
Coming from someone who obviously doesn’t know the definition of fascism
He calls them “fascist,” and they oblige by being “fascist.” They don’t even see the irony of their actions. This kid is awesome.
I often think that people who use the word fascist don't truly know the meaning of the word but I will make an exception in this case. The whole town must have tissue paper for skin.
You don't need to make an exception in this case. What happened here was indeed something a Fascist government does.
@@mikecrooks8085 In this case it's the city government officials who don't know the meaning of the word. All they know is "fascist" is an insult and "YOU DARE INSULT US, IT IS A CRIME TO INSULT YOUR LEADERS!"
Authoritarian would be more of a correct statement, cause communist do this, monarchies do this, theocracy's, basically it is just something any corrupt government or business does. Evil people and liars in general don't like to be called out or have their stances questioned why there is generally no debates in corrupt organizations cannot risk their BS or crimes being called out to a general audience. Lincoln did this to and yes he was a tyrant America's first dictator who didn't care what the courts declared he would lock judges up, journalists up, his rivals up, when he was part of the Wig party rather than have a vote or discussion on ending the federal bank at the time barred the doors and then jumped out the window than have a vote, actual history is great not the propaganda they teach in schools.
I should have and could have been a little more clear expressing my thought. A lot of people throw the word fascist out there and use it inappropriately for any sort of government or personal overreach. When you start hauling folks off to jail and charging them for speaking their mind during open comment period you are putting yourself in a bad position. Sometimes you get a mayor who makes a bad decision or a police chief. I think Steve was making the point even tho these people should have known better at what was obvious, I am sure this town had a city council and a city attorney, that some of those people had to know better but even so they all stood by and let the mayor and the police go ahead, jail and charge the guy. This inaction by others in a position of authority actually bothers me even more than the direct action of the mayor and police. Back in good ol Hitler's day there were lots of Germans who stood by and did nothing when they knew the Nazis were doing wrong.@@Archone666
The police chief and the mayor both need to be prosecuted for violating his constitutional rights.
Lynched
You spelled executed wrong.
@@mikepalmer2219it is treason in my book.
@@mikepalmer2219lol
I LIVE in this town. I am currently running for mayor to ensure that NOTHING like this EVER happens again for at least the next two years while I’m in office. This is SUCH an embarrassment to our town! The irony is that this kid’s arrest was because he was criticizing the handling of a DUI where the suspect blew a .000 and was THEN brought in for a drug test…passed that also. My two opponents in the mayoral run were two of the council members who sat IN SILENCE while this young man was arrested!!! Also, the city attorney sat there and said NOTHING!
I hope you win please update us on this city official which I was there I run for one of the other offices
Good Luck!!!!
Nothing exemplifies ACTIVE INJUSTICE! , by their ENABLING SILENCE!, of those who we voted, to representing us, UNCONSTITUTIONALLY!
@@davesevilla9113 THANK YOU! I did not win. Came in LAST, in fact. Just ouch!
@@jrg4313THANK YOU! It’s been a painful couple of days.
So in a sense he was arrested three times and all three he was 100% innocent. It’s time to end qualified immunity and make officials and officers responsible for their own actions. It’s a first amendment right to speak out against and share your grievances against your government.
But he wasn't actually innocent, he did what they said he did. They, however, did something they weren't allowed to do. What he did should not have been illegal and wasn't according to the Constitution.
They don't have qualified immunity in this instance. It's already well settled law.
3 times = Harass-ment
// Responding to OP Tommyb123 //
Love the profile picture avatar. It was a gr8 entertaining movie. You've reminded me to try and watch it again today. :)
Where are you getting three times? Are you referring to the OWI arrest? If so, that was actually another young man. This fellow saw that arrest on you tube and chose to speak out about it, but got arrested twice.
Why is it that City Attorney's are not held more responsible for pursuing charges that are clearly violations of our rights.
That being the case, City Attorney ought 2B sanctioned(charged)as c well!!
$$$
"city attorney" is a hired employee, who usually believe their job is, like the cops, view their job as a revenue source for the city
Blue team
@nin_po It's usually the blue team that's diddling the kids.
Hello Steve and fellow followers: I live in Newton, IA which is the subject of this video. Thank you, Steve, for brining your analysis to this subject. It seems most in our town have been living in an uninformed bubble concerning what the Mayor, councilmembers, and police have been doing over the last decade or so. They are in for a rude awakening when this lawsuit starts making it through the local media. Currently, the Mayor has stated that he will not seek reelection, (BIG SURPRISE THERE) and several council seats are also up for reelection and so far looking at all the political yard signs around the neighborhoods they are being hotly contested. GOOD FOR US! Now, if we could just get some police officers and sheriff's deputies that understand that it is their job to UPHOLD rights--not violate them.
Wishing you and your community well.😊
Remember, the Sheriff is an elected official as well. Find someone who will respect the constitution and clear house of all the bad deputies under the previous tyrant of a sheriff.
I wish you all well. Vote the Sheriff and all the rest out and bring in some new blood.
It may be the police chief, not the sheriff. I believe it was a city officer who arrested the kid for OWI when he clearly was not impaired. That arrest was an embarrassment, and now this travesty is as well. Makes me ashamed to live in Iowa. @@im2yys4u81
@@lordchaa1598in this case, the police chief who is an official appointed and approved by the mayor and city council is of concern. And cities that have their own Incorporated the Sheriff's Office generally only performs service for things like court orders like evictions and subpoenas.
The cop who illegally arrested that person should be charged, as well. He has an obligation to refuse an illegal order.
Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, I would say the cop has an obligation to make sure he doesn't know what the law is so that he can always be protected from being sued
As should the cities attorney be charged .
It's crazy how common it is in America for government officials to think they can just ignore basic constitutional rights. There needs to be real consequences for these people for this stuff, otherwise it will just keep happening.
It is not crazy, they get away with it. They do not get arrested, and strip searched and put in a holding cell etc. The taxpayers pay out. If they had to carry mal-practice insurance instead of immunity like a doctor does, the quality of their work would increase dramatically.
Absolutely agree. People need to stop voting for candidates that never read the constitution
They're way ahead of the game.
Imagine how life will be when all of the people who know their constitutional rights are dead and gone , the young have been purposefully denied an education in all things civic for a reason , once WE who know our rights are dead they will run rough shod over anyone they please , it'll be like the movie idiocracy in the courts ..
@@azhockeynut8297 when are you going to buy free speech liability insurance?
Running for and holding office are also enumerated rights, require insurance for one right's expression, require it for all, including voting malpractice insurance.
Definitely something with more substance than taxpayers covering the cost of tyrants.
We need mandatory sentencing for officials who engage in wrongful arrest. Ever attorney or official involved with his wrongful arrest needs to be disbarred, charged, have their trial and be sentenced to about 2-3 years in prison. Examples need to be made.
Yes, the self-serving relationships in the justice system and the legal fiction of immunity have gone way too far. This was such an obvious and egregious breach of the constitution that everyone involved MUST be removed from power
For sure. Also, everyone that voted that stupid rule into place needs to join them.
I know Steve once talked about why SCOTUS doesn't get involved in the law making process, but I think they should be. If not the higher levels, at least the lower levels where the court can say, "Hey, this ain't going to fly."
Agree 100%. Same with bad cops.
20 years, not 2-3.
Forcibly stripping someone after an unlawful arrest. That should be kidnapping and sexual assault charges for all of them.
All day. No more of this behavior, seriously.
Illegally arresting somebody needs to be viewed as KIDNAPPING, and should result in criminal charges against those involved. When various immunities are granted to those in positions of power the result is always fascism.
Just like Joey.
Not to mention the strip search/sexual assault.
It's not facism it's authoritarianism nobody uses facist properly
Problem is with that "kidnapping" offence would only affect the wrong people and not the actual perp, it's very different seeing these things sitting on your chair and not from the perspective of the cop having to arrest the individual even if he doesn't agree with it since he could lose his job, his career and possibly other things if he refused to listen to the mayor.
That argument didn't work for the Nazis!@@21Noelsquires
If the mayor and police chief aren't arrested and charged, then the Constitution isn't taken seriously. Unless severe penalties are brought against tyranny, it will grow.
Thing is, all my life these officials of every stripe have sworn an “oath”, yet in all my decades I have never seen anyone punished for blatantly violating it.
An “oath” is meaningless without consequence when one breaks it.
@@choccolocco Those words are wind to placate the sheep. That oath is just pleasant mouth noises so the labor chattel respects their non-existant authority; How can they swear an oath to a document they've never read?
Can't agree strongly enough, this is indefensible.
And it makes one question how else they run that town. Just how corrupt are they?
@@docsavage4921My guess, very. We think D.C. is bad, in my experience the real bastions of corruption and fascism are at the local level. They rarely see this kind of scrutiny and backlash, so they think they can get away with anything. And most of the time they do.
💯🎯.
Things like this are why the Institute for Justice exists. Thank you for continuing to shine a spotlight on their important work.
We need strict punishment for politicians who violate citizens rights. They do it because they get away with it.
An innocent man was CRIMINALLY arrested by a criminal power structure. Those in positions of power, who violated the constitutional laws of the United States, should be facing CRIMINAL charges. Any civil action should be in addition to criminal charges for their criminal behaviour.
BUT, THE COLLECTIVE "WE" HAVE LET THE 1% ERS REIGN IN AN OLIGOPOLISTIC TYRRANY.
That town attorney needs to be disbarred. You don’t even have to take a single law class to know it was a violation of freedom of speech and the right to redress your government , 4th amendment violation because of the unlawful arrest and seizure of the person. That attorney need to be investigated a lot deeper .
give me 5 million dollars. ill change the course of history.
At least the judge found him not guilty.
Can the judge refer the prosecution of the man to the state bar?
That would be the Jasper County Attorney (I used to live near Newton; I practiced emergency medicine in Iowa before I retired and moved to Costa Rica.) The City of Newton definitely sees crime as a revenue generator. Tax revenues went into the toilet after Maytag left Newton. The county then built a BIG, fancy jail that houses inmates from multiple counties, and not only do they get money from those contracts, they charge ROOM AND BOARD for the "privilege" of being incarcerated in the Jasper County Jail, to the tune of $75/day. I'll never forget treating an inmate from the jail who had been held for three months on a public intox charge, awaiting trial. I think it's worth noting that the MAXIMUM jail time he would have faced is 30 days, and the fine maxes out at $300, I believe.
The county has five jails and two prisons, while the county's population sits at around 37,000 people. Jails and prisons employ HUNDREDS of people in Jasper County. They've turned law enforcement into a revenue generator!
@@mikecumbo7531 It's Iowa. Judges in Iowa basically serve as the County Attorneys' rubber stamps.
@@mikecumbo7531 "At least the judge found him not guilty." Maybe they'll arrest the judge.
Every day Steve slips closer and closer to becoming directly affiliated with the institute for justice; or becoming a civil rights auditor; either way good for you Steve.
I think that’s probably a great observation. I never thought about it much but usually you do hear a 0.0 ask as the amount. So I will default to your answer and go with it unless somebody comes on here and screams at us about some thing else :-) I’m sure somebody out there has an opinion contradictory if they didn’t then it really wouldn’t be Steve’s channel :-) have a good weekend. Thank you for reading my comment. It’s greatly appreciate it
As we all say, he should run for judge but I don’t think he would have the patience to be in politics. I thinking he loves what he does now, and will keep doing it until he hits 1 million people on his channel. I’ve been with him for quite a while and you’re correct, but Institute for justice I think after they gave him a fruit basket at the conference just kidding. He’s really looking out through their stuff and making sure everybody knows what could work they do. I have donated a couple times to the Institute, but wish their donation process was easier to do. He will keep up the good fight he is protecting us. He’s got a lot of kiss my way money. I’m sure at this point great comment.
I'm waiting for Steve to announce he is running for judge 😅
Does he really slips closer to institute, or there are more civil rights cases worth attention?
@@seanmaury7844 that would be a red letter day for sure. I don’t think this country deserves somebody like Steve so they can pick them apart and criticize everything. He does not that he would make mistakes, but people seem to always wanted to find the worst. Maybe I lived in New Jersey too long :-)
The very concept of a mayor having the authority to have anyone arrested at all is disturbing.
They don't care cause they get immunity from and do it again
To be fair, like the president is in charge of the military, the mayor is in charge of the police. But they’re still accountable for misbehavior.
Careful. He'll arrest you AND confiscate your birthday. ☠️
@@DMS20231It's not quite the same. The president is commander in chief. He's the general of the generals. The Mayor isn't the Chief of Police, he cannot issue orders. He just has political influence over them, can get them fired or hired.
They can't. That mayor committed a criminal act by having him arrested. The chief of police committed a criminal act by executing the order.
For those interested, there is a case in Texas involving Sylvia Gonzalez, identical to this, that is now going before the Supreme Court. The Institute of Justice just released an article on this. Hopefully we/society get a favorable ruling on this. Our elected officials need to be put in there place and held accountable.
Until there is very real and personal consequences nothing will matter.
Especially good to see younger people standing up for their rights....... It shows a real sense of patriotism. I'm 70 and enjoy seeing this kind of calling out our elected leaders..... Thanks to the young man and IJ for backing him up.....
Another example of why qualified immunity needs to END.
_ may not be able to do that anymore - y'all gotta realize once demons are given free reign, thanks to qualified immunity, it will take "hell" to shut it down !
It's not qualified immunity that needs to end, but rather the word QUALIFIED needs to be remembered. This is a clear cut example of UNQUALIFIED.
Politicians need to remember that they are not 'the boss'.
They are until someone stronger comes along and forces them to comply. That's how dictators happen. Trump still believes he's the boss.
Correction: it is the DUTY of the CITIZENS to remind the politicians that they are not in charge.
But, we, as citizens, have long forgotten that duty.
That?, only happens when the fascists start meeting up with an appropriate end…
They are SERVANTS! Not to an individual or person but to the public as whole. Sadly, they perform their duties with selfishness and not selflessness.
they remember when they are facing a whacko at their doorstep.
I saw this arrest in a video. The mayor told him you cant speak about the chief of police like that. He referred to him and the mayor as fascist. When he repeated it, the mayor banged his gavel again, again said he wouldnt tolerate the chief of police being spoken about like that and arrested him. The guy was super calm just reading his statement. Unbelievable when you find officials disregarding the 1st Amendment like this. Thank god for social media now as we can identify and expose this kind of behavior in these towns across America where innocent people have been convicted of nonexistent crimes and many of whom have been jailed.
What if they are Masons and he also took exception to that?
Well said AliceR27!
I saw the video also. When he called them fascist they proved they were.
I used to donate to the ACLU but I have recently lost confidence in them. I like what I see with regard to the Institute for Justice and I am now donating every month. May only be $5 but it's for a worthy cause. Thank you Steve for bringing this institution to my attention.
The ACLU takes cases that bring them the most press.
Thank you for bringing the Institute for Justice to our attention. What a great organization to support financially…
When politicians violate the bill of rights these offenses must be treated as felonies.
They are IMMUNE from following any laws
Deliberately violating their oath of office is grounds for dismissal or impeachment. I believe it to be treason.
Terrorist*
you meant treason I think
_ thought Newton was in Iowa - learned it was closer to Moscow & 😈putins'👿 heart !
Very small town in the Florida panhandle, a commissioner suggested that the board of commissioners video record their public meetings. After heated discussion back and forth the chairman defended his view that it wasn't necessary by saying, "What goes on here is nobody's business!" Room silence. He resigned the following day. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Look into the battle of Athens TN Aug 1946, stolen election caused a gun battle at a police station!!
How does the judge even let this go past the arraignment where the evidence is SO CRYSTAL CLEAR that their was no criminal violation !!!
But there was. Even if the law that the council passed is unconstitutional, that wasn't the issue before the judge.
$$$
The only information we have (or at least I have) was an article written by one of the litigants in an ongoing lawsuit. It is crystal clear this is not a clear headed look at what happened, but a very distorted one by a member of the group that is taking the guy's case to court. I am not defending him being arrested for what he did, but I don't think for a second that this version of events is anything resembling a fair summary. Nowhere is in this video is there any mention of the charges actually filed. Maybe it _was_ "criticizing local politicians", which we are only told was an comment by the Mayor, but we are not that it was the charge he was booked on. Perhaps it was something like "disrupting an official proceeding" for not stopping when he was told to. In which case it becomes less pure black/pure white, and a judge might easily see this as something that could go to trial.
They all are part of a "click" and that is the world they want. They are what happens when self serving people get jobs that require them to be sefless to do the job right.
@@rhymeswithorange6092so officials can just tell you to stop when you say something they don’t like? Unless there was some other legitimate reason for them to tell him to stop that’s BS. He was giving his statement during the period of time citizens are allowed to make their statements.
I’m glad to hear this young man is fighting the city. I grew up in Iowa, and Newton had a reputation for corruption when I was growing up, 55 years ago. The only time my mother (who drove for 78 years) got a ticket was when we were driving through Newton on our way to somewhere else.
Throw the mayor and chief of police in prison.
We need an end to Qualified Immunity because it is empowering politicians, bureaucrats, law enforcement and other public official to do whatever they desire without considering or fearing consequences.
Excellent episode. Thank you.
Qualified Immunity is essentially granting our officials and police the excuse "I was just doing my job, just following orders." We didnt let the Nazi's use that excuse at Nuremburg but apparently it's okay for those in power here at home. Abolish Qualified Immunity
You people need to stop with chanting "end qualified immunity". That will make no difference. At all. The cops do not pay themselves. They are covered by the city. The taxpayers foot the bill. But rarely is it enough to wake the taxpayers up to vote for people who will not violate people's rights and cost them more money.
No, what you need to be chanting for is that the politicians, judges, prosecutors, and cops are held CRIMINALLY accountable for their crimes. And qualified immunity has nothing to do with that.
Remember, qualified immunity was put into law by liberal judges. Not the Constitution or the people!
@@vernowen2083 QI was put into place by conservative judges. There were previous cases, but the 1967 and 1982 Supreme Court decisions are the key ones.
The states that have recently limited QI claims are considered liberal, while the ones with the most extensive QI are very conservative.
Oddly political free speech used to be considered a key conservative ideal, with liberals often accused of wanting to limit speech. But the sides have switched on this issue with conservative often meaning authoritarian.
I'm SURE that mayor NEVER criticizes our president or other federal politicians, RIGHT?
Right!!!! Communism is alive and well in America.
He can, because he is superior to most of the people and thus has more rights.
@@MrTruckerf😅
@@MrTruckerfhe is the leader.
Not a stupid representative.
He has every right to, but as much as he has the right to he and his minions don't realize or don't care is that the public also has a right to as well if you don't like it resign!
One of the most absurd parts of this is that the district attorney or prosecutor actually brought the charges without dismissing them early. That just goes to show you how much their prosecutor or district attorney knows about the first amendment. I submit to you that things like this have been going on in that town for a long time and this is not the end of it. Imagine that, a district attorney or prosecutor and the solicitor for the town and the chief of police the dumbest of the dumb and the mayor who comes in a close second, who’s thinking in that town? Or someone should check the credentials of the district attorney or prosecutor, they may have paid for their shingle.
The Job of the district attorney or prosecutor is to take a garbage case that should be thrown out for bad "investigation or conduct" that was brought forth by their law enforcement and spinning it into a case that can be sold to a jury to get a conviction no matter how wrong the case is. If it is the wishes of higher ups saying this person must be silenced or put away so as to not interfere with the actions of the town for example, it's their job to make the (or sell) case to the Judge and jury and a lot of the times (now that I mention it) the Judge will be working with them to make it so.👍👀
Rural areas it's pretty common for a DA to take the cops word over a "kid" even though the "kid" is a legal adult with full rights, privileges, and protections under the US constitution. The DA should be grateful the trial ended in not guilty and isn't being sued or investigated over it (yet).
Guess they don't teach Constitutional Law in whatever Law School that these prosecutors went to. Probably should check if the Prosecutors actually went to Law School.
Prosecutors in this country have entrenched a mentality of "convict at any cost." They will lie, cheat, and steal to send innocent people to jail.
They know perfectly well everything about the 1st Amendment. They just don't care.
The prosecutor should be sued as well because he also violated his civil rights. The prosecutor needs to taken before the bar for prosecutorial misconduct.
This kind of conduct by police and politicians is becoming more and more commonplace . This man deserves a MASSIVE payout AND the Mayor and the police chief need to be held personally responsible as well as their respective offices . Both these officials need to be fired not only fired but have their qualifications revoked to prevent them holding any type of public office again. This young man is an inspiration and absolutely my hero too. Huge credit also to the institute for justice for supporting and prosecuting these cases .
It’s always been there. The internet makes it to where we see it now. It’s never been any different.
This criminal tyrannical behavior is what the 2nd amendment is for. What is wrong with us ? Why are we not stopping these crimes when they happen ?
These lawsuits need to make the individuals involved be held liable for monetary damages.
PERSONALLY liable, not tax monies or insurance companies
Fat chance.
All government employees involved in this need to be removed from their positions! Let their pensions pay for the settlement! End qualified immunity now!
The mayor needs to be ARRESTED and CHARGED with 18 USC 242... along with the arresting officer.
NOTHING CHANGES, IF THEY DON'T GO TO PRISON.
This exact thing has happened before many times, person criticizes or complains and they are either silenced, kicked out or arrested after being interrupted.
Even when exonerated, he still has an arrest record and his information is in the system. This results in decreased job and travel opportunities. It also increases your chances of follow on arrests and malicious/erroneous charges.
That’s not true. He was acquitted and will not go on his record. If he has a felony conviction then it stays on. If you are exonerated then it gets demolished
@@leo29hornsfan Not everywhere. You would also be surprised to see how much information is kept. The state rarely ever truely eliminates all records. How do you think you repeatedly hear news stories where they specifically state previous arrest records with charges that were dropped?
@@leo29hornsfan wrong. Had a property trash accumulation charge from inherited property. When trying to rent a home in a state that I moved to, I was denied rental "because you're a criminal, you have a record". Something shocking to me, given my security clearance being active.
Suffice it to say, that real estate office has since folded, as no referrals from our local military base housing were allowed again and the home owner, who insisted on such a travesty gets regular inspections of the property, out of an abundance of caution over the safety of the tenants.
Don't get mad, don't get even, get ahead and take the shoulders with it.
Thise damages should be part of his lawsuit.
The Police Chief ought to be charged with assault, battery, and false imprisonment, for starters. The prosecuting attorney should be disbarred. And the mayor ought be considered a conspirator or participant in any crimes the Chief committed.
It seems so bizarre that they wouldn't know how wrong they were . I can only guess that the mayor, cop, and prosecutor knew what they were doing was wrong, but just figured that this kid wouldn't pursue a lawsuit.
I saw the body cam of the DUI arrest, and it was ridiculous. That kid was more articulate and balanced than I am most days.
Was that the young kid with blond curly hair?
I think he was the one that was just laughing at the cops cause he knew how awfully wrong they were and he was shocked he was actually the one going through police corruption. You see it on videos then you think it won’t happen to you but it’s really bad out there. 98% of LEOs have a power trip on their “authority” that comes with the badge…
That was a(nother) case of trying to be “nice” and cooperating and got himself right into a case🤦🏻♂️
@jeremeyswillis fat settlement you mean
Kid did terrible on the sobriety test though because he had the attention span of a squirrel. Never agree to the sobriety test folks!
This happened to a 19 year old over a DUI. Imagine what happens to those who really get in the way.
I remember watching this video of the first arrest and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I love stories like this, It renews my faith in justice. Thanks for the up-date. Can't wait to see the final outcome.
Australian here. I envy your constitution and right to free speech. We don't have any of that here
Imagine what people like this would do if the constitution didn't exist.
Plenty of other countries handle this a lot better without the US constitution. It was pretty unique in its time, but 250 years later it isn't that special. Nor is our common law system better by any real measure.
I hate even thinking about it! We just have to enforce it better. I don't want to be a serf who is beheaded for gazing at the king as he passed. The US constitution rocks!
Ignorance is bliss huh?@@ZeroRed78
They'd be Canadians.
@@ZeroRed78 Name one. You don't have rights at all in other countries.
What's even more disgusting is that the DA dragged this case before the judge. So who's in charge at the prosecutor's office? The lawyers or the cops? I guess that's self evident.
Friends racketeering for friends
The county attorney, the regular criminal prosecutor, refused to prosecute the case. The city attorney then took it over and proceeded as a municipal offense.
I'm always curious why they never include the prosecuting attorney as a defendant in these lawsuits. As an attorney, they should know the law better than most people, and held to a higher standard. In cases where the prosecutions are so baseless and groundless, no one can legitimately argue a defense of qualified immunity.
One reason is that they are protected from lawsuits for prosecuting cases that come to them.
@@CrazyRFGuySo the person who makes a living holding people accountable for their actions is themselves immune to accountability? That sounds incredibly hypocritical!!!
@@CrazyRFGuy Yes I get it. No one would take the job if they could be sued by any and everyone that becomes a defendant in a criminal case. And yes, I supposed the thinking is that the prosecutors and the judges will ultimately be held accountable at the ballot box. But come on, some things are so blatantly and obviously illegal and corrupt there has to be some accountability.
They could be reported to your states bar association. If there actions are egregious, your complaint might actually go somewhere.
They, along with judges enjoy absolute immunity.
Police Chief should be sued also along with Mayor...Guilty .
The officials involved in Newton need to go to prison. Not jail, prison. And be fined accordingly as well.
what we need is a stage 4 cancer patient with 3 months to live; and a will to dish out as much damage as possible.
Every government employee involved in this shouldn't just get sued, they should be imprisoned for no less than 20 years.
Abuse of Power should be considered Treason
If they don’t prosecute the mayor and police chief, then there is literally no hope for this country
Same as the whole Trump cult players. I was beginning to think all the many perps would never be held accountable, but it is taking years to do so. Somehow, we have got to have swifter justice.
@@glynnetolar4423 Either you misunderstand me or you are replying to someone else. Please explain. I have a massive problem with such deviant behavior as well as government accepting bribes for doing the bidding of Big Corporations.
Every single citizen should be terrified that you can be arrested for DUI *despite blowing 0.00*
Yeah, that prosecutor needs to be ADDED to
that LawSuit🤬🤬🤬
He SHOULD NOT
have even TRIED to
PROSECUTE that case
God bless this young man for standing up. Although I spent 33 years in the Army defending the Constitution, I have the utmost respect for this guy who is truly a hero for liberty and justice. I'd love to have just 10 men like this in my unit and we could defend the planet.
If there was a god this wouldn't have happened in the first place. We the people bless this man and thank him for standing up for our rights.
The kid is a bit of a fat body and looks a little slow and beat down mentally (like a lot of young men today he isn't being taught to stand up straight). He needs a good stint in the Military to help gift him with some self pride, confidence, get him in shape, and teach him discipline and leadership. He's clearly got the backbone thing locked down and solid, so he'd be an fine addition to the military and it'd benefit him to no end. As he is right now, he doesn't look like much, but if he gets a good DI and NCOs with their heads on straight, they'll encourage and support him and teach him to hold his head up high and have good military bearing, then get him into the officer academy and teach him how to lead from example. Kid has potential.
Who did you defend the constitution from while in the army?
@@snex000 *facepalm* Okay, let me help you with that. Consider, if you do not have a military, do you think that other nations will respect your borders and your laws? The correct answer is no, they will not. The military is the front line, the sword and shield that defends your lands, your people, and your rights. Or at least that's what it's there for ostensibly. So while in the military you are defending the constitutional rights of the people of your nation. Without the military no country will survive long as an independent entity and those rights of that nation will not extend or protect the people of that land. So you defend the constitution from all enemies... foreign and domestic.
All lies
One of the main tenets for freedom of speech IS to criticize government officials.
Police, DA, City officials, etc. all should be immediately arrested and charged. Some of the crimes committed include multiple counts of felony conspiracy against rights, multiple counts of felony deprivation of rights, assault, battery, kidnapping/abduction, false imprisonment/unlawful restraint, sexual assault/abuse, etc. etc. etc.
Arrested by who? Charged by who? There are no easy answers. Every answer has possible unforseen ramifications.
@@wmason1961 Arrested by anyone with the power to do so. That includes FBI, state and local cops that have jurisdiction, and even potentially citizens since "citizen arrest" powers are a thing.
Looks like the local DAs office is complicit so it would likely be state AG or go the federal route for charges.
These traitors clearly violated USC 18.13.241 and 242 for example.
Now will they? No. Because they are all corrupt.
@@wmason1961 The department of justice is supposed to prosecute these crimes. 18 USC 241 Conspiracy against rights and 18 USC 242 Deprivation of rights under color of law.
Remember that false arrest is a kidnapping.
18 USC 241
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured-
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
18 USC 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and 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; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
In this case not only should the local municipality be on the hook for any judgment that results from the lawsuit, but the council members and the chief of police should also be held personally financially accountable too.
Until those in power are held accountable, this type of illegal conduct will continue…
This is something I feel we should all do rather than watching these videos, shaking our head at the injustice then scrolling to the next video. I saw that video (young man not intoxicated yet arrested for DUI) and was outraged as well but it happened in his town and he did something about it. God Bless that young man for having the courage.
Official fragility. They can't stand up under scrutiny.
This is why we have to end qualified immunity and sovereign immunity, and have federal criminal and civil laws passed to fix this
Its been long known, that people in power will change the rules to favor themselves. Long Known. Why do you think the 2nd amendment exists? It's the first and last desperate measure available to you if you get desperate enough.
Imagine if there was a federal agency that fined municipalities and public officials when they violated the constitution
Fined the city officials...let's leave the taxes alone
Yes clearly what we need is EVEN MORE GOVERNMENT. Brilliant fucking take.
As an American I defend my own rights , right then and there on the street , I ain't waiting around for some judge to violate me again , if I'm in court , the officer who violated me will already be in the ground and I'll be rich ..$$
there is a federal crime of denning someone their rights and freedoms under color of law... I don't remember the exact section at the moment, but the range of penalty is very broad. It goes from as low as 1 year in jail &/or$10K fine too steep as execution if the victim is raped or dies in custody.
Bad idea. Such an agency could be politicized to harass ideological opponents across the country. Imagine Merrick Garland in charge of such an agency... The courts are the place for these things.
He was arrested for Contempt of Cop - the most heinous crime of all to a politician.
Sadly, situations like this are becoming the norm, and not the exception.
The mayor, the city attorney, the entire city council and the entire police department had to be fired, charged, tried and convicted for forming a criminal organization.
Civil lawsuit is not enough. They all must be personally prosecuted for the crime they committed.
They acted in concert to perform a criminal action, sounds more like RICO time. They did not learn the first-time things were thrown out and the city ordinance deemed unconstitutional, so they took another bite at the apple, and again lost. Nothing says political motivation and malicious prosecution like another bite at the apple.
Executed
encourage him to run for mayor and sign the petition at change dot org to end qualified immunity. thanks
You spelled publicly executed wrong.
Imagine how corrupt the city must be to need to prevent people from criticizing.
Thank you to the freedom fighters!
This is happening a lot all over the US. Policing needs to be completely striped down and rebuilt. It's unfixable in its current state.
People have been saying this for at least 3 generations now. Never changes.
A lot of folks though either forget or ignore the rebuild part, only to strip down the police...
How do you strip down and fix something when the fix is voted on by people, probably the same people, elected to office?
2 years in a seat for education about the law and constitution. Only after you learn the education can you go for physical training.
I've often said, we have a policing problem in America, not a race problem. It effects African-Americans more because they are disproportionately poor and working class, but it hurts all regular people, regardless of skin color.
just because the mayor said " arrest this man " is the police required to arrest him or can the police say i cant there is not reason too.
Only legal orders are just that, legal. The mayor could order them to do anything, but they should refuse unlawful orders.
Yes. And if they refuse and are fired or arrested they can join the lawsuit against the mayor.
If they have 2 things:
1): Respect for the Constitution,
2): The cajones to enforce the rights spelled out therein.
Yes, they are. They are just following orders. You know, like the Germans who put the Jews on the trains.
Cops are rather stupid creatures. They just can't seem to understand that a law that says you can't criticize government would not be constitutional. If there is an ordinance, they think that it overrides the constitution. Clearly the cops in the town or petty and vindictive and when he called them out for the bad arrest, I am sure they enjoyed the chance to retaliate against him.
Just set up a monthly donation to IJ. I am a retired police officer and I find this arrest absolutely disgusting. I used to teach Civil Liability for Police at the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy in Tucson. This is exactly what I stressed not to do when someone is criticizing you or government in general. Like your videos, even when you criticize the police. Most of the time, it is deserved.
Know about the battle of Athens TN Aug 1946, stolen election caused a 6- hour gun battle & dynamite at a police station to retrieve stolen ballot boxes, 2-300 locals against 2-3 dozen cops in station.
@user-Id5lm1tu4r
I retired as a police officer two years ago with a little over 37 years. I still teach at the academy on a volunteer basis.
I teach a 40 hour course called Arrest, Search and Seizure which isn’t about civil liability per se but it sure hits all around your class.
I repeat and then leave them with, you have to respect constitutional rights, period.
Situations like this sometimes makes the concept easy.
I served 27 years and now train police officers on crime scene processing techniques and documentation in a 40 hour course. Though the course focuses on crime scene processing, we also cover various search warrant requirements and some of the pitfalls that might put an officer in jeopardy of violating the 4th Amendment.
👍
Well as someone who doesn't look to kindly at cops you guys are sorely under trained. You should have 2 and 4 year degree programs in policing. If nothing else weed out the idiots who park on RR tracks with a detainee inside. You need psychological screening for psychopaths. What's the actual failure rate of trainees? You need an entire year learning the Constitution and civil rights law. And the list goes on. What we are tired of is cops violating our civil rights and then getting sued after and then they are protected by qualified immunity. We want less violations and less lawsuits to begin with.
He also has a 1983 suit as it was a collusion of the City and PD.
What they did wasn't just a violation, it rises to the level of egregious. This kid is going to walk away from this with a large check.
Thanks for covering this! As a public servant myself, I wholeheartedly stand with auditors and constituents who utilize their constitutional rights to speak against issues, ESPECIALLY, the ones who do and are treated unfairly for doing just that. This is why we love you Steve, because you're not just a competent attorney, you're one with empathy AND sympathy and you speak against foolishness as well. I encourage everyone to learn rules regarding speaking at PUBLIC meetings, GO, and SPEAK YOUR PEACE.
we need more public servants like you. Clone yourself and fill more positions please. Love Steve's shirt BTW
How about piece
@@geraldtakala1721 that too! It's actually both...you see, they go speaking knowledge and truth against hate and tyranny. The voice of the people against it IS peace they bring against those who aren't peaceful and are full of corruption.
Well said!
This arrest is on camera... If this is how they behave on camera what's going on off camera???
They've made America great again subterranean style. Go go corporate America
It's hard to believe that thic city put the policy of no critizing govt. into writing, Almost makes me want to be a lawyer
Once found guilty of(blaintently) violating the Constitution, said official should be removed and not have to be voted out.
That is awesome that this young man stood up for his rights and holding corrupt government officials accountable for their actions.
OUTSTANDING example of courage by the young man asserting his right to Speak! I'm so proud of you! ❤
Sadly we see too much of that. When a citizen reads a book out loud, approved for 4th grades ( in the local school ). But they are silenced because they the council claims it's pornographic. We have an issue.
Seriously, what the heck is wrong with our Government as of late. This is got to be the craziest arrest I have heard of. I hope they are thrown in jail like they think they can do to innocent citizens. Thanks for bringing this to us Steve. Keep up the great work.
Well, now that the internet is ubiquitous we're noticing all the unconstitutional stuff that was alredy happening everywhere
Very true@@RedKincaid
The only change is that people all have pocket cameras now.
This isn’t new, my friend. Unfortunately it’s probably been like this for all of American history. Truth be told it was probably much worse back then, but the government completely controlled the narrative. We were sold a bill of goods. When I was younger the narrative was certain groups of people were lying about how cops treated them. But now? I can only imagine how people were treated by cops back before even the possibility of a camera being around. Scary to think.
@@snex000Exactly, if anything things are slowly, finally getting better.
The city attorney should loose his ability to work as a lawyer as well. Either corrupt or incompetent to the point that the constitutionality of his actions didn't matter.
"A competent cop should have said 'arrest him for what?'"
Especially considering the cop in question is a police chief!
The Iowa state motto, on the flag, is. "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain."
Apparently this does not apply in Newton.
Obviously this is going to be a slam dunk in court but remember this is everywhere there are small governments. Every town, city, county, state, must be challenged regularly to ensure our rights remain intact.
We must hold them to account or disavow our permission to be governed.
Absolutely. Unchallenged, peacefully, authority WILL be abused.
Seems to be at state and federal levels if you judge by what Trump is being put through.
I don't know....Trump is still being charged and is in a kangaroo court.
@barrythomas529 Totally political prosecution. If the American people let this abuse of power go unchallenged, we may as well install a dictator and abolish elections.
It’s well past time that we have trained citizens committees to review arrests/prosecutions for Constitutional violations and prevent these governmental abuses. Local governments investigating themselves doesn’t work.
The city attorney should be disbarred for incompetence.
this shows that you will encounter tyrants at EVERY level of government
Sounds like in a previous life these people were running an HOA.
The mayor and the chief of police should be arrested for false imprisonment, and every other charge that they can get against them
It's IRONIC that the INNOCENT American citizen ACCUSED the police chief and mayor of being FASCISTS, which hurt the police chief and the mayor's little feelings, so what did they do? THEY ACTED LIKE FASCISTS! BIG SURPRISE!
My parents, aunt, and cousins live in Newton, IA. I knew that Newton cops seem to think they can do whatever they want, but this is on a completely different level than I expected. How they thought a "rule" like that could ever stand is just insane to me.
Look into the battle of Athens Tn Aug 1946, stolen election caused a gun battle & dynamite use at a police station to retrieve stolen ballot boxes, 2-300 locals against 2-3 dozen cops in the station!!
Sorry about your kinfolk. They must be tiptoeing around all the time. Newton sounds like an unfriendly place. Americans shouldnt be afraid to open their mouths and peaceably voice their opinions.
@@denisemarie6997 That's the weirdest part to me. It's really not an unfriendly place. My family's lived in the area in and around Newton for over 100 years. Ppl there are generally pretty friendly. It's not like Huxley, IA where anyone not from the town will get a ticket if they go even 1 mph over the speed limit. But there's been a lot of economic hardship in Newton in the past 20 years and it's not quite the same town it was in my childhood.
That said, there is an old boys club that runs everything. It's why they're so confident in their clearly unlawful actions - they think they're untouchable.
It would be nice if this resulted in the old boys club getting broken up.
@@SadisticSenpai61 Newton is friendly to your relatives specifically because they've lived in the area for over 100 years, and are probably benign to the interests of the Old Money that really runs the town.
@@SadisticSenpai61I can tell you know Iowa if you call out Huxley or Windsor Heights for their over the top tickets.
Newton, IA isn't just a crappy little corn and cheese burg. It's the home of the Iowa Speedway, as in NASCAR. There's money up in there. And as a trucker, I stopped at their crappy little Love's Truck stop many a time while traversing the US on I-80.
Sounds like a good place for NASCAR to launder money
Just made another donation to IJ to support this case! Thanks for your highlighting of their great work.
The problem is these local politicians don’t care it’s not their money, and the tax payers are footing the bill for their nonsense. Happens everywhere tax payers losing again .
This case needs national media coverage and seen by as many people as possible. Also, I hope the city's rules against criticism is redacted for unconstitutionality and those who enacted and enforced it are charged with a crime.
This happens all over the US !! Read about all the speed traps at NMA -National Motorists Association !! Thanks
They need to be criminally charged, also the lawyer. No more of this crap.
So how the hell does the city attorney and the city prosecutor keep their law license?!
I'm sorry but that Mayor and the police officers need to be charged with deprivation of rights.
yeah I'm sure the FBI will get right on that
@@darkkingastos4369 Oh oh we all know that wont happen. They are too busy entraping people, targetting old ladies and stealing property.
250+ years since the American Revolution and we are back to having to argue over the most fundamental type of free speech…