Whacked out officer rips open car door and yells like a drill sergeant.
An enraged police officer in Illinois was caught on camera during an exchange Friday with a driver who attempted to exercise his Constitutional rights at a random police checkpoint – making for compelling yet disturbing viewing.
Ryan Scott set a camera in his car to record as he was ushered into the checkpoint, believing that his rights were about to be trampled upon. The resulting footage shows what happened when Scott asked police whether he was being detained or not.
Scott writes “I was just stopped at an unconstitutional CHECKPOINT in DeKalb, Illinois. This was Illinois State Police conducting the unconstitutional searches. You won’t believe how this just went down!” The action begins at 3.30 mins.
When he explained to the first officer that he was not obligated to provide his driver’s license if he is not being detained or suspected of committing a crime, the second officer ripped open the car door and yelled “YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU ARE OBLIGATED, GET OUT NOW!”
Under the Fourth Amendment, police are not allowed to search vehicles without probable cause or consent from the driver.
“DRIVING IS A PRIVELEDGE NOT A RIGHT.” the cop nevertheless continued to yell at Scott.
“He was not aware that he was being recorded when he ripped my door open. Unbelievable!” Scott writes.
“This kind of misconduct and behavior is not acceptable. This is what happens when you exercise your Constitutional Rights as a law abiding American citizen.” he adds.
Clearly there came a point during the exchange when the officer opted to use fierce intimidation. Scott, fearing he would be physically assaulted, complied with the officer, rather than pursue the verbal exchange.
Scott further explains that he “completely forgot to ask for name and badge number because this guy scared the shit out of me.”
Ironically, the video was uploaded a day after the incident on ‘Thank a Police Officer Day’.