Thread by @R3volutionDaddy

Here’s what happened when we got detained.

A thread:

https://twitter.com/r3volutiondaddy/status/1331897952244142082

On this night there was new graffiti popping up all over town during the late hours. I went on a little scavenger hunt because I wanted to see and document what I could before it got cleaned up. We were driving and saw “fuck thxgiving” & “land back” tagged all over Hawthorne so

https://twitter.com/r3volutiondaddy/status/1331936939700719617

We decided to explore on foot. Not that I need to explain myself, but because it was late af and there are literal nazis who want me dead I didn’t go alone, I brought someone with me who was legally armed. This is important later. Anyways, right as we park we hear the sound of

some windows shattering. It sounded like it came from a different direction than where all the art was so we kind of ignored it and continued moving forward. The first building we approached was this Wells Fargo that was tagged and had the majority of its windows smashed in.

I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty 😳 when I saw this. The Wells Fargo was DESTROYED. So, we walked, I took pictures and videos and they made fun of me, business as usual. We left Wells Fargo to continue down Hawthorne so I could photograph the rest of the street art.

Before continuing down we turned into a neighborhood because I really had to use the bathroom. We’re just casually walking when out of nowhere a police vehicle is behind us with their lights and sirens on. The cop stops us and gets out of the car and starts asking us what we’re

doing & if we had seen anything. We were confused, seen anything like what? Seconds later another cop pulled up. They start questioning us, but of course they started directing all their focus & energy towards my friend who was helping w security who is... you guessed it, Black

They told us that we had fit the description of people who were in the area committing crimes. Asked us if we had broken into any places or busted any windows.

They asked me if I had called the cops when I saw the banks renovations, I looked at them quite puzzled as they insinuated that not doing so makes us guilty.

We explained the situation again and I reiterated once again that I was a journalist documenting, I was even wearing my credentials including a hoodie that says “press” on it. The person with me got their firearm taken away, even though they were open carrying completely legally.

They continued to pat them down and search them, for whatever reason they didn’t seem to want me to film. There was still only a few cops present at the time.

Slowly more and more cops started showing up. Before we knew it there were at least 8 of them. We were both pretty scared and complying as much as we could because it was just us two and Black people have been shot over much less.

Eventually there were 3 cops on them, I asked them why I wasn’t being searched, only them, and they told me “maybe if you listened you would’ve heard us say we are going to search him and then you”
I said ok. I’ll make sure to go back and watch my footage. (They never said that)

They were annoyed I was filming and asked me to not make this a “Black thing” because it’s a “safety thing.”
They finished searching them and saw that they answered their questions honestly about not having anything else on them and proceeded to handcuff them and

have them sit in the car regardless. They said it would be “brief” and that it was for our own safety. While they were in the car is when i got patted down. I had one male officer standing behind me with his crotch up against my ass squeezing my hands as hard as he could. The

lady officer patting me down kept tugging my sweatpants down exposing me from the back. When they finished they kept trying to catch me slipping, but we were literally there for what we said. I mentioned I was a journalist but they kept trying to get me to say I wasn’t. They said

it was weird that we were in the area and commented on my black snowboarding jacket lol. Before all of this, the cops had verbally acknowledged the fact that the person with me was open carrying numerous times, however I got asked a question about their firearm and it was

insinuating that they were concealed carrying. It definitely made me pause but I thought for sure it was a slip up. The firearm was very visible... As time went by and I heard them talking to one another and trying to ask questions I noticed that more cops

started insinuating the same thing. One officer that later showed up even asked them “if you were open carrying then why didn’t I see it?” a good amount of time after the cops patted us down and took their firearm and gear. The cops were all super scared the entire time too which

honestly scared me a lot. After getting patted down I would instinctively reach my hand in my pocket because it was freezing outside and they would FLIP OUT. After already knowing there’s nothing there. It was over two hours of complete bullshit but at least we waisted resources?

Such a ridiculous amount of police too 🤦🏻‍♀️ at least 8 on foot, a ton of vehicles and countless uc vehicles that kept driving in and out. They handcuffed them so hard when they came out of the car they were visibly in pain. (Their back is actually still hurting from it). Cops told

us that they weren’t citing us or arresting us, but they did take pics and information as well as their firearm and ballistic vest.

If I left anything out I’ll add it later I’m super sleep deprived atm

Also- even though I corrected them countless times and explained it 2 the police the cops kept intentionally misgendering them. At one point I corrected a cop & said “they” and a few of them chuckled. Also- can we talk about the fact that they’re literally so bad at doing their

jobs? Again... when we arrived we heard glass shattering, but they still followed and waisted time on two individuals who were casually strolling the sidewalk taking pictures. If I was to ever break into a bank, I promise I wouldn’t hang around and take videos with my face

exposed to their cameras and visible identifiable markings whilst not at all trying to hide from five oh lol....? 🤦🏻‍♀️😡

One last thing (I think)... and this is pretty important to always keep in mind.

Later, I found out that someone else had been detained sometime while we were detained. The other cops were asking them questions like “are you also armed” referring to “their friends...” police

are always tricking you and trying to spin whatever you’re saying, selectively pick and choose whatever they want out of it or just straight up use it against you AND OTHERS. never forget this. They were simultaneously trying to get other people to make it harder for us and to

somehow incriminate us (and also them). Cops are sneaky, the language they use is super calculated. I don’t think we should ever underestimate their manipulative capabilities.

Ok ok last thing for reals, the lady cop at one point goes “so why would a journalist need armed protection?”
(Mind you the reporters who work with the police always have armed detail)

I told her what I stated earlier, I said

“because there are right wing extremists who have been following me and literally want to kill me and my friends”
She said “now you know how we feel”
🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
Alright. Now I need an excederin migraine.

💯 this. Don’t talk to cops. It’s also a reminder that they often put people in situations where they’re forced to communicate with the police, and everyone should be prepared and remember how cops operate and how manipulative they are trained to be in these situations.

https://twitter.com/QuailmanQueef/status/1333268014880284675