Once again, a police officer disregards the First Amendment and shows contempt and distain for the constitutional rights of an American citizen.
Jim Quodomine, a CBS 2 News cameraman, attempted to videotape a peaceful march by members of a community wishing to draw attention to young victims of violence in the community.
On October 28, 2008, Quodomine was attempting to videotape the march on a public sidewalk outside a church in Newark, New Jersey, when he was confronted by New Jersey special police officer, Brian Shariff.
Shariff orders Quodomine to put away the camera, but the cameraman opts to follow his Freedom of the Press right under the First Amendment and ignores the officer's illegal order. Shariff steps toward Quodomine and begins to violently take the camera from him. A struggle ensues in which Shariff controls Quodomine in a choke hold, and then handcuffs him and puts him in the back of a squad car.
During the struggle, Quodomine's co-worker, reporter Christine Sloan, is yelling in the background, "You can't arrest him!" to which the officer replies, "I can do whatever I want!"
Sloan begins to question Shariff who then tells her to "stay away from me right now, or you'll be sitting in that car."
At this time, Quodomine has been charged with disorderly conduct, and Shariff has been suspended without pay.
In a related First Amendment incident back on August 25, 2009, police officer, Wesley Cheeks, disregarded the free speech rights of an American citizen at a town hall meeting in Reston, Virginia.
Cheeks ordered the protester to take down his anti-Obamacare poster telling him, "I can charge you with whatever I want to charge you with." The protester replied, "This is America!" to which Cheeks responded, "It ain't no more, OK?"
Imagine if these incidents involved white police officers and black citizens. Brother O and the mainstream media propagandists would ballyhoo them as proof of American racism. As it stands, the cowardice of Americans permits Lady Justice to peep selectively from under her blindfold.
Jerry A. Kane——
Bio and Archives
Jerry A. Kane is a retired English professor who has also worked as a journalist and technical writer. His writings have been featured at Canada Free Press and some have appeared at WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and in daily and weekly newspapers across the country. His commentaries, news stories, and musings appear regularly on his blog, The Millstone Diaries.
