Three Connecticut police officers are accused of fabricating charges against a man who was protesting DUI checkpoints police action after their conversation was unknowingly captured on video.
The officers were unaware that the camera they seized from Michael Picard was recording as they discussed what charges he would receive. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing the state of Connecticut on Picard’s behalf, he was well-known to police and frequently protested around Hartford.
“Community members like me have a right to film government officials doing their jobs in public, and we should be able to protest without fearing political retribution from law enforcement,” Picard said. “As an advocate for free speech, I’m deeply disappointed that these police officers ignored my rights, particularly because two of the troopers involved were supervisors who should be setting an example for others. By seeking to hold these three police officers accountable, I hope that I can prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.”
On Sept. 11, 2015, Picard, who believed sobriety stops in West Hartford were a waste of taxpayer money, was protesting on the side of the road with a sign that warned of the police presence ahead when troopers John Barone, Patrick Torneo and John Jacob approached him. They falsely said they had received complaints about his protest and knocked Picard’s camera out of his hands. They then searched Picard and found his firearm, for which he has an open-carry permit.
Picard picked up his camera and turned it on, as an officer tried to prevent him from photographing them, stating that “taking [the police’s] picture is illegal.” The officer took the camera from Picard’s hands and walked it back to the squad car where his firearm permit was being checked. The camera then recorded the officers’ conversation.
“Michael’s permit comes back as valid, they say ‘oh crap,’ and one of the troopers says we gotta punch a number on this guy,’ which means open an investigation in the police database. And he says ‘we really gotta cover our asses,’” said Dan Barrett, legal director for ACLU-CT. “And then they have a very long discussion about what to charge Michael with—none of which appear to have any basis in fact. This plays out over eight minutes. They talk about ‘we could do this, we could do this, we could do this.’”
The police decide to charge Picard with reckless use of a highway by a pedestrian and creating a public disturbance. One of the officers tells the others, “What we say is that multiple motorists stopped to complain about a guy waving a gun around, but none of them wanted to stop and make a statement.”
The charges against Picard were eventually dismissed, and now he is suing on three claims. The suit claims that Picard’s right to record was violated because the police repeatedly attempted to prevent him from using his camera. It also argues the camera was seized unlawfully under the Fourth Amendment because the police had no probable cause for taking it. The third is a claim of retaliation under the First Amendment.
“Whether it was because he was carrying a sign criticizing the police, because he was recording the police, because they just didn’t like him, or all of the above, it really appears from the evidence that they completely manufactured criminal charges against Michael,” Barrett said.
A Connecticut State Police spokeswoman would not comment on the case or confirm the employment status of the three officers involved. The officers did not respond to request for comment.
Comments