Guardsman faces prison for filming police

Outrageous. Simply outrageous.

After the rise of the surveillance state in the 1990s and 2000s, it's only fair to practice countersurveillance to keep the system honest. Such vigilance on our part is also downright necessary.

But don't tell that to right-wing authorities in Maryland.

Recently, police arrested a Maryland Air National Guard sergeant for speeding on his motorbike. The man being arrested captured the incident with a camera on his helmet. The video shows a plainclothes cop jumping out of an unmarked car and pointing a pistol at him.

But now the man is in trouble not for speeding - but for daring to film the policeman's unprofessional behavior. He's facing 16 years in prison just for making a video of the incident. After he posted the clip on YouTube, cops raided his home and seized (stole) his computer.

He's facing 16 years for making a video of his arrest??? It was on a public road, so what expectation does the police officer have of privacy?

This reminds me of back around 1996 when you started to see stories like this daily. How many of you really want to return to that era of police state growth that lasted for years? That's none of you, I see.

(Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/08/201082214554232983.html)