To be handed an arbitrary citation is one thing, but to have your cash simply snatched by an officer of the law is especially egregious.
This is not a rare, or isolated event. 30 years ago, long before the Internet where one could publicize it, I had a SC cop take all of the money out of my wallet at a traffic stop. Someday I will tell you the story about how the Orangeburg SC sheriffs department was an accomplice in the theft of literally everything that my one year old daughter and I owned, except for the clothes on our backs.
Just last week I had the town of Seymour MO steal money and time from me. The city attorney decided to drop the charge of not having a valid license plate on my trailer, yet they still charged me money, (can you charge other people money when you screw up? This is criminal behavior) on top of being being physically and psychotically terrorized for an hour at a traffic stop by one of their storm troopers in blue, and already having had 2 days of time stolen from me by the Missouri DMV (the incompetent boobs at the Marshfield DMV stole over $250 from me in improper fees, and when I complained they said that they would call the police if I did not leave – it took 2 months to get that money back and I am lucky to have gotten it back at all.) to straighten that mess out, and the 2 hours of my time that it took to make the court appearance. The police and the courts are not rights protecting at all, they are the major rights tramplers that you will encounter in the “Land of the Free”
~MFP
by Brittany Hunter FEE-staff
Like all entrepreneurs, Beto Matias saw an opportunity to support his family while simultaneously creating value for his community.
Finding a prime spot right outside UC Berkeley’s football stadium, Matias began selling his craft hot dogs to willing consumers. No one complained about the quality of Matias’ hot dogs, nor did anyone have any objections to his presence outside of the stadium. But that didn’t stop the state from intervening.
Street Theft
Officer Sean Aranas approached Matias as he was going about his business and asked to see identification. Matias, in complete compliance with the officer’s demands, began sifting through his wallet in search of his identification. But this is where the story took a devastating turn.
Before Matias was given the opportunity to hand Aranas his ID, the wallet was ripped from his hands. And instead of merely examining his identification, Officer Aranas proceeded to confiscate the $60 Matias had in his wallet at the time. It was not until after this strong-arm mugging that the officer finally explained to Matias that he was being cited for failing to obtain a business permit.
Luckily, one of Matias’ customers filmed the entire encounter on his smartphone and the video has since gone viral.
Martin Flores knew something wasn’t right when he saw the officer reach for Matias’ wallet. Thankfully, as so many of us are trained to do in the digital age, he pulled out his smartphone and immediately began documenting the encounter. And he did so just in the nick of time.
In Flores’ footage, viewers see the wallet physically taken from Matias as his hard-earned money is stolen right before his eyes. In the background, Flores can be heard saying, “That’s not right.”…. Read more