Orange County Cops Refuse to Release Bodycam of Cop Shooting Black Man in the Back b/c Although the Video is Owned by the Public, the Govt Owns the Public and Cops are Agents of It's Supreme Authority

“We, the people, are the government?” The government has no property of its own because the government’s property is the people’s property right? Or so goes the indoctrination. Undeceiver Larken Rose explains,

“In the US there is a ruling class and a subject class, and the differences between them are many and obvious. One group commands, the other obeys. One group demands huge sums of money, the other group pays. One group tells the other group where they can live, where they can work, what they can eat, what they can drink, what they can drive, who they can work for, what work they can do, and so on. One group takes and spends trillions of dollars of what the other group earns. One group consists entirely of economic parasites, while the efforts of the other group produce all the wealth.

In this system, it is patently obvious who commands and who obeys. The people are not the “government,” by any stretch of the imagination, and it requires profound denial to believe otherwise. But other myths are also used to try to make that lie sound rational. For example, it is also claimed that “the government works for us; it is our servant.” Again, such a statement does not even remotely match the obvious reality of the situation; it is little more than a cult mantra, a delusion intentionally programmed into the populace in order to twist their view of reality. And most people never even question it. Most never wonder, if “government” works for us, if it is our employee, why does it decide how much we pay it? Why does our “employee” decide what it will do for us? Why does our “employee” tell us how to live our lives? Why does our “employee” demand our obedience for whatever arbitrary commands it issues, sending armed enforcers after us if we disobey? It is impossible for “government” to ever be the servant, because of what “government” is, To put it in simple, personal terms, if someone can boss you around and take your money, he is not your servant; and if he cannot do those things, he is not “government.” However limited, “government” is the organization thought to have the right to forcibly control the behavior of its subjects via “laws,” rendering the popularly accepted rhetoric about “public servants” completely ridiculous. To imagine that a ruler could ever be the servant of those over whom he rules is patently absurd.”

THE VIDEO IS THE PUBLIC’S VIDEO BUT THEY OWN THE PUBLIC From [HERE] About two hours after one of his deputies shot and killed 22-year-old Salaythis Melvin in the Florida Mall’s parking lot Friday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina confirmed that a body-worn camera had recorded the incident and told reporters had he had already reviewed it.

The Sheriff’s Office has since refused to make the footage public, even after it was revealed that Melvin, who deputies say had a hand on a gun in his waistband as he fled, had been shot in the back. The agency won’t show it to Melvin’s parents, either, said their attorney, Bradley Laurent.

“The family doesn’t really know what happened,” Laurent said. “It’s our position the family should have a right to see that footage, to see the last moments of their loved one. The mother has a right to see the last moments of her son.”

Law enforcement leaders, including Mina, have touted body-worn cameras as evidence of their commitment to transparency and a tool for holding officers and members of the public alike accountable. But local agencies differ widely in how quickly they release the footage.

The Sheriff’s Office rejected a public record request for the video from the Orlando Sentinel, citing an active investigation of the shooting by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. OCSO also declined an interview request for Mina, citing “potential litigation” because an attorney for the Sentinel had emailed an agency lawyer seeking reconsideration of the video’s release.

Experts say OCSO’s rationale for withholding the video — often used by other local agencies, including the Orlando Police Department — is flimsy under Florida’s broad public records law and ill-advised in the current climate of distrust between police agencies and the communities they serve.

“At a time when law enforcement is being scrutinized, the last thing they want to do is hide information,” said Pamela Marsh, president of the First Amendment Foundation. “When you hide information, you lose trust.”

A PETITION TO GET THEIR OWN VIDEO. Meanwhile, a petition demanding the video be made public has already garnered more than 2,000 signatures, and local activists have taken to the streets to echo that message.

Miles Mulrain, founder of the nonprofit Let Your Voice Be Heard and one of the most visible leaders of recent Central Florida protests against brutality, said OCSO’s refusal to release the footage is part of a pattern of painting those injured or killed by police as guilty.

“They put out what they want to send a message ... that this person should deserve this kind of treatment,” Mulrain said.

Shooting questions remain

Though the Sheriff’s Office has released few details, court records indicate Melvin’s death came as deputies were seeking to apprehend another man, 19-year-old Vanshawn M. Sands.

On July 7, Sands had been at a house on Powers Ridge Court when two other men, who authorities say were associated with a rival gang, drove up and started shooting. Sands returned fire, resulting in a shootout that left one of the attackers dead, records say.

Because Sands has a record and admitted to having had the gun with him throughout that day, a detective got a warrant to arrest him on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to Mina, when deputies tried to make the arrest Friday outside the Florida Mall Dick’s Sporting Goods, they confronted a group of four people that included Melvin, who took off running.

In an affidavit, Deputy Marcus Bullock wrote that Melvin had his right hand on a handgun that was in his waistband when Agent James Montiel exited an unmarked vehicle. Melvin ran away from the agent, who chased him.

That’s when Melvin “turned his head and started to face [Montiel] while still holding his firearm,” Bullock’s report said, prompting Montiel to think Melvin was going to pull his gun. Montiel shot Melvin, who died the next day at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

In addition to withholding the video, the Sheriff’s Office has declined to answer other questions: Who were the other people with Melvin? Was Montiel in uniform? The agency posted on Twitter a photo of the gun deputies say Melvin was carrying, but wouldn’t say if it was loaded.

Laurent said he and Melvin’s family met with OCSO leaders Monday but emerged with more questions.

“That’s what these body cameras are for; there’s nothing left for people to speculate on, you get to see what happened,” Laurent said. “If he was doing something wrong, we should see it in the video. But they’re not letting us see the video. Why won’t you let us see the video?”

Transparency vs. discretion

Florida’s public records law — considered among the most broad in the country — has specific exemptions for body camera footage filmed under certain circumstances, but none that justify routinely withholding video of police shootings, experts said.

Body camera footage is considered confidential when it’s recorded inside someone’s house; a health care, mental health care or social services facility; or a place that a reasonable person would expect to be private.

There’s also an exemption for criminal investigative information. But that applies only if the case is active, which means the police agency anticipates an arrest or prosecution is forthcoming, said Samuel Morley, general counsel for the Florida Press Association.

“The sheriff will have a good deal of discretion in determining if the investigation is considered ongoing and active,” Morley said in an email. “That said, the sheriff can’t invoke it without any basis.”

In Melvin’s case, the active investigation would be the one being conducted by the FDLE, which the Sheriff’s Office and other local agencies task with reviewing police shootings. The agency forwards its findings to a local prosecuting office, which determines if officers broke any laws.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said each police agency decides when to release public records related to a shooting by its officers. But sometimes FDLE does ask agencies “not [to] release certain evidence ... until after initial interviews have been conducted.”

“When specific information is released prior to the initial round of interviews, it can change perceptions of witnesses and make it more difficult for agents to determine the facts of what happened,” she said.

Marsh noted other Florida sheriffs release body camera footage immediately after police shootings. Mina, she said, has the discretion to do so.

“[B]ody cameras were adopted in Florida to improve transparency, to improve accountability in interactions between law enforcement and citizens,” she said. “… It was intended to become a public record.”

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, which also has FDLE review all shootings by deputies, routinely releases video within a day of them occurring.

“In a police shooting, how is it going to impede investigation when you’re seeing everything that’s there — what you see in the body cam video?” Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who wasn’t available for an interview this week, told News4Jax in June. “Put it out there, even if it’s bad.