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Narrative is measured against evidence.
Informational and Educational Resource
Definition of an Actor: A person who plays the part or role. A public servant is not a private person but an actor in a role of authority.
© Cultural Contrarian, 2022 All Rights Reserved
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Our goal is to maintain a peaceful, professional, respectful relationship as we endeavor to conduct our business.
We have no basis to understand what people know or don't know.
We want to provide as much context as possible to everyone who desires to know what we are doing.
We cannot engage all inquisitive parties, as we simply would not get done what we came to do.
Private citizen's, Security professionals, Public servant's and anybody else who wants to know.
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Notice: This E-Book is intended for the individual who gained access through permission of Cultural Contrarian.
IT IS NOT PERMITTED TO PHOTOCOPY, FORWARD ELECTRONICALLY OR DIGITALLY WITHOUT EXPRESSED PERMISSION FROM CULTURAL CONTRARIAN.
TO OBTAIN PERMISSION: SEND EMAIL TO CulturalContrarian@Protonmail.com (SUBJECT: E-Book Permission)
It is up to you how you engage the citizen journalist. They will remain silent. You are in total control of your words, actions, behavior. If you don't want to be on video, don't approach the camera.
This ebook is to help you and is the limit of what we can do to help educate, inform and protect everyone.
Whomsoever:
Applies to anyone. 18 USC 241, 242 and 42 USC 1983
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A Private Person:
Ignorance of the law.
Is not a defense of the law.
In a court of law.
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You have taken a very important first step.
We say, we can't know what we don't know. It's better to acquire more knowledge than to make up stories.
A. You can decide if you are a "Reasonable Person"and really want to know what we are doing.
B. You can assume you know what we are doing.
It is fair to say that your thoughts, statements or reporting may run contrary to the evidence of our actions.
We would never assume the reasonableness of any private citizen or public servant. We would "hope" that if any individual would not attempt to make false statements, or a report which is not substantiated by evidence. However, that premise in itself is not reasonable.
We would also hope that that a "Reasonable Person" when afforded the ability to retract their false allegations that they would respectfully apologize and make an effort to recorrect their error.
Eventually, you have encountered a Law Abiding Citizen, doing something, for what ever reason, has caused you to go and approach that private citizen. That individual is NOT here for you. They have a purpose and a task. It is not reasonable to make any assumptions regarding your knowledge or awareness on Laws, Statues, Policies and what is lawful conduct. Further, it is not reasonable to engage in a discussion or invest personal time in entering into a debate with anyone in the public square.
What is this person doing:
We cannot reveal the exact project the individual is involved in at the moment. Their primary objective is to obtain information of specific interest or concern regarding what is happening at this particular facility, or department.
No Expectation of Privacy in Public
Many people are not aware that the Supreme Court ruled that no expectation of privacy exists in public. Some areas attempt to state that citizens have to comply with HIPAA regulations. HIPAA regulation compliance is only for HIPAA covered entities.
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We all are individuals, acting in our own capacity. We are law abiding citizens, who strive to be honest, open and transparent as we conduct our official business in a variety of different Public and Private locations, businesses and services.
As law abiding citizens, we exercise our rights and freedoms lawfully. Unfortunately, we encounter many who are unfamiliar with our Rights as provided in the United States Constitution as enumerated in our Bill of Rights. This unfamiliarity combined with erroneous information provided through academia, news, television programming, and even incorrect information from Law Enforcement, creates a negative impression regarding those who do exercise or demonstrate their Rights and Liberty.
Acting as an entity sharing this information, we have no authority or responsibility for how a citizen journalist may conduct themselves. This resource was a supplemental guide for a citizen journalist to share in advance of conducting their journalistic activities. This particular journalist may choose to not speak for a multitude of reasons.
A citizen journalist may or may not wear a medical accessory such as a mask. Medical conditions may preclude them from wearing such. Please do not attempt to attempt to discriminate or violate the Americans with Disability Act.
It is our recommendation to not engage the individual other than reading through this free resource.
The journalist should endeavor to be respectful of Law Enforcement and their responsibility to enforce laws. It is reasonable that any human being confronted or threatened with lawless conduct will have limited patience for criminal behavior. The citizen also will not accept unlawful directives, or orders under Color of Law which violate the Rule of Law and infringe upon ones civil rights.
You may learn more about our intentions. However, while we are conducting our business, we are not obligated to interact with anyone to explain our objectives.
We appreciate you taking a moment to take a deeper look.
Sincerely,
.
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Our objective is transparency, accountability and to close the divide between public servants and private citizens through education and role modeling.
The Constitution of the United States along with the Bill of Rights, defines rights which are inalienable. This means that we all can freely express. Within the 1st amendment are several freedoms. The right to practice your religion, the freedom to express your speech, the right to redress your grievances against the government and the right to Free Press.
The Supreme Court has ruled that any individual can lawfully record, in public, matters of public interest, while in public, to distribute or disseminate to interested parties.
The Supreme Court also has ruled that it is lawful to record public officials in the course of their public duties.
Also the Bill of Right's has a protection under the 5th amendment where we have a right to remain silent. When standing on the 5th amendment, any citizen is not obligated, nor can be compelled to speak. A citizen journalist has no duty, or obligation share the nature of their press related investigation, or a story they are working on, who they are, or who they work for.
The only time anyone is LAWFULLY obligated to provide one First and Last Name and Date of Birth is when they have been "Lawfully" arrested. (supported by a signed probable cause affidavit and warrant)
When exercising Free Press in public, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that nobody has an expectation of privacy in public. A citizen or a journalist cannot be arrested or trespassed from public without "evidence" that a crime has been committed, a crime is in progress, or a crime is about to occur.
Most likely, if you are in a public environment, you are being recorded by any number of cameras. No permission is required to capture your image when in public. The same goes for recording audio.The only time where it is possible that an audio recording could potentially not be captured is when a person has a "reasonable" expectation of privacy when speaking in public. The rule of thumb is, if other's can hear you speaking, it is "not reasonable" to expect privacy and your speech may be recorded.
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We do not have an obligation to engage in conversation with anyone. Different citizen journalists have their own personal rules on how they conduct themselves while working. Most citizen journalists desire to be respectful, professional and demonstrate appreciation for both public servants and private citizens.
Unfortunately, in certain situations, individuals in public have a false understanding of the law, constitutional rights, and can quite possibly have impulsive and emotional outbursts without lawful or even reasonable justification.
Everyone has their own limits for tolerating, harassment, threats, or other unlawful actions. A citizen journalist has every right to stand their ground and defend themselves from unlawful violence against them, so acting in self defense could also be added to the citizen journalists reporting.
One of the biggest challenges in dealing with private citizens and public servants is that when we speak, we can say things that are misunderstood, have inflection that creates a wrong impression, or could be interpreted as argumentative, provocative, disruptive. We live in a society where peoples feelings are very fragile, and words have been identified to causing violence.
As we stated in the very beginning, we have no ill will, nor ill intentions. Recognizing the emotional fragility of society, we choose to not risk triggering, alerting or potentially hurting someones feelings. We have found the best way to accomplish this is to remain silent.
Unfortunately, remaining silent has unintended consequences as well. It is perceived as being disrespectful, ignorant, rude, inappropriate, not courteous and more.
We have decided that it is better to be accused of something improperly in silence.
.To help de-escalate fear, and attempt to reduce anxiety is why we have created this e-book.
At our option, we may choose to have very limited interaction and encourage people to read more of the e-book.
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One of the important things of a journalist is to be up to date and current with laws, statues, policies and rulings provided through the United States Supreme Court and District Supreme Courts. As a journalist and as private citizens, we have a higher burden regarding knowing the laws. For all of us, ignorance of the law is not an excuse or defense if you are in court. Unfortunately, all public servants in their official capacity are not held to the same standard. The standard for a public servant, law enforcement and even judges is called the "reasonableness" standard.
The United States Supreme Court (Graham v Connor) has ruled that it is not "reasonable" for public servants to know all the laws they are responsible to enforce. That's right, public servants, law enforcement, and judges are not expected to know all the laws which they are entrusted to enforce. Along with this ruling, is an obligation of citizens to provide references, citations and legal precedent to public servants when a private citizen knows that a public servant is breaking, violating or fabricating a law.
As part of preparation a citizen journalist will already have done some pre-investigative work. Sometimes, that information may be in the physical possession of the citizen journalist. This could include local GIS documents identifying public property boundaries, easements or other geographical information.
Some research could be codes, statues, ordinances or other documents related to their particular investigation or research.
Conditioned to surrender rights:
We all have been conditioned to willingly surrender our rights because we haven't been taught how to keep them. We the people as tax paying citizens are the employers of public servants. All public servants serve at the honor of the public. However, we have granted additional power and authority to Law Enforcement. It is not reasonable for a law abiding citizen, having provided no evidence of a crime, be threatened, intimidated, put into duress or coerced to surrender a constitutional right.
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Citizen Journalists tremendously appreciates Law Enforcement which honor their oath and maintain the "Rule of Law". These officers are professional, respectful, courteous and are trained to interact in tense situations to de-escalate all parties.
The Supreme Court has also ruled in Warren vs The District of Columbia, that Law Enforcement, while performing their duties in maintaining the "Rule of Law" have no lawful nor legal duty protect us citizens nor keep us safe.
While it is reasonable that an officer may have genuine concern for a citizens safety or well being, it has become a pattern and practice to attempt to assert authority over citizens based upon their consent. These encounters are referred to as mere encounters or consensual encounter.
Another important issue to remember is that the Supreme Court has not defined a reasonable criteria which would preclude an officer in fear for their life, from using lethal or deadly force against a private citizen.
When these are decisions that have been made by our courts and adopted into training and policies, it is not reasonable that a private citizen could do anything around an officer that they could interpret as causing them fear for their life.
Color of Law are defined as unlawful actions, statements behavior exerted upon a private citizen based upon the authority and power granted to a Law Enforcement Officer.
Law Enforcement have policies, procedures and training for how they engage a citizen prior to enacting violence (an arrest is violence). This is commonly referred to as Intimidation, Threats, Duress and Coercion (ITDC). These are actions which are usual and customary behaviors we have become conditioned to accept. But, these are unlawful according to 18 USC 241, 242 and 42 USC 1983. It is not lawful for any public servant, who has sworn an oath to the constitution to act in such a manner. If a public servant does violate a private citizen, when in their position of represented authority, they have violated their sworn duty and have waived their protections provided through that authority. This means they are acting in their private person capacity and are personally, civilly and possibly criminally responsible for their actions.
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Under the 4th amendment we have a constitutional right to be secure in our person, papers, property and affects. Almost all state laws do not require you to "present" an ID to an officer (unless driving a vehicle during a traffic stop).
If approached by an officer, you are immediately agreeing or consenting to a conversation with that officer. The only way to not have a consensual conversation is to say:
"Am I being detained, or am I free to go."
A Good officer, honoring the"Rule of Law"when no crime has been committed, will say, "you are not being detained, but I want....."
A wise citizen will respond."Thank you officer, since I am not detained, I am going to disengage from this conversation, have a safe day."
Absent of what is called Probable Cause, which is articulable facts, supported by evidence that a crime has been committed, a crime is in progress, or a crime is about to occur, has NO LAWFUL AUTHORITY to detain a citizen.
Unfortunately, their badge, their chain of command, their union, the blue line is designed to protect themselves and not us, from Unlawful Acts by bad officers acting under Color of Law.
An officer is trained in what is called Verbal Judo to use their authority to Intimidate, Threaten, Coerce and cause Duress to accomplish their personal objectives.
If you were approached by and Officer on the sidewalk, they started talking to you then demanded your ID. Imagine them saying, I am giving you a lawful order to provide your ID or I am going to arrest you for:
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All of those statements are Treats, Intimidation, Coercion and Duress under the Color of Law to convince you to "willingly surrender" your 4th amendment right.
You know that if you don't comply with the "lawful order" you are subject to a ticket or arrest. You also know if you try to leave that encounter, the officer will go hands on, enact violence on you by using pain compliance and bracelets designed to cause pain.
We have been repeatedly conditioned that we must obey the officer, and we can have our argument in court.
In order to distinguish an officer enforcing "Rule of Law" and being unlawful under the "Color of Law" requires us knowing the law, and the relationships between officers, attorneys, judges, the law and our responsibilities.
In the example of an officer acting unlawfully demanding ID using "Color of Law" tactics, we must be prepared and equipped.
Response: Officer, this is not a consensual encounter, you have unlawfully detained me. I have a right to not answer any questions without an attorney present. I have a right to be secure in my person, papers, property and affects under the 4th amendment. I do not consent to this encounter, and you are operating beyond your lawful authority and infringing upon my rights. Either I am free to go, or you must contact your supervisor now. I will remain silent until your supervisor arrives.
Due to the different standards between public servants and private citizens in the court of law, we are unable to seek justice, remedy or damages from the actions of a bad officer, using their authorityUnlawfully, underColor of Law.
In order for us to achieve justice, remedy, damages and have any hope to correct, discipline or remove bad officers is Law Abiding Citizens Lawfully Enforcing Their Rights.
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As a citizen journalist we don't expect private citizens nor public servants to understand or know much of what we just shared. It is important for our profession that we are constantly aware of State, Local, County, Municipal, codes, statues, policies and how they may or may not be enforced. Always prepared for a Color of Law interaction and respectfully asserting our rights.
Our preparation has multiple facets and here are a few things that we always do in advance of our investigative journalism projects.
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People are uncomfortable with silence. Our objective is not to make anyone uncomfortable. However, we are not people puppet masters, our silence and even our cameras cannot be the cause of how one reacts emotionally or physically. An inanimate object, with the purpose of recording is not a crime.
A constitutional right, cannot be converted into a crime.
By merely exercising Free Press under the 1st amendment, the Supreme Court has ruled you cannot convert that into a criminal act. Attempting to narrate a future crime to cease a lawful activity is unlawful by committing "prior restraint".
Unfortunately, when in public, a private citizen should receive equal treatment in public with our without a camera. While people may have concerns about a parent standing on the sidelines of a soccer field filming children playing soccer, it is not against the law.
As law abiding citizen journalists, we are not going to break any laws. However, we constantly are bombarded with emotional outbursts which both public servants and private citizens attempt to convert our Free Press rights into a criminal act.For educational purposes for private citizens, public servants, and even law enforcement, we share the most common accusations or attempts to infringe, impede, obstruct, violate, suspend or terminate our civil rights.
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Right converted to a crime: A constitutionally protected right cannot be converted into a suspicious or criminal act. The right to video and audio record in public is a 1st amendment protected activity. That right cannot be impeded nor infringed absent of Probable Cause. Probable Cause must be supported by articulable facts that a crime has occurred, is about to occur or is in progress.
Law enforcement/security encounter: We did not call for service, nor do we require assistance. Any interruption, impediment, restriction, obstruction of our lawful activities is an unlawful infringement of our rights.
Verbal Judo is rejected: Any narrative articulated by an Officer, Employee, Security Professional, absent of evidence is an attempt to terminate our 1st amendment protected activity by demonstrating Prior Restraint. Prior Restraint is when a restriction of a right (Free Press) happens in advance of the right being exercised. Preventing documentation of public officials in the course of their public duties is Prior Restraint and violates Supreme Court Rulings on the 1st amendment and Free Press.
Intimidation, Threat, Duress, Coercion: Since any contact is not consensual, you may choose to utilize your training, tactics and experience to Threaten, Intimidate and Coerce us in any number of ways. You could participate in a conspiracy against us violating 18 U.S.Code 371 when (2) or more officers. Such a violation would be a civil rights violation by a person in their Individual Capacity.
Unlawful Detention: You also have many elements and power to cause harm to our physical person. Absent of you stating we are Free To Go or You Are Not DETAINED, a reasonable person would recognize disengagement from you would jeopardize ones safety and put ones life at risk. Restrictions of our movement is unlawful and would be kidnapping. This is a further unlawful act violating civil rights of a law enforcement person acting under color of law, outside their authority. Resulting in a civil rights violation without qualified immunity protection.
Investigative Detention: This is an unlawful detention where an officer doesn't have articulable facts to establish probable cause. It is a ruse for an uneducated citizen to surrender their rights and comply or engage an officer as they attempt to have a citizen self incriminate, or establish a means for citation or arrest. This is a 4th amendment violation under color of law and violates ones civil rights.
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We are NOT here for you.
It is your choice if you engage.
It is your choice to be on our camera.
We attempt to avoid video capture of private citizens in public.
Please don't impede our efforts. You can learn more if you wish.
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We are hopeful that you are aware of all of our Rights, Freedoms and the Lawful exercise of Freedom. If you want to understand more as to what we are doing, this reference is for everyone.
The citizen journalist is on a project to gather specific information for the benefit of a host of different interested parties. Let us tell you what we already have done, so you can feel more comfortable.
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Rules or requirements for employees or those who may be bound by a contract with a specific entity.
State, County or local rules or regulations which may or may not be supported by the United States Constitution, mostly based upon a contract agreement
Codified legislation which private citizens must abide.
Freedom and Liberties afforded to Private Citizens through the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights and enumerated amendments.
Only applicable if does not include prior restraint or chilling of rights outside of domain of authority.
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The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that no expectation of privacy exists when in public. Privacy in public only occurs when you create privacy. This means as a private citizen, if you don't want something captured visually in public, don't make it visible. Example, hide your personal documents, information and shield any transactions requiring a Personal Identification Number (PIN). It you don't want an audio recording in public, remove yourself from audio recording devices.
This ruling is the same ruling which provides any Public or Private entity to install security cameras anywhere other than on or inside your private property. (But that doesn't really matter because most citizens have done that with Google Home, Alexa and their smartphones)
In public, certain environments do exist where Privacy is expected. According to Title 9, a bathroom stall, is considered private. It used to be the bathroom. A stall in a locker room is considered private, not the entire locker room. Any room which has security measures and signs, clearly marked as restricted or private. Also, their are instances where a level of privacy is provided that is absent of public announcement backed by laws or statues. In those instances, documents must be presented to confirm those privacy limitations.
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As a society, we have an expectation that anyone can engage in consensual conversation. That is just the very basis or an assumption of human interactions. Some would say that it is just a common courtesy, or demonstrates a level or recognition or respect.
While we agree that these are expectations of societal norms, this particular activity is one where these norms will not happen. That is not intended to be anything disrespectful or lacking courtesy. It honestly has everything to do with being focused on our objectives. If we were to interact with every inquiring stranger, we would be significantly delayed in accomplishing our business purposes.
Respectfully, we have taken the time and consideration right here to allow you to continue doing what you were doing and we are free to do what we need to do without unnecessary delay.
As we are all Private Citizens, neither of us have any obligation to say anything at all. Nor are we required to provide any explanation, or identification related to our activities.
The only instance we would be obligated to provide any identifying information is when a Law Enforcement Officer has lawfully arrested us. This is a very complex issue for private citizens and even law enforcement to understand. The complexity involves the balance of their lawful authority, and possible unlawful actions. If you are interested in exploring that issue, go to the chapter: Law Enforcement Responding to Call For Service.
No central authority exists for providing press related credentials. It is the option of the person on site if they desire to present any credential, business card, or press identification. Our technology has advanced to the point with smartphones that anyone equipped with a camera and microphone can be a citizen journalist and exercise their 1st amendment right to be Free Press. The United States Supreme Court affirms this citizen right.
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We can be identified as citizen journalist's or investigative journalists, documenting our interactions for a number of reasons. Here are just a few to dispel your concerns:
As a matter of process, we have been proactive in how we conduct our activities. However, we cannot be responsible for anyones understanding or lack of understanding, process familiarity or training related to our actions, objectives or even conduct on this particular encounter.
We shared we have a process which we are adhering to regarding our activities in this facility. To maintain our transparency, we invite you to explore the other chapters on how we are prepared to interact with the public servants in the performance of their duties and responsibilities.
Also, we have anticipated that people are not used to this kind of activity, and it is possible that security or law enforcement may become involved. Our intention is to maintain being law abiding citizens, acting lawfully and may encounter individuals unaware of their limits of authority.
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We apologize if you are uncomfortable.
We mean you no ill will or harm.
We are here to gather information and submit requests.
We are Citizen Journalists, functioning in compliance with the 1st Amendment (Free Press)
To Learn More: Continue
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We would like to submit a public records request in accordance with the States Freedom of Information Act or Right to Know laws. Some of our requests are immediately accessible and we would like to inspect and document those items. Others, we understand may require some time to locate and would anticipate communication on when we would have access to that information to inspect and document.
Please provide access to any sign-in registry's or logs within this building and/or departments located within this building.
Some typical requests which may be requested.
Total Number of Requests made during 20__
Number of Requests which the information was denied, redacted, or deferred due to improper following instructions on the request, or reference to some limitation enumerated by a statue or policy.
Number of Requests which the desired information was provided in the time required by law. The time as stipulated in the initial request response.
Total revenue collected through public records requests through this department.
Named Individuals which we will require the following pieces of information (1-3).
Individual Name, Title or Employee ID#_________________________________________________
Please manage all correspondence through the following email (____________________________)
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First, we want to dispel any concerns you may have regarding our camera. We totally appreciate you as an individual and your role in public service. We want to have a mutually respectful interaction as we attempt to conduct business with you, your associates or your department.
We can be identified as citizen journalist's or investigative journalists, documenting our interactions for a number of reasons. Here are just a few to dispel your concerns:
To capture an objective record of how to have certain requests fulfilled.
To ensure both public servants and private citizens understand and abide by the law or policies related to the entity we require services.
We may have been directed by any number of 3rd party entities for an unannounced compliance audit. These entities may or may not include, internal management, State initiated compliance audit, Health & Safety Check, Fire Safety Check, Public Records Compliance Check, etc. We also may have been directed by Private Business to provide information. (Insurance Companies, Realtors, Merchants, Service Provers, etc.)
As a matter of process, we have been proactive in how we conduct our activities. However, we cannot be responsible for your own internal communications, process or training related to this particular encounter.
Prior to us even stepping foot on this property we have been diligent in our attempts to communicate and inform in advance of our arrival. Allow me tell you what we already have done, so you can feel more comfortable.
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We first identify the responsible individual for which we need to confirm notification of our activities. Most services provided to the public do record our conversations and are not obligated to inform us. However, we as private citizens are obligated to notify them they are being recorded. We communicate our message via a script.
Hello, I am a private citizen providing a final notice to (Entity Name) of my upcoming activities. I am recording this message as a mere formal record and do not require a response from you at all. I will be visiting many facilities which provide public services or assistance to gather information for future dissemination to interested parties or individuals. Our involvement will be completely lawful, we will comply with all Laws which apply to Private Citizens. We will not be speaking to anyone, all communication will be in writing. We have no interest in obstructing business and simply have a few questions and tasks to accomplish. As private citizens, we are not employees of the State, County, Municipality and any policies attempted to be enforced upon us are not applicable when not supported by reference to existing law or statue. If public servants attempt to enforce policies not supported by appropriate notice, publication, display and the referenced statue, they may be exposing themselves and the entity to liability. We have no ill will, nor ill intent and are simply gathering information. We have been proactive to minimize disruption to not only employees who may not be current on privacy training, we have done the same for private citizens on premise with similar concerns. We have already made attempts to communicate via other means and we will have a record of response or non-response. We are not obligated to coordinate with anyone in advance nor seek permission to conduct lawful activities. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions I would be pleased to provide you a weblink where you could learn more, or at your option communicate with me know. It is possible that you choose to remain silent, you possibly have terminated the call, or the voicemail has timed out. Regardless, this is our additional record of communication.
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For everyone of our visits, we maintain an archive or all our communication as a record. We often encounter individuals in their official capacity which have protections which exceed that of private citizens. These protections protect them from misconduct and minimize our ability to hold anyone accountable. By creating a record we can confirm some important issues.
Why such a process?
Unfortunately, for private citizens, ignorance of the law is not a defense inside of a courtroom. In the event we find ourselves in front of a judge, unlawfully charged, we have an obligation, under the law, if we wanted to be treated fairly.
For the activities which are performing, we often encounter public servants and private citizens "ignorant of the law", but they are not obligated to the know the law like Private Citizens. When we say ignorant, they simply don't correctly understand the nuances of law, the process and the rights afforded to private citizens.
When the judicial system is divided and unequal, We The People have many barriers to cross. At all times, we must go to tremendous lengths to demonstrate reasonableness and obtain objective evidence of the unreasonableness of public servants. We must communicate to multiple entities, multiple individuals, multiple times. Our public servants have the pleasure of ignoring citizens and the Supreme Court requires a citizen to be belligerent in seeking their needs. Absent of being belligerent, a citizen is consenting or accepting the procedural conditions, or limitations.
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For what ever reason, you have had some level of interaction and decided to do some level of investigation beyond want a conversation. If you are reading this right now, it is imperative to immediately express our intentions clearly.
We respect and appreciate you profession and the lawful demonstration of that authority granted to you, either through company policy or affirmed by you under an Oath.
We have no ill will, nor ill intent regarding you as an individual, your profession, individuals within this facility or private citizens we may encounter.
Hopefully you will recognize our efforts to be more respectful, professional and each of us recognizing and appreciating our mutual roles and responsibilities in society in a safe and just society.
To continue on this theme, we are certain that silence is an encounter which is not usual an customary in you daily routine. We do not remain silent out of disrespect, but actually out of tremendous respect. We want to afford all officers the ability to do the right thing when encountering unusual circumstances with law abiding citizens.
Right now, we are presenting you a fork in the road.A REASONABLE officer will respect our desire to not engage in a consensual conversation nor consent to an unlawful detention. It modest survey or investigation would reveal that we committed no crimes nor violated any law that would meet the legal requirements of RAS/PC. A detention would be unwarranted and unlawful. A REASONABLE officer would not issue directives or demands and simply consider saying, "wish you well on your project, thank you for your time, have a great day". Our response would be a an approving nod with a fist-bump type of invitation.
An UNREASONABLE officer will attempt to demonstrate the prowess of their training, tactics in using Verbal Judo to Intimidate, Threaten, Coerce and cause Duress to a law abiding citizen. Those efforts will be met with silence or a brief request such as "Sir you are UNREASONABLE please summon your supervisor or a
REASONABLE officer willing to honor the "Rule of Law" and not act UNLAWFULLY under Color of Law."
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Our desire to to encounter the Reasonable law enforcement professional honoring their oath and carrying out their duty's to enforce the Rule of Law. However, we have no ability to influence the behavior or conduct of others.
As this situation unfolds, we would encourage an officer that has engaged us (we are free to conduct our lawful business uninterrupted, or we have been unlawfully violated), to continue reading the information we provide. It might be beneficial from an investigative perspective to learn more about We Are John Gault and our approach to citizen investigative journalism.
We have been proactive in our efforts and have had advanced communication of our intentions prior to this encounter. We are hopeful that the recipients of our communication along with the appropriate leadership had taken the necessary steps to inform you and/or provide the training commensurate with encountering a law abiding citizen journalist.
We have an archive and record of all our advanced notification to all the appropriate authorities in advance of our arrival. Below is a sample of how we did multiple communication touches.
Communication has been delivered in any or all of the following formats:*Recorded phone message: We first identify the responsible individual(s) for which we need to confirm or notify of our activities. Most services provided to the public do record public conversations and they are not obligated to inform us that we are being recorded. However, we as private citizens have a lawful obligation to notify anyone when they are being recorded on a phone call. If we are alerted to being recorded, it is assumed that the other party consents to being recorded. All of our phone calls and voicemails are recorded and read off of a script.
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As law abiding citizens not only are we going to abide by the law, but we are going to ensure our rights are not violated. With this effort, we are memorializing that any actions taken against us, will be unlawful and exercised under Color of Law. As to this particular encounter, we did not commit any crime or violate any law.
As a private citizen, who we hope is demonstrating that they are more prepared than most, would expect a reasonable officer to enforce the "Rule of Law".
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A reasonable officer, contacting a law abiding citizen, knowledgeable of their rights, would not be surprised when the citizen does not consent to unlawful instructions, directives, demands or orders. Any restriction, obstruction, infringement of our ability to conduct our business which results in a detainment and arrest would further be unlawful. This same reasonable officer must acknowledge that any violence perpetrated against a citizen, when a citizen demands to see a Probable Cause Affidavit, with signature along with a warrant, and one is not provided, actions to prevent violence against themselves could not meet any reasonable definition of "Resisting Arrest". The only thing one could correctly state is that the individual is "Resisting UnLawful Arrest". We are not suggesting that we would resist unlawful violence against our person. A reasonable person, based upon the current climate and in this day and age, that an officer would be in immediate fear of his person and could use deadly force.
Yes, you are encountering an individual with health challenges along with an internal cardiac device. Unlawful use of a tazer against me could kill me.
In such a circumstance, I would never consent to the unlawful acts against my person. I will not resist, and will reasonably comply. However, I emphatically state that my compliance is not indication of consent or surrender of my rights.I will not consent to search of my person. I will not consent to capturing of my finger prints. If an officer violates my rights, and does these actions by force, I will immediately demand that all information regarding my identity not just be dismissed in any pending litigation, but actually destroyed. Absent of a criminal act by law enforcement, that information would not have been captured. A gross 4th amendment violation.
Sorry, but we have had some bad encounters, and we need to state things clearly. To assist in both investigation and education we provide some basic information here. It would also be beneficial to look at the Education Chapter.
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Right converted to a crime: A constitutionally protected right cannot be converted into a suspicious or criminal act. The right to video and audio record in public is a 1st amendment protected activity. That right cannot be impeded nor infringed absent of Probable Cause. Probable Cause must be supported by articulable facts that a crime has occurred, is about to occur or is in progress.
Law enforcement/security encounter: We did not call for service, nor do we require assistance. Any interruption, impediment, restriction, obstruction of our lawful activities is an unlawful infringement of our rights.
Verbal Judo is rejected: Any narrative articulated by an Officer, Employee, Security Professional, absent of evidence is an attempt to terminate our 1st amendment protected activity by demonstrating Prior Restraint.Prior Restraintis when a restriction of a right (Free Press) happens in advance of the right being exercised. Preventing documentation of public officials in the course of their public duties is Prior Restraint and violates Supreme Court Rulings on the 1st amendment and Free Press.Intimidation, Threat, Duress, Coercion: Since any contact is not consensual, you may choose to utilize your training, tactics and experience to Threaten, Intimidate and Coerce us in any number of ways. You could participate in a conspiracy against us violating 18 U.S.Code 371 when (2) or more officers. Such a violation would be a civil rights violation by a person in their Individual Capacity.
Unlawful Detention: You also have many elements and power to cause harm to our physical person. Absent of you stating we are Free To Go or You Are Not DETAINED, a reasonable person would recognize disengagement from you would jeopardize ones safety and put ones life at risk. Restrictions of our movement is unlawful and would be kidnapping. This is a further unlawful act violating civil rights of a law enforcement person acting under color of law, outside their authority. Resulting in a civil rights violation without qualified immunity protection.Secure in our person, papers, property and affects: We have a Constitutionally protected right under the 4th Amendment to be secure in our papers, property and affects. We do not consent to any search, seizure of our person, or property. We have no obligation to provide any identifying information, state issued identification, also secured under the 4th Amendment.
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Officers protected from lies during interrogation, as stipulated in Supreme Court Decision Frazier vs Cupp. We interpret false narratives or lies fabricated by those in authority for what they are. They are not a misunderstanding, misrepresentations, or errors in judgement. All narratives are a protection which we reject in their official capacity, and reject the courts siding with such direct lies. We citizen journalists have no basis to verify an officer to be truthful in is requests, demands, directive or orders. Actions taken that directly ignore the information provided in this document is the evidence that an officer is not Reasonable, was negligent in conducting an Investigation, and has acted in violation of their Oath. Possibly, other officers did not intervene and incriminate them selves in their silence while witnessing criminal acts.
Other expanded narratives used unlawfully under Color of Law: Some narratives which are an infringement, or possibly other unlawful conduct (slander/libel) on our activities such as, but not limited to:
Suspicious Activity: This is suspicious activity. (suspicious activity is not a felony or misdemeanor and avoids articulable facts about a crime, detention for suspicious activity is unlawful and an infringement under Color of Law.
You have been asked to leave, or being trespassed. When not committing a crime, one cannot be trespassed from Public Property. An ask to leave is a desire and not a lawful order.Call your district attorney.Unlawful trespass actions to demand identification is a Treat of Violence, Threat of Arrest, and other false statements to include, obstruction of justice, impeding an investigation, loitering, failure to identify, resisting arrest. These are all unlawful statements and represents Threats, Intimidation and Coercion from an individual being Unreasonable and not abiding by their Oath.Obligation to speak: We don't answer questions. We have no obligation to speak to anyone, explain what we are doing, how long we will be. A reasonable officer will interact with a citizen journalist, be afforded this information to conduct an investigation. The citizen journalist should be free to conduct their business unimpeded, not infringed, obstructed, delayed, etc.
Definition of official business: An officer or public servant does not have the authority to stipulate what is "official business". Public government facilities are open, accessible and available to serve the interests and needs of the public. We require assistance and service from public officials. We are not obligated to disclose our exact service needs. In some instances, we will require to create privacy for some of our activities and Law Enforcement should remain a safe distance from our activities. The Supreme Court in Glik vs Cunniffe has ruled that a safe distance between citizens and officers is no less than 15'.Unlawful restraint is violence and assault: We do not consent to being "restrained" for officer safety as that is violence perpetrated against us. We will not resist your aggression, and will comply under the acknowledgement that it is unlawful, under duress and additional threats.
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Unlawful movement of our person: We do not consent to our position being moved, issued to sit in any particular position, enter a vehicle for possible kidnapping. We will not resist your unlawful acts, and state that acting under Color of Law is done without authority and is expressly being perpetrated in your individual, private person capacity.
Slander and Libel warning: Any articulation in reference to a Citizen Journalist being identified as a Sovereign Citizen is categorically rejected and will be litigated to the fullest extend of the law for slander and libel. We are not Sovereign Citizens, we are law abiding citizens. Sovereign Citizens by definition live as the law doesn't apply to them. An officer violating the Rule of Law, acting under Color of Law meets the definition of a Sovereign Citizen if they act under Color of Law. The consequences for any public communication or record of a citizen journalist as a Sovereign Citizen is slander and libel and has monumental life consequences. This is a clear statement that Citizen Journalists are Law Abiding Citizens conducting business in a lawful manner.
HIPPA is for others not citizen journalists: Statements of false representations of violating HIPPA are also rejected. A citizen journalist is not under any lawful or contractual obligation to secure information in the possession, custody or control of others. Individuals or entities sharing, communicating or documenting HIPPA controlled information are under the obligation to secure such information. If HIPPA information is in public view, the custodian of the information is violating HIPPA not the citizen journalist.
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Destruction of evidence: In the event we have unlawful actions perpetrated against us, we will have our own objective record of the encounter. We have already notified the appropriate parties of the risks of law enforcement and public official destroying evidence and public records. We are providing an additional level of notice that we will be gathering the following information of public records:
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As citizen journalists we utilize a variety of forums of communication to capture and disseminate information of public interest. Our nature of distribution is available for the general public, yet it is behind a Private Membership portal inclusive of Terms of Service and Privacy Agreements. If you are interested in learning more about our public resources simply email CulturalContrarian@protonmail.com and type "membership" in the subject line.
All of our information is Copyright protected. Information which we gather in the public domain we do not utilize for commercial, advertising, sponsorship nor endorsement.
We often publish both unedited, and edited videos on various social media platforms for visibility to the general public.
WARNING: If you are in public and captured on video or audio from one of our citizen journalists, you cannot legally claim an expectation of privacy. Nor can you claim copyright for something that the Citizen Journalist or Cultural Contrarian is using in strict compliance with Fair Use Doctrine. In the event you attempt to have a video taken down off of a social media platform for any of the following reasons:
You will be affirming under penalty of perjury that the video contains information that meets that criteria. We have exhaustive experience with social media companies, dealing with fraudulent Digital Millennium Copyright Act claims and other false claims in an effort to have our videos removed.
We maintain ownership of all videos and use 3rd party platforms in accordance with our own publishing, marketing objectives.
Hopefully the reasonable and responsible law enforcement professionals desire to weed out the unreasonable and unprofessional individuals from within their ranks.
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We have crafted a variety of different forms of correspondence to be the evidence to support our intentions regarding citizen journalism. These letters or correspondence change from time to time, depending upon what may be happening in a particular area or the pressing nature of our journalistic objectives. Here is a simple example of the type of communication to a friendly we know in a towns legal department.
To Whom It May Concern, we just wanted to be proactive and inform you that citizens are getting beyond frustrated with the continued erosion of our Civil Liberties by law enforcement and the justice system. It is well established by the United States Supreme Court in addition to State Laws that their is no expectation of privacy in public. As citizens we have become conditioned to accept that everywhere we walk, a video recording device is capturing our activities. These can be visual and audio archives by public entities in addition to private entities. No permission is required to capture our likeness. With the advancement of technology, it is hard to even contemplate a citizen not equipped with a smartphone. Capable of performing the same act of recording in public. It is on this issue which we want to notify you that flipping the camera is a growing trend.
We represent a group of like minded, law abiding Citizens, aware of the right to not only film in public, but filming is a Constitutionally Protected activity which cannot be converted into a crime.
We are also aware that liberty affords us to to be in public, public easements, public building (County, State, Federal, etc) anywhere the public can go, without getting "permission".
A citizen can only be trespassed from public when they are breaking a law. Further, video recording according to some citizens may be considered suspicious activity. Sadly in a see something, say something sense of heightened fear, they may make a phone call to local police reporting a suspicious person with a camera. This is an unfortunate action in ignorance of a citizen, be that as it may, suspicious behavior is subjective and is not a felony nor misdemeanor.
As any citizen exercising a Constitutionally Protected right, functioning in a lawful manner, we have additional rights which many choose to willingly surrender.
Our group of law abiding citizen journalists continue to respectfully engage in a manner they choose and will assert that surrendering of rights is a request.
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We have no obligation to speak to anyone. However, we want to be cordial and respectful and have educational materials for any encounter if they are interested.
Our citizen journalists simply want to conduct their lawful activities, unimpeded, unobstructed and efficiently. Some journalists my choose to speak and share some statements like: "I am a citizen journalist, collecting information for a story. I have no ill will nor ill intent. I will not interfere with activities in this area, I will not block access and will remain silent so I can not be falsely accused of causing a disturbance. If you do not desire to be on camera, refrain from engaging me. Thank you."
In the event I am approached by police based upon a citizen call to 911, it is important to inform you in advance of how we intend to lawfully conduct ourselves.
Regardless of what may be expected in police policy to identify an individual related to call for service, we will only Identify when arrested for a crime. Narratives or stories from officers, intimidation tactics, mis-representations of law, or statues is an expected process from police. We are prepared to remain silent and afford an officer to conduct their investigation with written material which we will share. But a critical point exists, as citizen journalists, we do not enter into consensual conversations with law enforcement absent an attorney be present.
Any unlawful detention for investigative purposes is a clear civil rights violation and we are not obligated nor compelled to speak in an unlawful detention of any sort.
We have no obligation to speak to police nor identify and will exercise our 5th amendment right to remain silent, and 4th amendment right to be secure in my person, property and affects.
To reiterate, that encounters with officers which result in detainment for investigation purposes, absent of RAS and PC are unlawful detainments and a violation of our civil rights. Such unlawful activities from an officer, will pierce their qualified immunity in addition to have a negative financial impact to tax paying citizens, officer dues, insurance premiums and bond ratings.
Public photography is not a crime. In our exercising of freedom we may encounter law enforcement and public servants unaware of their limits of authority.
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Law enforcement and public servants may have been trained yet may still choose to call police based upon their feelings. Public photography, use of free speech, or public protest may cause citizens discomfort. However, these are lawful, constitutionally protected activities. A particular individuals response related to their discomfort may result in a citizen causing a disturbance.
Use of a camera, remaining silent, not engaging with citizens or law enforcement cannot be converted to Obstruction, Impeding an Investigation, Failure to Identify, Disturbing the Peace. However, these are go to, unlawful claims of law enforcement.
We share this information in advance, that in the event we encounter law enforcement when we are exercising our rights we will reference this correspondence and instruct an officer that they should speak to you in advance of continuing unlawful activities.
Our journalists will remain silent and for anyone that encounters them, they will provide a weblink. The weblink is to a FREE Downloadable E-Book. The book is designed to be an educational resource to anticipate problems and provide a solution immediately.
As citizen journalists interacting with Public Servants, Private Citizens and law enforcement we have no baseline of understanding of their education, knowledge and application of the law. We also recognize that inside of a courtroom Public Servants have a different standard that Private Citizens.
We can show everyone the water (our ebook), but we can't make them read it. We are not responsible for the actions of other people. Downloading that ebook, or us giving it to someone is the dividing line in the courtroom. It help people who are protected based upon a reasonableness standard, and clearly exposes they unreasonable to seek fair justice when civil rights are violated.
I have provided a link to the ebook for informational purposes.
Here is to positive encounters in your community.
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