Friday, November 30, 2012

Cop comes out well in viral video

Sometimes, good stuff happens. It's not always bad behavior. [Link]
An Albany County Sheriff’s deputy named Stan Lenic is being celebrated throughout the internet as a Constitutional hero after standing up to a pair of activists inside the city’s airport, including one who was video recording.
While Lenic deserves all the praise he gets, the entire Albany County Sheriff’s Office deserves praise because it is obvious they have solid leadership.
The activists, videographer Jason Bermas and Ashley Jessica, were from Infowars and were passing out flyers urging passengers to video record TSA screeners while opting out of the controversial body scanners.
They were quickly confronted by the airport’s director of public affairs, a man named Douglas Myers who told them they were not allowed to record within the airport, which we know is false. Especially in an airport owned by Albany County.
When videographer Jason Berman stood up for his right to record, Myers called the sheriff.
I’ve been in that position many times whether it is inside an airport or not and it’s always a scary feeling because you just never know how the cops are going to react, even if you know you’re not breaking the law.
But the first deputy who arrived, whose names appears to be Weiss, actually took the time to find out what was happening instead of just following the orders from the public director as what would normally happen.
While Myers and the activists bickered over the camera, the deputy stayed quiet and read the actual flyer. And then he took the time to speak to each group individually.
He remained calm and professional, never once mentioning that he was bothered by the camera.
He then went to consult with Deputy Lenic who got on the phone with his superiors as to what to do because it was obvious they weren’t sure but it’s also refreshing that they didn’t try to pretend to know either.
Meanwhile, the public affairs wanker kept going off about the camera, telling the activists they needed a million dollar permit to record within the airport.
The key moment comes in at 5:22 when Lenic returns to the activists and tells them the following:
“Obviously, this is your Constitutional right. As far as we’re concerned, you’re not breaking any laws.”
He then went on to say that they were possibly violating some airport rules, but that was not up to him to enforce.


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