SHAWN Thomas has been arrested for irritating the police. For filming police in a Crown Heights subway station, Police Officer Rojas nicked Thomas. That arrest was  – of course – filmed by a passer by.

When the matter came before the court, Rojas failed to show up. So. Thomas had to go away. And come back again on June 17.

But Thomas has been seen in court. The site Photography Is Not a Crime explains:

…Thomas is back in court again over another arrest from last October where he was accused of recording inside a courtroom, which he never did, so they charged him with disorderly conduct, accusing him of using profanity, which he never did, seizing his phone and demanding he provide them with his passcode, which he never did.

That arrest, which he describes in great detail on his blog,  took place outside a courtroom within minutes after a judge dismissed a case against him from a June 2013 arrest where he was video recording outside an NYPD police station in an attempt to identify the cops who had arrested in January of that year for recording them making an aggressive arrest, which he also goes into detail on that same blog post, especially about a dirty cop named  Sgt. Mohammed Karimzada.

And he only resorted to recording the police station (video below) after the district attorney’s office continually refused to provide the names of the arresting officers during the discovery process, even though they falsely accused him of possessing a stun gun, which is illegal in New York City,  not that they were ever able to produce said weapon.

Incredible. The police can film you with impunity, treat you like a criminal waiting to pounce. But when you film them, it’s a crime.