Attacked by an assault camera

Once again, we find that the "authorities" are trying mightily to ensure that their Orwellian surveillance society be a one-way street.

In Portland, Oregon, police officers chasing a suspect begin smashing windows and searching someone's private property, despite the owners loudly denying that anyone had come on the property in the last few minutes. A neighbor, taping the scene from the edge of the property in an attempt to document the situation, gets TASERED and shot with a bean bag round for his trouble.

The real laugher? This excerpt from one of the reports that the officers filed about the incident:

"'He had refused to drop the camera which could be used as a weapon.'"

You see, apparently anything that one possesses and/or uses that the police don't agree with is now a threat to their safety, and justifies their using physical force to "neutralize". I suppose someone using pencil and paper to make notes would qualify, as I've heard that those freshly sharpened Number 2s can be quite deadly. Paper cuts are wicked painful as well.

Oh, and the neighbor with the assault camera?

"Waterhouse was arrested, accused of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. A jury acquitted him of all charges."

The Portland Police Department is now being taken to court over their illegal search of the property, as well as their assault on Frank Waterhouse, the bystanding neighbor who was jailed for daring to film the officers.

Let's use the line that's always given to us right back at them:

"If you have nothing to hide, then what are you worried about?"