FYI

Here is the text of the formal complaint letter that I faxed this afternoon to the head of court security at the O'Connor Federal Building:

Douglas Hester

Scottsdale, AZ

April 9, 2009

L/CSO Juan Pieve

Head of Security

Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Building

401 West Washington Street

Phoenix, AZ

Officer Pieve:

As we discussed in person yesterday, I wish to file a formal complaint about two of your officers.

On Monday, April 6, 2009, I was engaged in lawful activities on a public sidewalk adjacent to the O’Connor Federal Building when I was approached, unlawfully detained and threatened with arrest by these officers. When asked, they articulated no reasonable suspicion of any alleged illegal activities on my part, nor would they cite any statutes preventing the activities I was then participating in.

Please find directly below the transcription of the conversation that took place between myself and the officers, which clearly proves that I was indeed officially detained by the officers:

[I copied the written transcript I made of the encounter]

Further details, including video of the encounter, may be viewed online at:

http://northernmuckraker.blogspot.com/2009/04/rousted-by-federal-court-security.html

The actions taken by your officers were clearly unlawful, and could additionally be considered harassment. Accordingly, I respectfully ask you to investigate the behavior of these officers, and apply any sanctions/retraining that you believe appropriate, in order to prevent such a situation from happening in the future.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and thank you again for your polite, professional and service-oriented manner during our conversation yesterday.

Respectfully,

(Signed) Douglas J. Hester

I will inform everyone once I receive a response.