Some Federal Police Out of Control

As illustrated by Doug Thompson, some federal police officers are out of control and are abusing their authority even with fellow officers. While we won't go so far as Thompson and refer to them as American gestapo, we certainly are not going to argue with his assessment. A full investigation of the training, or lack thereof, and tactics of all federal police officers is long overdue. 

Excerpt: 

I pulled off the road ahead of the second NPS patrol car, grabbed my camera and headed back to take a photo of the police action. As I approached, the Park Service officer wheeled around and pointed at me.

"Sir, if you raise that camera to take a photograph I will place you under arrest," he barked.

I identified myself as a working journalist on assignment and said I was simply covering a news event.

"Sir," he retorted, "this is U.S. government property and under the provisions of the USA Patriot Act you cannot take photographs of official government activity without authorization. Put your camera down now!"

I could not believe what I was hearing. I grew up in this part of the country and have photographed on the Blue Ridge Parkway since my days as a high school student. I asked for his badge number. He refused to reveal it.

"Sir, you have 15 seconds to leave or you are under arrest." He had his hand on his gun so I left. Media General, our newspaper's owner, has strict rules about interaction with police. At the top of the hill, I stopped and shot some photos back towards the scene.