London Police Lose Free Speech Encounter

The Love Police in the U.K. went to the Tower of London with their cameras and a megaphone to utilize their right to free speech. The guards at the Tower objected and called the London police. What you see in the video is the leader of the Love Police group speaking very intelligently and effectively to the lead police inspector about what the law actually says and what his rights are under that law. He successfully argues for his right to refuse to identify himself or to be searched under the Anti-Terrorism Law in the United Kingdom. What is so interesting about this video is the clear and overwhelming evidence that the police in London do not at all understand the laws they are enforcing or even which laws they are enforcing. They have clearly met more than their match in this instance and are in fact at serious risk of getting their department into liability troubles. The same problems with police are encountered here in the United States. There is the same lack of education and training in police ranks and the same willingness to try to remove basic rights from citizens.

It is self-evident that police organizations are attracting uneducated and illiterate applicants who pass through police training with little to no understanding of what their legal responsibilities and limitations are.  This problem is getting worse and its effect on freedom of expression is becoming very serious in both the U.K. and the U.S.  Fear of terrorism is like a neurotic fear of being killed by an asteroid.  Fear of police is quite reasonable and is in fact the only socially responsible kind of fear.  There are very few dangerous terrorists.  You will never meet one in an entire lifetime.  But there are many dangerous cops – armies of them.  You see at least one every single day.

Via BoingBoing