Jones County Sheriff’s Department Falsely Arrests MHD Crew
As many of y’all heard the MHD crew was arrested yesterday morning while traveling through Jones County, MS. Currently on our Southern Style route, we met some good folks in New Orleans the night before and were heading to Meridian, MS for breakfast with other fans of freedom then to Nashville, TN, where we were to pick up Allison Gibbs from the airport then head to a meetup there held in conjunction with Liberty on the Rocks and the TN Center for Policy Research. But that didn’t exactly pan out…
UPDATE: Listen to the Motorhome Diaries crew discuss this on Free Talk Live.
This morning we sat down at a Subway in Laurel, MS and jotted down what went down while it was fresh in our mind (note that all times are approximate):
STOPPED ON I-59
- 9:10am Pete was driving our motorhome (MARV) north on I-59. He spots a law enforcement vehicle parked in the emergency turn-around between the north and south-bound traffic. Pete drove past and it appears as though the vehicle stayed put. But then a minute later when Pete checked his rearview mirror he saw that the vehicle had caught up and was shadowing MARV.
- 9:15am The law enforcement vehicle (now identified as one from the Jones Country Sheriff’s Department) turned on its lights. Pete pulled MARV to a stop on the shoulder and turned on the flashers. The sheriff’s deputy (later identified as Officer Atkins) got out of his vehicle and, while standing off to the rear-left of MARV, stated “Driver, please exit the vehicle.” Pete did so, license in hand, and walked back to Officer Atkins. Officer Atkins noted that he had pulled over MARV because he could not read the tags (temp tags from NH).
- Officer Atkins asked Pete how many other occupants were in the RV. Pete informed Officer Atkins that there were two other occupants. Officer Atkins asked if there were any weapons or drugs on-board. Pete told him that there were two firearms. Officer Atkins asked what kind of firearms and where they were kept. Pete stated that there were two handguns, that they were both disassembled and in a locked container and that the ammo was kept in a separate locked container.
- Officer Atkins called his dispatcher, updated them on the status of the stop and asked for backup. Officer Atkins then advised Pete to stand at the front-right of his cruisers’ bumper. Pete complied.
- Officer Atkins then yelled toward MARV, asking the passengers to exit the vehicle. Adam did so, video camera in hand. By this time Atkins had walked toward the door of the MARV (the right side, near the front). Officer Atkins saw the video camera and asked Adam if he was recording. Adam responded that he wants to make sure everyone is held accountable. Officer Atkins then advised Adam to stand at the right rear of his vehicle, which Adam did.
- Officer Atkins then advised the third occupant (Jason) to emerge from the RV. Jason emerged and was told to stand at the right front of MARV, which he did. Jason woke up when Pete & Adam told him that they were being pulled over by the police.
- 9:20am A second officer arrived on the scene. He immediately approached Adam and said “Get that camera out of my face!” Adam started to lower the camera and explain that “I like to hold people accountable” when the second officer ripped the video camera from Adam’s hand and roughly handcuffed him (It should be noted that the Jones County Sheriff, Alex Hodge, later acknowledged that the “video taping had nothing to do with these gentlemen being arrested and no its not illegal in Mississippi”). While this was happening Adam asked “Why are you doing this?” and the second officer replied “You’re disobeying an officer.” Pete, who was still at the front-right of Officer Atkin’s vehicle, asked “What’s going on!?” and was ordered to “Stay there!” Adam was placed in the second officer’s vehicle (later moved to a third officers car.) Jason posted the following tweets:
This is what he sent out via twitter (which we later found out mobilized our network of activist friends):
Adam just got arrested by police in LA for filming at a traffic stop. #MHD
Correction: We are in Jones County MS and @adammueller has been arrested for filming cops after they pulled us over. #MHD
Adam just got arrested by police in LA for filming at a traffic stop. #MHD
- Officer Adkins and another officer approached Jason and demanded that he produce his identification. After politely declining several times he was asked to place his hands on MARV. He also politely declined to do this. This led to him being pepper sprayed (blinding him for over an hour) and being placed in a choke hold before being handcuffed. He was then led to the back of the police car to sit next to Adam where he began to sing a song by Tracy Chapman.
- The third officer then approached Pete and placed him in handcuffs. He explained to Pete that he was being detained “for our safety.” Pete noted that “I haven’t been threatening to anyone.”
- During this time the second officer had departed the scene. He soon returned, going south on I-59, and walked toward the handcuffed Pete, trying to stare him down. The officers present conversed. Pete saw another sheriff’s car pull up and told the third officer, standing nearby, that “Some more of your buddies are here.” Pete was told that that was the captain.
- Also around this time a state patrol K-9 officer arrived on the scene to join the Jones County Sheriff Deputies. having previously been beckoned by Officer Atkins (who himself was a K-9 officer but without his dog that day). The K-9 officer asked Pete if there were any drugs on-board MARV. Pete noted that he had already answered this question and asked if he and his friends were free to go. The K-9 officer proceeded to ask Pete (in the presence of the other officers) one-by-one if there were marijuana, heroin, meth, prescription drugs etc. on-board. Pete again reiterated that he’d already answered such questions. The K-9 officer then took a more personable tone and asked Pete directly if he’d like to talk one-on-one, noting that perhaps there were drugs on-board that may be someone else’s. Pete refused. The K-9 officer then took a more aggressive stance and stated that “I’ll get ATF involved if that’s how you want to do this.” Pete noted that he’d been upfront about the firearms, reiterating how they were safe and secure, and that the was not in violation of the law.
- Pete was asked if the officers could search the RV. Pete responded that he did not give consent for such a search and asked if he and his friends were free to go. The K-9 officer said he was going to lead his dog around the RV and if triggered, that give them consent. Pete said he understood, but that he still would not grant consent. The K-9 officer led the dog around the RV twice. The K-9 officer then put the dog back in his vehicle and returned to Pete and stated “Tell me where the drugs are? You have marijuana in there. Where is it?” Pete replied that this was not the case and that he knows that K-9 dogs can be taught to falsely trigger. This caused the K-9 officer, who had been standing a couple of feet from Pete, to aggressively walk toward Pete and in his face threateningly ask “YOU CALLING ME A LIAR! YOU CALLING MY DOG A LIAR?!” to which Pete responded, “not necessarily, I just know that that happens.”
- The K-9 officer then asked where the keys for the RV were. Pete noted that they were in his (handcuffed) hand. The keys were taken from Pete and the K-9 officer proceeded to open each external storage compartment, search the contents and place them on the ground. When the K-9 officer saw a box of papers (citations, print-outs, etc.) related to medical marijuana he asked Pete “So, you’re into medical marijuana?” to which Pete responded “I did my thesis on it.”
- After going around the external storage compartments the K-9 officer attempted to open MARV’s door (which had been locked). When he was unable to do so after trying keys on the keyring he told Pete “If I have to rip this door off I’m going to get into this RV one way or the other.” Pete then told him the correct keys to use. The K-9 officer, leading the Jones County deputies inside, stopped after taking a couple of steps and stated “Be mean to government” which he read from a bumper sticker affixed to the wall inside MARV (one of the 200 that had been donated by LibertyStickers.com), then added “Ok, I know what you guys are about.”
- While Adam and Jason were still locked in the back of a hot squad car Pete stood outside with an officer watching him and the rest of those present ripping apart the inside of MARV. Pete was asked where the keys to access the firearms were and he advised them on the location of the keys. The locked container was opened and the firearms were examined and left on the couch.
- The third officer to arrive then asked another officer to keep an eye on Pete because he was “Going to take a piss in the woods” which he did.
- 10:30am All the officers emerged from MARV, having found nothing. The captain and his partner returned to their car, told Jason and Adam to “Have a nice day” then drove past the rest of the officers and Pete with country music loudly blaring.
- The K-9 officer then asked Pete where the drugs were held. Pete again stated that he’d already answered that question. The K-9 officer then got a Phillips screwdriver and started to take apart some of the external storage compartments. He later left the scene.
- Officer Atkins then placed Pete in his vehicle. Pete asked what was going to happen to their property laying outside MARV. Officer Atkins told Pete he’d put it away and did so.
- By this time Adam and Jason were being driven to the Jones County lockup.
- Two men in plainclothes (later learned to be from Advanced towing) arrived, one of whom entered MARV and proceeded to drive away. Officer Atkins followed suit for a bit then passed MARV. Officer Atkins drove north on I-59 to the next emergency turnaround and headed south, toward the Jones County lockup. The whole time Officer Atkins was going in clear excess of the speed limit (posted at 70mph, Atkins was traveling 90+mph) and Officer Atkins had belted neither himself nor Pete. Adam and Jason reported a similar experience during their drive to jail.
- Pete saw in the rearview mirror that the person driving MARV had also taken the emergency turnaround and was heading south.
- Note that none of us were ever read our rights.
JONES COUNTY ADULT DETENTION FACILITY
- 11:10am Adam and Jason were led to the booking area
- 11:30am Pete arrived and was led into a small room attached to the booking area. From his chair he was able to see Jason and Adam on the bench. Pete asked Jason how his eyes were doing and Jason responded that he had not yet been able to open them. Jason then asked the correctional officer at the booking desk if he could wash out his eyes and was told that he could after he was booked.
- Officer Atkins took Pete’s information and proceeded to explain why he acted the way he had. He accused Jason of getting into an aggressive stance, which he claimed to know how to identifying due to training and time on the job. Pete responded that “Jason is not violent so I find it difficult to believe that he would initiate force” (The cop’s dashboard cams will eventually verify this.) When covering what happened with Adam, Officer Atkins explained that “I didn’t know if he had a gun disguised as a camera.”
- We then had our mug shots taken and agreed to smile:
- We asked if we could use the phone. We were told after we were booked we could do so. Yet after we were booked we were placed in a cell (size 9 x 10 cinder blocks, painted gray with a cold maroon concrete floor with no furnishings save for a metal toilet in the corner). We repeatedly asked different correctional officers if we could use the phone and were told “We’ll get to that soon” yet it wasn’t until the night shift came on that our request was finally granted — at around 7pm after we had been held in their cage for 10 hours.
- When one correctional officer passed Adam asked if we could use the phone. The officer said we soon could. Adam started to explain what had happened and noted that he “didn’t quite understand MS law” to which the correctional officer replied “You’ve said a mouthful” and continued “When I was at the academy and saw MS laws I asked ‘I have to enforce that even if I disagree with it?’ and was told ‘That’s the law.’”
- We also kept asking the status of our charges — when we’d be free to go and what exactly we were being charged with. No one gave us an information — whether out of choice or ignorance — so we were left to lay on the floor wrapped in thin gray blankets.
- 10pm We were told that were soon to be on our way. We were let out of the cell and allowed to change back into our clothes. When we were brought back to the booking area we saw Allison Gibbs waiting in an adjacent room. We soon learned that she and Jil Wright had helped rally support for us and had raised enough money to pay our bond.
- We signed our paperwork that listed our charges and fines: $215 for Adam’s “disorderly conduct,” $200 for Pete’s “possession of beer in a dry county” and $365 for Jason’s “resisting arrest.” Plus there was a $25 charge added to each person’s fee for a “key charge.”
- At the Super 8 motel where they spent the night, Jason checked the e-mail on his iPhone and saw the flood of support.
THE AFTERMATH
- As discussed on Free Talk Live tonight (2009.05.15) we are now looking at options on how to proceed. We’re going to work to ensure that the people of Jones County, MS don’t have to put up with an out of control sheriff’s department. We’ve been contacted by a number of lawyers who may help us out and we plan to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain all documents, recordings and communication made related to the event. And we’re going to reach out to media. Stay tuned for developments.
- We will also soon post about the very real and very appreciated support that we received, the status of Adam’s camera and the footage he recorded and getting the fourth crew member of MHD (MARV) out of the impound yard.
175 Responses
to “Jones County Sheriff’s Department Falsely Arrests MHD Crew”
24 Trackback(s)
- May 15, 2009: The Liberty Papers »Blog Archive » Libertarians arrested in Mississippi — probably for being libertarians
- May 15, 2009: From MHD: Jones County Sheriff’s Department Falsely Arrests MHD Crew | blog of bile
- May 16, 2009: Motorhome Diaries Crew Arrested By Out of Control Cops | Reflections From A Rotting Nation
- May 16, 2009: Back on the Open Road « Chris Moody
- May 16, 2009: Blue Collar Republican » Blog Archive » Motorhome Diaries Update
- May 16, 2009: » Help Us Hammer Out Our Itinerary | the Motorhome Diaries
- May 16, 2009: » Jones County, MS Sherriff versus Motorhome Diaries | the Motorhome Diaries
- May 18, 2009: The Agitator » Blog Archive » Morning Links
- May 18, 2009: Motorhome Diaries « Blog da Elisa
- May 19, 2009: The Agitator » Blog Archive » Jackson County, MS Police Respond to Motorhome Diaries Arrests
- May 20, 2009: Account of an outrageous and illegal traffic stop in Jones County, Mississippi | NMissCommentor
- Jun 2, 2009: Common Sense with Paul Jacob - Brought to You by Citizens in Charge Foundation » Archive » The Motorhome Diaries
- Jun 6, 2009: Camcorders: The 21st Century Guns « The Lighthouse
- Jun 11, 2009: The Agorist Show | Austro-Athenian Empire
- Jul 15, 2009: the Motorhome Diaries » Blog Archive » Fishkill, NY: MHD Oasis
- Jul 23, 2009: Psychopolitik 2.0 » Stay classy, Canada…
- Aug 26, 2009: Rogue Police are a Cancer to the Republic and are the Front Line of Tyranny | The Smoking Argus/
- Sep 14, 2009: The Agitator » Blog Archive » Motorhome Diaries Crew in Court
- Oct 20, 2009: Bitácoras de viaje en la era de Internet
- Oct 24, 2009: TMA WebSolutions Blog! » Blog Archive » Bitácoras de viaje en la era de Internet
- Apr 14, 2010: NO Question About it: Film the Police | copblock
- Sep 20, 2010: License plate scanners come to Indianapolis | Cop Block
- Nov 29, 2010: Arrested for Filming Police – Charged with Disorderly Conduct | Cop Block
- Jan 18, 2011: Wrongly Arrested in 2009, LOT Set to Return to Jones County, MS | liberty on tour





The part about Jason being pepper sprayed and choked is missing. You go from Jason exiting and standing near MARV to the incident with Adam and the camera. Next mention of him is being in the squad car, I think.
You guys just keep on keepin’ on and the rest will work out. You’ve got an incredible amount of support behind you. That’s definitely an advantage that you can leverage (within reason, of course, haha).
Great writeup. Nothing about what happened to Jason though?
Hang in there guys. Judging by the attention you’ve received in the blogs, the whole liberty movement has your back.
Keep looking for liberty – it’s got to be hidden somewhere.
You should read up on this encounter stuff. “You and the Police” by Ken Royce aka “Boston Tea Party” is pretty good. I think the ACLU.org has some definitive stuff about encounters at traffic stops.
Here is something I think was handled wrong. “Officer Atkins asked if there were any weapons or drugs on-board.”
The answer at this point is, “Am I required to testify against myself?”
Do not answer questions of that type. The motorhome is a residence, so they must have a warrant to enter it, once it is parked by the side of the road. Do not answer questions about what is in the vehicle. You aren’t required to, and volunteering is a poor choice.
Of course, since you chose to respond, you now have the opportunity, the duty, and the privilege to fight the unconstitutional law which infringes your right to keep and bear arms, as well as your Ninth amendment right to travel and have beer in the fridge.
Wild story. You guys know you have my full support as well as that of all the freedom fighters in Michigan. See ya soon -J.Slem
You guys should look into getting external cameras and microphones installed on the exterior of your motor home when you get it back and get enough money.
Also, remember to ask “Am I legally required to answer that question?” when questioned. It can trip them up sometimes.
Smoke’em if you got’em:
http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/8kvyp/jones_county_sheriff8217s_department_falsely/
http://digg.com/politics/Jones_County_Sheriff_s_Department_Falsely_Arrests_MHD_Crew?OTC-fft-4#
http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/motorhomediaries.com/jones-county-sheriffs-department-falsely-arrests-mhd-crew/
http://www.mixx.com/stories/5293227/jones_county_sheriff_s_department_falsely_arrests_mhd_crew_the_motorhome_diaries
It has been my experience that if you don’t answer questions willingly, you are hiding something, and they (The officers) will pursue the truth. If you volunteer the infomation they will prosecute. Its a no win situation. Carpet baggers laws in Texas allow me to carry a gun while in transit but if caught an officer will lock me up until “the matter can be cleared up”.A inconvenient night in jail. The power of an officer lies solely within the descretion of that individual Officer as to how far he is willing to take any given circumstance. In Marv’s case three young men out for a joy ride was comming to an end in order to fulfill the curiosity of three bored Ms. officers.
You should be able to drive a motorhome on an INTERSTATE freeway with a beer in the fridge.
Police dog as a prop. Searching whether they had permission or not, pepper spraying and handcuffing for “officer safety”, illegal orders and requests….
I hope Justice Scalia is watching his “new professionalism” on display.
Great work, guys! I heard about this at Hit & Run. The detailed account of your arrest and detention is fascinating.
This too proves the great need for your excellent mission! We’re with you 100%
We’re definitely going to do our best to focus a spotlight on the rights-usurping actions of the Jones Co. Sheriff’s Dept so that those individuals involved are held accountable. We are fortunate there are so many other freedom fighters such as yourselves that, after a couple of tweets, generated an enormous amount of support for us.
Jim, good call on not volunteering info.
John, we hear ya. We’ve been talking about that sort of set-up even before we hit the road. It’s time we make that happen.
Jones county is one of the dry counties, I do not think you can have beer even on the Interstate..not sure of that. You guys should be a little more informed on when to say something and should not volunteer information. I am sorry you got arrested, Sheriff Hodges is newly elected and is testing the limits of his power.
“Dry county” most of the time means a prohibition of the sale of alcohol; not the possession.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_counties
I’d like to rewrite this story in “speak plainly” style. In other words, without the non-crime laws, uniforms, borders, etc. Just telling the story of three guys getting stopped by highwaymen, abused, put in danger, kidnapped, and then told to pay a fee, lest they come after them again. Sound ok?
I’ve written an article about this incident for the Mountaineer Jeffersonian and posted it on my blog – feel free to repost/link
http://blog.dwp2016.org/index.php?itemid=420
You are in plenty of good company when it comes to police abuse. Today there is a new video posted on youtube about a pastor who was beaten after the police abused their power: http://bit.ly/IRdAU
The other day, I posted a blog post about police abuse in Beaver, PA to which I faired better than both you and the pastor in the youtube video: http://tobint.com/Blog/Run-in-with-Beaver-PA-Police-Department
I think now is the time to go on the offensive. Go to court for each charge demand a trial, refuse to simply pay up, film it all and shine a huge spotlight on these thugs and their backwards little community. Make them regret ever pulling you over.
You wanted a story to write, now you’ve got one. It may not be about finding freedom in America, but it is still a good story.
The unfortunate thing is what they stated in their interview last night. There are decent people in these towns. It’s the government thugs ruining it for everyone and giving these towns/counties a bad name.
It sounds like you handled the situation very well. I hope the Jones County officers involved in this stop eat crow.
Jeff,
There are decent people everywhere. That’s why most things in life are voluntary and peaceful. Unfortunately the decent people, the supermajority of them, will not lift a finger to oppose the indecent, violent people calling themselves the state.
That’s why decent people who are willing to take action for freedom are gathering in New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project.
Are you here in NH yet?
Keep up the good fight gents! I wonder what the local coverage of this is…if any? Has anyone contacted them? Maybe an email to the tourism board (info@jonescounty.com) might help spotlight it. Or how about to the Laurel Leader-Call newspaper (http://www.leadercall.com/)
By the way this is sort of ironic, “The county was named for John Paul Jones, naval officer known for his statement, “I have not yet begun to fight” (http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=19900)
Robbo
http://www.leadercall.com/contactus
Ian,
No, I’m not in NH yet. Last time I was there, I hiked through NH. I’ll keep an eye out for good business opportunities out there though. It’s a beautiful state.
The reason I made the comment about “decent” people is the knee-jerk reaction to call these communities “backwards.” There are government thugs in big “progressive” cities, too. Many NH towns could be perceived as “backwards”, too.
I know I can’t do much from where I am at (in life and location) but this is what I can and did do. I guess I would encourage others to do also so we can shine a light on this.
Email to:
pub@laurelleadercall.com,
editor@laurelleadercall.com,
Business@laurelleadercall.com,
newseditor@laurelleadercall.com,
countyreporter@laurelleadercall.com,
Emailed:
Dear Laurel Leader,
I would like to bring to your attention the abuse of police power and the denial of rights (including Miranda rights) of three males on the morning of May 14th in Jones county.
Fortunately, these three men are connected to a large national group of liberty activists that were immediately alerted to the abuse of police powers by the Jones County Sheriff’s Dept and activated to ensure that not only are their rights protected, but the rights of all citizens.
Unfortunately for the Jones County Sheriff’s Dept. these three men and the network of Liberty activists are not going to simply role over and ignore these abuses. The denial of rights, police abuse, unlawful arrests, and baseless charges will be fought tooth and nail by those charged and their supporters. I urge you to research our track record and ability to fight corrupt “Law Enforcement” with little annoying things like laws and rights.
I encourage you to please follow up on these arrests and the, perhaps ground breaking legal fight that is sure the follow. We understand that your have a newly elected Sheriff. This is a great opportunity for you be a leader in the media’s responsibility as a check and balance on those in power.
You can find a written account of what transpired at here (http://motorhomediaries.com/jones-county-sheriffs-department-falsely-arrests-mhd-crew/comment-page-1/#comment-437). In addition to the three men arrested, I am positive there would be many others that would be willing to talk to you further about this…including a good number of citizens living in the state of New Hampshire.
Sincerely,
Rob “Robbo” Burke
Digusting.
Police are more detrimental
to our damned safety than thieves
or pirates.
Another of example of the drug war
become a war on the people.
You’re guilty until proven innocent.
Publish as much as you can about this creep “Atkins.”
Keep it up guys!! Thanks for putting up a detailed account!
Dry county in Mississippi means possession. You should find a better source, like the law as it is written.
Mississippi is dry, the cities and counties can vote to have it. In our area, if a patch of land is incorporated, they vote to allow alcohol.
That was @Jeff
You guys should also read up on the free state of Jones. These guys never joined the confederacy or joined back up to the union after succession.
I will do you one back by posting the Wikipedi, which is on the most part accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_County,_Mississippi
Greg,
My original comment on dry counties was generally vague because I wasn’t sure what MS laws were. I see this now: Dry county
…where it says, “It is also illegal to transport unopened containers of alcohol across any dry county in the state.”
Regarding K9 units, I think the use of one should either be by the consent of the property owner or the officer should be required to obtain a warrant (or have probable cause). K9 units should be used only to find drugs and NOT be used to establish probable cause. That said, I say legalize drugs.
Even in this case: Mich ruling ,which I don’t agree with either, police still need a tip of some sort in order to use the K9.
It says: “A recent court ruling said police don’t need a search warrant to take drug-sniffing dogs to the front door of homes, as long as they have a tip there are illegal drugs there.”
In the MARV situation, it appears they had NO evidence of drugs and they detained the three so they could get the K9 unit there. Something’s gotta be unlawful about their methods.
Gents,
This is a great story. One wonders if you ought not coordinate with the county libertarian organizations, as your travels proceed. Perhaps they can get you the local publicity in your battle for liberty.
Thank you!
Jeff, sorry if I offended you. There are great people all over, I am from the south and know this as well as anyone. Still I can step back and look at many communities and accept that often times they are very backwards in their attitudes and policies, and the police are always worse than the population as a whole. I have never had the kinds of encounters with the police up here, as I had when I lived in Oklahoma and Alabama.
Here’s the Busted video by the ACLU:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/videos/busted
Just watched it, my teens are watching it now. Good advice.
Sorry to hear of this treatment but thank God you all have the courage and willingness to expose this stuff. Thank you!
These guys need to hear about Oath-Keepers.blogspot.com… they clearly need a little more input from the real world.
If you need letters written, any help publicizing this (besides my usual twitter/facebook), let us know. Letters to editors, etc.
Tell us what you need!
Time to show them what force is all about. I think we can get 10,000 outside their police station next weekend.
Hope you sue the shit out of ‘em and get a big enough judgement to keep rolling for years. Yeah, it’s the taxpayers that will pay for it but the State already HAS the money and they’d just use it to screw with somebody else.
Fuckin A.
Great, dispassionate writeup Pete. I do have to say, though, that I can only imagine the cops were losing their shit, worried that they might trip and be crushed by your abs, since you weren’t wearing a shirt.
Seriously, though, what an intense example of the ability of law enforcement to take something innocuous and make it an event. I’m still baffled as to why they pulled the RV over in the first place. If I had to guess, I’d say they’ve made bank ticketing interstate travelers who clearly aren’t residents and they were just looking to soak you guys for as much money as possible.
Insane.
According to this site, Jones isn’t even a dry county.
woops, link here:
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/controversies/1140551076.html
There isn’t the slightest doubt that on the facts given these bozos deserve to be hit with lawsuits pursuant to 42 USC 1983 and 42 USC 1985.
Any civil rights lawyer worth his salt should be able to win (and garner a nice payday for himself pursuant to 42 USC 1988.
Wow great writing. Watch your back if your driving through Texas.
Stuff like this happens because people don’t care until it happens to them then they want people to care.The whole damn south is a POLICE STATE.
Good luck on your journey
Stay safe
The war on drugs has turned this country into a banana republic with respect to law enforcement.
Spread the word, vote this video up on Digg, http://digg.com/politics/Ron_Paul_interviewers_arrested_in_Mississippi
Kick the shit out of these bastards, guys. Don’t quit until every one of these dirty thuggish cops are behind bars.
Blood is shooting out of my eyes as I type. I hope you sue the county and these criminals back to the stone age.
We here in South Carolina have a long tradition of remarking when something like this happens…..”Thank God for Mississippi”!!
Sounds to me that if you took the cumlative iq’s of all these inbreeds,and formed it into a spitball,you could shove it up a knat’s ass,and it would still bounce around like a bb inside a battleship.
Thanks for all the comments and support here. @JGullock: I don’t intend to sue taxpayers who did nothing to me. I just hope they (taxpayers in that county) realize that and rally around us when we ask that all these officers be fired.
“adam says:
May 17, 2009 at 8:40 am”
Sue them. The taxpayers are as responsible as anyone, they tolerate this kind of behavior. The taxpayers will not deal with these cretins until they suffer the pain of constantly paying for their transgressions. Sue them and bring state and federal charges of civil rights violations.
I would sue if only anything else won’t result in the firing. If this is the way they behave, then it’s likely the town’s population knows it and has/is intimidated by the officers.
Suing will cost the town MONEY, thereby increasing the perceived liability of retaining the officers.
Also, let’s face it: if anyone else has been similarily abused by these guys, the thought of possibly getting cash out of the deal might prod them into reavealing their harrasment.
they didn’t read you your rights
… because you don’t have any
adam, sometimes that is what you have to do to get their attention. Sooner or later the taxpayers are going to say enough and elect a new sheriff. What happened to you guys is what you expect in China, not the USA. Un-friggin-accepatble. Now if you’ll excuse me I gotta go take some more blodd pressure meds!
THIS IS CRAZY OF THE POLICE TO BE ABLE TO “GET AWAY WITH” THIS!!!I PRAY MY SON & HIS BAND DOES NOT RUN INTO ANY KIND OF CRAZY-COPS LIKE THIS, THEY LEAVE NEXT FRI. TO GO ON TOUR- FROM AR. TO MS.,TNN,ALONG THE EAST COAST,&UP TO CHICAGO & NEW YORK!!! “IF” THEY GET STOPPED, I KNOW MY SON “MIGHT” BE KILLED!!! THIS SCARES ME- – -CAUSE “IF” ANYTHING LIKE THAT WAS TO HAPPEN- – - I’D BE NEXT, CAUSE I WOULD GO AFTER- – - “WHOEVER”!!! & WOULD NOT STOP TILL I GOT THEM!!!(our “they” get me first!!!)
I AM SO GLAD YOU-GUYS FINALLY GOT OUT OF THERE, IT REALLY SUCKS TO KNOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH BULLYING PEOPLE & ALSO CHARGING THEM FINES LIKE THAT- – - & – - – FOR WHAT???!!! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!
OH, I FORGOT TO MENTION, DUE TO THE FACT- – - “THEY” DID NOT READ YOU YOUR RIGHTS, THEN MAYBE YOU-ALL COULD GET YOUR MONEY BACK (?) WELL,I KNOW- – - DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH!
AT THE VERY LEAST CK. ON GETTING ANY “CHARGES” YOU HAD, TAKEN OFF!!! (?) GOOD LUCK & THANKS FOR MAKING US AWARE OF THE CORRUPTNESS!!!
Having spent the majority of the last 20 years living in this area of Mississippi, I can attest to the fact that things like this are common all over this area & not just limited to Jones county.
Whats worse is that a good portion of the public avidly support the methods used by law enforcement here in South Mississippi.
Roadblocks are a daily routine here!
Passing through this area on the Interstate with out of state tags raises your chances of being pulled over also.
Regardless of why they stop you they are going to want to search your vehicle.
Drivers beware once you get South of Jackson, Mississippi.
Adam, Pete, Jason, I’m sorry you guys had to go thru this. Woody and myself were waiting for you in Meridian for breakfast and got concerned when you didn’t show. When I read the twitter, I was only 15 miles from the jail. I got to the jail before 1 pm, but they refused to let me see you guys).
As a citizen of MS, my opinion is sue the crap out of the entire State. Try to win millions, and try to get those cops fired. Make the Attorney General testify as to what the LAW says about your rights. It’s the only way this crap will stop.
Let me know if I can help in anyway at all
Danny Bedwell
Chairman, Libertarian Party of Mississippi
chair@mslp.org
I just became of this situation today. I’m apparently living under a rock. Anyway, I’m just assuming that you guys will have to come back to appear in court or something (could be wrong). Just wanted to let you know my Greenville, MS family of 8 (ages 2+) will be there if you need a posse! =D God bless.
PS We have roadblocks up here all the time too. Trying to get the nerve up to take my video camera through one and politely ask “Am I being detained? Am I free to go?”
hrm. Jones Co. is not a dry county, neither is Forrest. I’ve bought and drunk so much beer down there, it’s not dry.
I’m furious at these fucking pigs. Goddamn. I would have gone apeshit if I was in that same situation.
You guys are tough.
Sorry to hear about your ordeal. Had a similar event in Arizona.
Best of luck in the litigation.
Same thing happened to me in ’92. Local deputies invaded my business and detained me without a warrant. Court threw the case out and I was exonerated. I sued and the county had to pay. Fight these modern day Redcoats NOW!
If you guys wanted to fight for freedom and liberty, the time and place to do that was in the county jail. This is because when you are locked up, your are really free–freedom means having nothing left to lose!! So now that you are “free” and living the life of luxury, you will be less inclined to sue, prosecute, or work for justice–you have lives to live and beer to drink!! I do practice what I preach, having done pro se lawsuits as a pauper for over 20 years now (no payment of court costs or fees, everything charged to the silly taxpayer when you are poor!) So I predict your charges will be dropped or reduced and you will forgive and forget, you will not be able to find an attorney to work pro bono on a civil suit and not seek redress of your abuse suffered, and that is why we have this type of government thugs–because if you wanted to hold them accoutable, you would be living in Jones County Mississippi and being in their face daily–that takes work, sacrifice, suffering and dedication, and you ain’t got what it takes, do you?
Can we finally discard the term “public servants” when discussing LEOs?
I recommend limiting the term to firefighters, EMTs and librarians.
Keep up the good work. You handled yourselves in exemplary manner. Well done and good luck.
I have some thoughts about this that I’ll post when I have more time. I just wanted to mention 2 things:
1. We have a huge talk radio program called The JT and Dave Show that a lot of people around here listen to. Both JT and Dave tend to lean a little towards libertarian, but you may find more support from Dave (the guy with the older, grumbly voice).
Dave is a Ron Paul supporter and JT leans a little more towards the conservative philosophy. Both are heavy, heavy supporters of our law enforcement so it’s kind of a toss up as to the position they’ll take, but it would certainly be an interesting conversation.
Either way, they have the largest state-wide (and Jones County) audience of any other media outlet. They can be found at http://supertalkms.com (call in: 601-952-0986) and you can listen live by filling in bogus name, email, and zip. I do all the time.
2. The Jones County Board of Supervisors meets every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. The next meeting is on June 1st at 9:30am. Of course, Sheriff Alex Hodge will be there.
This would be a good topic to bring up at the meeting.
By the way, Jones County is dry. It always has been. MS Constitution allows each municipality to decide their own alcohol laws. Laurel, which is in Jones County, sells alcohol within the city limits, but Ellisvile (which is where I live) doesn’t sell alcohol.
I live in Jones County and hate our sheriff’s dept. My house was broken into twice within 32 days, and on the second occasion the burglars were seen there and identified. We were able to give the deputy a tag number and vehicle description, and they were able to figure out who the suspect was, who was later photo identified by the person who saw them at my house. The deputy told us that they would have the suspect in custody by the weekend because they found the vehicle and knew who they were after. A month later we received a letter stating that our case had been closed due to lack of evidence and no significant leads! That’s the biggest pile of BS I have ever heard! Please come to Jones County and help us! I’m sorry this happened to ya’ll, but trust me I know how you feel! You will have my support 100%!
raytube
the county is dry the city is wet
I am from this county and the old dumb people voted these stupid people in. i did not they know freedom will rain when they saw all the ron paul support from me justin ishee and my buddy caleb windam…. get them all fired.
Im from laurel/jones county and im tired of this shit..you have full support from me gettin these hicks out of office and uniform.
From Jones County.
Thank you guys for putting up with that bull. I now have my ear to the ground. Let us know what you need for support and you will have it. There’s no sense in giving people authority if they’re going to use it like that. Hodge is the one we need out so we can have some of our freedoms back. He seems more interested in harassing citizens than stopping crime.
I’m from Laurel/Jones Co. myself and see this type of stuff all too often. But honestly, I don’t see anything changing about it if we don’t start weeding out everyone in the system. When my brother was arrested back in August of last year, that’s where they held him waiting to be transported and classified. While he waited, he was jumped IN HIS CELL by about 7 black guys. The officers did nothing. They called an ambulance and he had to be treated for his injuries.
The JCPD is a circus and Alex Hodge is its proverbial ringmaster. I want front row tickets to see these clowns rounded up and sent to a Funny Farm.
This in not uncommon for Jones County. This problem started with the prior sheriff Dykes and has escalated. Give them a gun and a badge they think they are God and we as citizens of Laurel Jones county let it continue. When we do say something we are told “Let sleeping dogs lie” or “They will only make it worse if you say anything”. This problem is not only the police officers it starts there and goes all the way to the top in Jackson, Ms. There are just as many crooks in the judicial system than there are in the streets but they are worse because they have each others backs while we only have ourselves. The local media is just as bad because they only report what they are told by the police.Lawyers tell you “The truth does not matter it’s what you can convince 12 jurors to believe. corruption is alive and well in Jones County.
I’m a 7th generation citizen of Jones County. I think everyone is jumping to conclusions with this story without knowing the facts rather than having an intellectually honest discussion about what really happened.
There’s only 5 or 6 people that really know the truth about what took place and they each have an interest in promoting their own agenda which doesn’t afford much room for telling the truth.
There’s a lot of details that need to come out before anyone from either side can say if these guys’ rights were violated.
It’s ridiculous that there are over 90 comments here and everyone already has a concrete opinion when they don’t even have the facts yet.
Here’s my thoughts from the beginning of the incident without any presumptions of the officers’ power trip or the MHD3′s anarchist/agorist agenda. I’d just like to play devil’s advocate since no one else seems to have the capacity to do so.
First, it’s my understanding that New Hampshire temporary tags are good for 20 days and the RV was purchased around the 1st of April. So, the tags would’ve expired on April 20th, which would make them expired at the time MARV was pulled over in Jones County.
Sheriff Hodge states that Pete lied about the number of occupants in the RV and that the deputy heard some bumping inside.
I don’t have any reason to believe that Pete lied except that he could’ve been trying to keep them from finding out that Adam is a twice-convicted felon who’s riding in an RV with 2 handguns. I don’t know what the law is in Mississippi, but in some states it’s illegal and I’m sure the guys are smart enough to be well aware of this law.
Then Pete says there are 2 handguns in the RV. No problem. Perfectly legal – with the exception of Adam’s felony record, possibly. Then the deputy asks the occupants to exit the vehicle. Perfectly ok and within the law.
Then Adam comes out with a Camera. No problem so I’d like to learn the true, unbiased context in which the deputy felt like taking the camera from him and placing him under arrest. Did he or didn’t he or his camera interfere with the deputy to do his job?
Now that the RV tags are illegal, Pete lied about the number of occupants (if he really did) and Adam was arrested (legitimately or not), Jason exists the vehicle (where the deputies are aware there were 2 handguns).
Any reasonable person (badge or no badge) would want to know who you’re dealing with at this point, but let’s assume that Jason doesn’t legally have to identify himself. I’m honestly not sure if it’s the law or not, but I don’t consider it a civil rights violation to produce an ID when asked by an officer after a questionably suspicious sequence of incidences.
So now the deputy asks Jason to put his hands on the RV – not behind his back. There’s never been any mention of Jason being placed under arrest at this point, according to what I’ve read on the web and the interviews I’ve heard. So I assume that at this point the deputy only wants to pat Jason down since he exited the RV where there were 2 handguns.
Jason refused and was maced, choked, and cuffed.
All in all, I have to say that it seems to me that the Jones County Sheriff’s Deputies acted reasonable. It’s been said several times that the deputy asked several times for cooperation and was continuously denied.
I would like to know why the officer took the camera from Adam and who gave authorization to delete the video.
On the other hand, it’s true that we’ve had issues with some of the deputies in the last Sheriff’s Department. Those deputies are serving time in jail for planting drugs and beating up inmates. Justice was served on these goons.
We voted that administration out and elected Alex Hodge almost entirely on the idea of cleaning up the corruption within the department and ridding our quiet, peaceful community from a major meth problem.
BTW, whether the “war on drugs” is helping or hurting is a totally separate issue. I support the “war on drugs” since I’d rather live in peace and show the officers the respect I believe they’ve earned so that the people in our community don’t have to live in fear of their neighbors due to rampant drug use and all the problems that come with it.
Sheriff Alex Hodge immediately fired a few deputies for reasons that I’m not sure of when he took office.
Another fact is that Alex Hodge is credited with one of the largest highway drug seizures in the country (5,500 lbs of marijuana) while he was a Mississippi State Trooper. Many folks on this thread may have a problem with that, but I say that if he had done his job any less then he would be doing our community a disservice.
Also, this idea that the people of Jones County are harrassed and fearful of an out of control Sheriff’s Department is ludacris. I have friends and family members that have had run-ins with several different law enforcement agencies around here. They make the same claims. Personally, I’ve never had a bad experience with a law enforcement officer and I’ve never felt that my civil rights were violated.
I would like for Sheriff Alex Hodge to release the dash-cam footage. I’d also like for the incident to be investigated so that we can have the unbiased truth and an account for the details.
If it’s found that disciplinary action needs to be taken, then it absolutely needs to be taken.
I can haz my libateez bak mista offica?
I’d also like to add that I don’t have any reason to believe that Pete, Adam, or Jason are violent, hateful people. I also think it’s ridiculous to think that they are white supremacists as I read one of the deputies claimed. In fact, I’d guess they are all just the opposite and are probably just as kind and friendly as I am.
I think their anarchism ideology probably defines their motives and agenda, but I doubt it defines their morality.
The problem is that the deputies don’t know any of us from a murderer or a rapist, but they deal with that element on a daily basis. The difference is that I don’t have a political agenda that requires me to defy law enforcement officers the sake of defying authority.
Raw defiance would easily overshadow even the gentle kindness of Mr. Rogers and Mother Teresa.
I think that this is a good example of what happens when the Bush DHS releases a “left-wing extremists” report and the Obama DHS releases a “right-wing extremists” report.
These kinds of unwarranted, fear-mongering reports are the obvious precursors to situations like this.
I’m happy you guys are safe, and I’m glad you are exposing these bastards. Jones County has always been a trap. Everyone be aware. Something should be done. I was also arrested in Pike County, MS for “disorderly conduct” just for being educated about my rights. It sounds like a court needs to educate Mississippi about their rights.
After reading all this, I had to put my two cents worth in – I am a local business owner in Laurel, MS, and am a libertarian; I believe in freedom from government and that the current administration in DC (Obama, Democrats, & Republicans) are systematically destroying our country and all that it stands for.
That having been said, I would like to make you guys aware that Interstate 59 is locally known as a “drug corridor”; there is hardly a week that goes by that the Jones County Sheriff’s Dept or the Laurel Police Dept does not make a substantial drug bust on I-59.
In light of that, it would seem reasonable to me that a “suspicious vehicle” i.e., a motorhome with unreadable paper plates, would warrant a look at.
Not having been there, it would appear that they were a little heavy-handed with you guys, but there also may have been a little defiance on your part that always gets their backs up.
I might also add that I have been stopped in routine traffic checks many times by the MS State Troopers, and a few times by the Jones County Sheriff’s Deputies, and without exception have been treated politely and professionally. Maybe attitude has something to do with it?
Lavelle, Paulbo,
You two are giving up your liberties for a little safety. Ben Frankline told us that in that situation, we would have neither.
Pin this on the war on drugs if you like, you might well be partially correct, but “attitude” is the most likely reason for this situation. Now I’d like the two of you to decide if you prefer the outcome of a traffic stop hinging on your attitude. How about your 16 year old son? Wifey in a bad mood, that time of the month, gets pulled over. All poor examples, but I’m sure you get the drift.
So are you willing to live in a country of laws or are you willing to depend on the morals of those in power to do the right thing?
Way to go guys. My wife and I will donate to your cause. I did some standing up for my rights years ago in Arkansas and my advice is that the road you are walking is a dangerous one. Stand up for your rights, but be prepared to get your ass beat. Understand going in that the cops aren’t going to lay down and give up the right to roust you at their whim. Keep as many people with you as you can, have a car following you discretely where you can. Have people escort you through their community, with a video camera and cell phone.
I had a good fried that was a state trooper. We had this conversation on occasions and I can tell you two things motivate the goons that did this, their pleasure in pushing people around, and their willingness to do absolutely anything as long as they go home at night.
Here is an example of how they teach this. You are stopping a vehicle. (while reading this, hold up your hand with your fingers slayed) You have five priorities during this traffic stop.
#1 is you (now fold down your thumb)
#2 is your partner (fold down your pinky finger)
#3 is your weapon (fold down your ring finger)
#4 is your patrol car (fold down your index finger)
That middle finger sticking up? That is the citizen…
These guys go home alive, everything else is secondary. If they have to shoot your 17 year old kid on the one in a ten thousand chance he might have a weapon, that is what they do.
Sorry for the typos, I was pissed off when writing it, didn’t proof read.
I sent you some cash via paypal, not a lot, but if you guys keep on, I’ll support you from time to time.
One point, I understand your willingness to insulate the taxpayers from paying for your abuse. But, there is no other way. In the future, don’t equivocate on what you are willing to do. Hash this out in advance, have a plan laid out for as many situations as you can imagine, and a response both tactical and public relations.
If you are going to do this, say it with your eyes, with the set of your mouth, with the words you write on a public site like this. The cops are reading this, guaranteed, waffle on what you are willing to do and they will take it as weakness.
You guys did well this time. Stay calm, if it happens again, survive so you can to tell your story. You can’t stick up for your rights if you put yourself in a position where they can plant some dope on you or just shoot you down.
And get a chase car orgainzied NOW!
I read your complete account of this incident. I can offer two perspectives, one as a former police officer and former special deputy of Jones county and one as a plain old citizen which is what I currently am.
I travel down I59 every day in a very dark tinted sports car. I’ve never been stopped (in this particular car) but suspect that one day I will whether its Laurel Police Department, MS Hwy Patrol or Jones County SO.
There is a fine line between harassment and proactive law enforcement. Where is that line drawn?
I suspect at this point I may be written off by the majority of the readers in this column. However, if you hear me out I may not be so different than you.
I personally know Alex Hodge and believe that he is a good man. However, I have personally witnessed law enforcement overstepping their authority. I also see a lot, a whole lot of proactive law enforcement on I59 and in Jones County. Is this a bad thing or a good thing? Depends on your perspective.
The problem I have is going too extreme on either side of the coin.
Some of the comment’s made here are extreme, a complete distrust and hatred for ALL law enforcement and authority. If that type of person had their way there would be anarchy. I don’t agree with that. Don’t forget, these same deputies that some of you distrust, hate and despise would come running with lights and sirens blaring to any person in Jones County, irregardless of their color, religion or political affiliation with one call if you asked for help.
Are they perfect, no. Should they be better trained, reprimanded or fired when they are wrong? Yes.
Alternatively, I don’t agree with unlimited power or the illusion therein that is sometimes accredited to law enforcement.
This account you have given has received my attention. I will concede the fact that there must be checks and balances to the power given to law enforcement. I will follow this with a lot of interest. If their is any question or comment any member of the motorhomediaries would like to bounce off me, I would gladly respond by email.
Thanks and good luck in your endeavor. I write this sincerely without any sarcasm. Davy Keith
Patriot,
Lavelle, Paulbo,
You two are giving up your liberties for a little safety. Ben Frankline told us that in that situation, we would have neither.
First, you obviously didn’t read my comment. I listed some of the possible details that could have led to the arrest of the MHD3 since so many have already jumped to their own assumptions based solely on their hostility toward authority and the one-sided details of the MHD3.
Then I made it perfectly clear that I’m more interested in finding out the unbiased truth by means of an investigation into the incident.
Finally, I noted my support for disciplinary action for the deputy involved and/or Sheriff Hodge if it’s found that they violated the MHD3′s civil liberties.
It’s a bit naive of you to assume that I’m naive enough to look at this issue so cut and dry as to believe that I’ve nilly willy given up my liberty for the sake of my safety.
It’s perfectly reasonable for me to believe the safety that is only provided by a competent, pro-active law enforcement agency and the individual liberties given to us by God and secured by the Constitution are more harmonious than incompatible in allowing a community to live free from fear, weather by a pro-active law enforcement agency or rampant criminal activity.
The argument begs the question… Which is the free’er freedom; living within the law in harmony with a pro-active, reasonable law enforcement agency or trusting that criminals will compromise their own morality in the favor of the people in the community?
An example, how free were the citizens of New York City right after 9/11 compared to those same citizens today; two days after a pro-active, reasonable law enforcement agency arrested 4 terrorists for plotting and attempting to carry out another attack? After 9/11 people were afraid to go to work; schools were closed; sporting events were canceled; and commerce nearly stopped completely.
That’s quite a contrast compared to NYC residents today; two days after the a pro-active law enforcement agancy prevented a terrorist attack. Freedom from fear is often difficult to identify because we tend to take it for granted. But even the smallest civil liberties violations can quickly be blown out of proportion by opportunists that wish to exploit the very nature of the differences in antagonists and those whose duty it is to protect the community and enforce the laws.
The 9/11 example may seem to be on the fringes of the debate, but it’s not nearly a stretch as saying that Jason’s civil liberties were violated when he was asked to produce an ID during a routine traffic stop.
I’ve not given up my essential liberties for a temporary safety as Benjamin Franklin suggested (which has been stretched, misconstrued, and taken completely out of context for over 200 years to make the far-fetched leap from Colonists buying their way out of war with England to an officer making a simple request for ID, or in the very least a quick pat down after exiting an RV with 2 handguns and the arrest of a twice-convicted felony occupant.
I, along with the overwhelming majority of Americans and citizens of Jones County, recognize the necessity of living in harmony with a competent law enforcement agency in order to strike the perfect balance between freedom from tyranny and freedom from anarchy-induced fear.
#1 is you (now fold down your thumb)
#2 is your partner (fold down your pinky finger)
#3 is your weapon (fold down your ring finger)
#4 is your patrol car (fold down your index finger)
That middle finger sticking up? That is the citizen…
These guys go home alive, everything else is secondary. If they have to shoot your 17 year old kid on the one in a ten thousand chance he might have a weapon, that is what they do.
That’s as cute and ridiculous as the antics of Roger Rabbit. First you stereotype all law enforcement officers as trigger-happy bullies, which is ignorant and careless, and reveals your childish view of authority.
Then you assume that once you put a badge on, you relinquish your right to live along with other inalienable rights. I tend to believe that once you put the badge on, you accept the dangers of countless life-threatening situations as well as the civil liabilities from claims of police brutality and harassment by a few people looking to exploit you to promote their own selfish agenda.
With that line of thinking, if a 17 year old kid holds up a convenience store with a 9mm in his pocket, the clerk’s first duty is to make sure it’s not just a banana. Of course not.
But because a law enforcement officer wears a badge and swears to enforce the laws you oppose, he is somehow not allowed to protect himself first and foremost.
Like most anarchists that quote the constitution (which is an oxymoron in itself) to defend their individual freedom you have a biased, unfair view of civil liberties. That is to say that, according to your philosophy, a person only have civil liberties as long as he has no responsibility to enforce the law and no duty to ensure the safety and freedom of others.
Lavelle, David K:
You may as well give up on this as I plan to do after this one last post.
If this group all has the mindset that Patriot does, then nothing can be said that will change that.
I had planned to do a little “back door” looking in to this incident, and if the MH crew’s account was accurate, would offer what help I could from this end.
However, it is obvious that the sentiment here is “F*** the authorities”, no matter what, and I presume any sincere help would have been met with paranoia.
Good luck on your endevours, guys; just remember that MOST people are good at heart, and the golden rule still applies.
Look I know the deputies and the sheriff on a personal and professional level. If they arrested you then they had good cause. Our guys protecting our county are doing their jobs. Just because you are looking for freedom, does not mean you can get away with everything you do. I congratulate the deputies for their job as they arrested you. Maybe next time you will do what they tell you. I stand behind the men in uniforms in our county. If you don’t like it you don’t have to come through Jones Co. I am going to end by saying I am proud of the men and women that are protecting me in this county. I am glad you got what you deserved.
Lavelle, you make some valid points.
As a former LEO I do see some problems with the behavior of the crew, but also with the behavior of the police.
First of all, NEVER SPEAK TO THE POLICE! The only information you are required to provide them is your name and other identification information. The only other thing you should say to them is “I decline to consent to a search.” and “I invoke my Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer.” and “Am I free to leave.”
In this regard the crew did it almost right. But when asked about guns, drugs or anything else that could be considered contraband, DO NOT ANSWER! EVER!
It doesn’t matter that federal law protects your right to transport firearms lawfully through all states, even ones that ban them entirely, if you admit to having a firearm you have just given the police authority to search your vehicle if there’s anyone inside it.
Note that these officers may not have been abiding by the newest SCOTUS ruling regarding searches incident to custodial arrests, Arizona v. Gant, opinion No. 07-542, effective on April 21, 2009, which holds in part: “Police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest. When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee’s vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant or show that another exception to the warrant requirement applies.”
In this case, the “arrest” was for an expired temporary plate, and there is no reason to believe that evidence of that “crime” could be found within the vehicle. So, any evidence found in the vehicle is probably suppressible, including the liquor.
There is, I believe, an exception to transporting liquor through dry counties if it’s unopened, particularly on a federal highway, and because the vehicle is a motor home, there are also special rules about search and seizure that apply to a “domicile” or “residence.”
The mistakes made by the crew were few, but sufficient to get them arrested.
Never lie to the police! And the best way not to lie to them is not to answer their questions, beyond your name and the above statements.
Always obey police commands regarding your position, posture or movement. Police are in control and have authority to dictate where you stand, how you stand and where your hands are at ALL TIMES. If they say “put your hands on the RV” then do so, slowly.
Adam, while justified in refusing to provide identification, should have simply stated his name and followed the officer’s directions to place his hands on the vehicle. Officers are entitled to pat-down suspects if they have a “reasonable, articulable suspicion” that they might have weapons, but they can only pat-down from the outside, they may not search within pockets, and they may not extract a wallet to obtain ID.
However, if they try to do so, let them, but note verbally that you are unarmed and that they have no authority to go beyond a protective pat-down for weapons. Never resist. That’s what Adam did, and why he got sprayed. I cannot judge whether this was lawful because I wasn’t there to see how much resistance he put up or how many times he was warned.
Police officers ARE empowered to handcuff you for their protection if they feel they need to do so, and you are required to submit. This is particularly true when there are multiple parties involved.
Adam appears to have been outright wrongfully arrested merely for videotaping the event. The order given by the officer who handcuffed him was clearly an unlawful order, however, Adam’s response was inappropriate and inflamed the situation. Adam should have said nothing. If the tape was erased, that is a crime in and of itself, at a minimum “tampering with evidence,” and a suitable complaint against the officer should be filed.
Pete’s mistakes were many. He engaged the police in dialog that was both unnecessary and futile to his cause. Let met be clear here: You can NEVER talk your way out of being arrested. Never. And anything you say can, and will be held against you, but due to the rules of evidence, nothing you say to a police officer can be used FOR you at trial. If your attorney tries to get the officer to tell the court what you said that might be exculpatory, it will be ruled “hearsay” and will be disallowed.
Go here for an excellent discussion of the “never talk to the police” issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik
or Google “youtube never talk to the police” if the link doesn’t work.
Pete should have never made any comments to the police, never admitted anything, never confirmed or denied anything, and never consented to a search (which he didn’t) and never challenged the officer with the drug dog.
Yes, drug dogs can alert on nearly anything, including cash (80% of cash has traces of cocaine on it) and yes, cops can plant drugs on your vehicle to elicit an alert, but there’s nothing you can do about it, so keep your mouth shut. According to the statement by the drug-dog officer as related here, the officer DID NOT SAY that the dog alerted, he merely implied that “he knew” that there were drugs in the vehicle. Pete then denied it and forwarded the excuse that the dog could have been induced to alert wrongfully.
Even if this is true, saying so does NOT help you. Look at it this way: in court the cop is going to say “I told him I knew there were drugs in the RV and asked him where they were. He immediately replied that my certified drug-detection canine had been falsely induced to alert on the vehicle. I never mentioned the dog or said that it had alerted, he volunteered this himself. I found this to be suspicious.”
It’s all about how your words can be twisted in court. View the Youtube video I mention to see how this happens all the time. If you don’t say anything, it can’t be used against you.
Locking the door was a good idea, but he should have refused to give them the key, as this might be seen as a consent to search. The officer can always DENY that he threatened to rip the door apart. It’s better to FORCE them to forcibly enter the vehicle, or at least forcibly remove the keys from your person. At least that way there’s more evidence that you did not consent to the search.
Once in these sorts of situations, your only goal should be to document if possible, all police malfeasance, by causing them to leave as much evidence of wrongful acts as possible.
If Pete had not admitted there were guns in the vehicle, and had not lied about the number of people in the vehicle (let the cops figure that out or get everyone out right away and lock the doors), the chances they would have searched and found the beer would have been somewhat smaller, and much less likely to pass court review.
Anyway, it was a roust, and the police clearly exceeded their authority in several ways, but you guys didn’t help your cause as much as you could have.
The issues I see ripe for complaint are the unlawful arrest of Adam for “disorderly conduct” merely for refusing to stop videotaping, and Pete’s arrest for a liquor violation based on the fact that it’s a home as well as a vehicle. The original stop might also be challenged if the temporary plate was in fact clearly visible and valid.
Jason, I’m afraid, made his bed and now he’ll have to lay in it, unless the whole stop is found to be illegal.
You should check into the whole firearms in proximity to a felon thing carefully, because that’s a biggie.
Anyway, sorry you got rousted, it sucks, and clearly you were abused, but you should take some good lessons from this for next time.
Seth Richardson
Jones Co. Fireman – You must be a brother of one of those cops by another daddy.
raytube—–the county is dry the city of Laurel isnt. I grew up in Jones Co. and thank god do not live there anymore. I still have family there and hate to drive the 3 hours to visit, because I now have out of state tags. I’m sorry this happened to you guys. Do your best to have them fired, even the Hodge guy, which I’m pretty sure I’m related to way off…..family or not thats not the way to treat people.
In Mississippi the vehicle is by law an extion of your home and they must have a warrent to search your vehicle the minute you refuse and you are allowed to carry firearms in your vehicle in MS I live in oxford MS and there are some great law students here that can help you research MS laws at OLE MISS University, You’ll probably have to sue the city the county and the state for everything the sheriff has done to you. Even if it has to go to the US Supreme Court it is time that some one wakes these red neck @asturds up and force an end to the good ole boy bull shit that goes on in this state to include the everyday/night road blocks and doing breathalyzer tests at the bar door and then arrest you for public drunk if you stay till bar close in the state of Mississippi. and they have a couple of law suites pending aginst the City of Oxford and other cities so lets make sure you fight this as far as it takes.
Hey guys what’s changed!! Something like 40 years ago a family friend was on a lecture tour in USA and was driving through a central hic state. He was a professor and at that time an Anglican Bishop.
He was pulled over for speeding maybe and taken to the courthouse or whatever. He had to pay up for speeding, for court costs and for defence lawyer costs despite no court appearance. He told our family when he had retunred to UK. It was all right. I got the message. That was how they collect revenue locally.
How else do they live. Wear it mate.
What happened Pete? After all your grandstanding about standing up to authority you chickened out. Your buddies had the nuts to fight the law. you took your “beer charge” and laid down like a
b!tch. sissy.
I just wanted to say that i have been very offended by a majority of the posts on this site. I was born and raised here in Laurel, MS. I am by no means a backwards inbreed. You are saying what the Jones County Sheriff’s Department did is a reflection of the entire county. Sure there are some very screwed up things about this place, but we’re not all bad. The areas considered the COUNTY are dry meaning you cannot purchase or possess alcohol. I agree that is screwed up. Everyone drinks…cops, county officials, every one. I agree it is just a way to make a buck. We have an election and not everyone voted for the present sheriff. Everything here is based on politics and what is best for politicians. For example, There is an incompetent idiot that should not be in a supervisor position running a county office but is because her mother works for the board and one board member owed another board member a favor. I am frustrated that everyone has let this decide how you think about Jones County. Maybe you should know that jobs here are hard to find and speaking out may cost a job; therefore many people don’t because they cannot go without a job to support their family. We live here because our father’s father’s lived here and it is what we know as home. I would just like for everyone to stop calling us all ignorant inbreeds because that does not reflect the entire population of Jones County. I am sure that if something screwed up like this happened where you live, you would be offended also. Just because we live here DOES NOT mean we don’t support your cause. I DO NOT support the way you have lumped all of Jones County’s citizens in one catagory.
mississippigirl – thanks for your comment. i apologize if you were led to believe that we or anyone that supports us thinks negatively of everyone in jones county. that is not the case at all.
jones county, like any place, has a majority of good folks and a few bad folks. what i advocate (i don’t want to speak for everyone else here) is to lessen the scope of government over our lives, so that if those bad folks can’t use their “authority” to harm us. to be clear: i know there will always be bad people out there (people willing to use force) but we can mitigate their impact by ensuring that they aren’t able to use the force of the State, which claims a monopoly on the use of violence.
to use an example – hitler was a bad dude. no doubt about it. but he was able to do much more harm since he was in a position to which people granted authority. by being elected he had millions to do his awful bidding. the reason i’m traveling with mhd is to encourage people to think for themselves, to not allow others to control them or govern them. what the deputies we interacted with that work for the jones county sheriff’s department under sheriff alex hodge did was violate our rights. there’s no doubt about that. if we did the same to you you could rightfully claim that you were kidnapped, that your property was destroyed, that you were threatened etc. the fact that these thugs have badges doesn’t excuse their actions.
i wish no ill-will to you or anyone else. i am a proponent of peace. of voluntary interactions. i believe you and i and everyone else should be free to act as long as we don’t initiate force against someone.
does that make sense?
and as for the points you raised about keeping job and such, i understand. people have to decide for themselves where the line is. what they can tolerate and when they have to stand up for what’s right. for me, that line was crossed by the jones county sheriff’s department and i’m going to work to hold them accountable.
mississippigirl – Hi, I’m the other guy that was arrested with Pete. Just to be clear, we’ve constantly talked about how nice the people in Jones County were to us. I’ve mentioned this on the radio all over the country and in your local paper. We wouldn’t have gotten out of jail as quickly as we did if it wasn’t for a resident of Jones County. She then drove us to a motel so we could have somewhere to sleep since our home was confiscated by the sherrif there.
We understand that there is a huge difference between the residents of Jones County and the people. This is a big reason why we want to fight back, so the residents no longer have to put up with this abuse.
Thanks for writing and I hope this clears things up a bit.
So, judging by the bulk of the email, this appears to be a highly biased reader base. Beings that I have been an ED physician in Jones county and have tenured three sheriffs and their respective deputies, I can tell you that they all have the best interest of Jones county at heart. Exactly what reaction would you expect from an officer with self described bumper stickers like that? This is America. We all have a constitutionally protected right to freedom. With these freedoms come independent decisions. With these decisions come consequences. That is all I know. If you look like a troublemaker and act like one, you will be treated as one. I say that not to individually pick on MHD or its people, I’m just saying there is no harm in someone searching your vehicle if you have nothing to hide. When you say no (which is your right), don’t be dissapointed in the officer taking that as a final answer.
One other word of advise….in this day and age of electronic media, don’t step out of a motorhome with the camera rolling at a traffic stop. As you can see, it does no one any good. Alls it does is further label you as a free radical. While this behavior may be acceptable in NH or CA, we are still the south and while perfectly legal, it probably wasn’t appreciated.
So robcol, basically if we accept we have rights, but voluntarily forgo them for the sake of not being assaulted by bullies with badges – who took an oath to protect the Constitution, not ‘government’ – then we’ll be just fine! Great! See you in the gulag!
I don’t think all cops are bad, and I know several. The problem is the seemingly unwritten thing that is floating around that it’s okay for cops to do whatever just because they brandish a badge and that isn’t right. I respect what dangers police face but there was nothing in this that would cause concern. Nothing! Cops have dash cams so why can’t the people being stopped have cameras as well – because there is no cause for the actions of the police, especially in this case!
I’m from Northeast MS and I wouldn’t say this is typical but I’m definitely not surprised by the officers’ actions. In small towns and rural counties like this, Sheriffs simply do what they please, un-Constitutional or not, unfortunately. Please fight til you take them down a peg and don’t pay any of the bullshit fines.
Good job Robcol isn’t a sherriff. No matter what the police beleived the MHD3 to have done or be upto there is no excuse what so ever to detain someone without reading there rights and telling them what there charged with. That in its self should be enough to have the arresting officer discharged from the force. Police officers are employed to uphold the law not to break it. Even after there arrest the police never read them there rights, gave them a telephone call or allowed them access to council. This makes you wonder how many people are in the Jones County jail on trumped up charges put there by the same officers dealing with the MHD3.
I lived in Petal, MS about 30 miles from Laurel, and bumping edges with Hattiesburg, and guys keep fighting… I’m glad to see someone writing about rogue law enforcement that is the total norm in MS. Sadly, you had to experience, but it is what it is… Goodluck guys!
And ummm Rob Col… don’t be backwards… best interest or not, they had no cause to search their vehicle, nor did they have any reason to have them arrested. (Because if they did have probable cause, they wouldn’t need to ask now would they?) LOL. Besides our forefathers didn’t want unreasonable search and seizure and any good citizen knows that even if you have a badge it doesn’t make you above the law (and it doesn’t make you God or a bully). Really, three bloggers *with ideals* **chuckle** a threat to a community with their beer and RV. How many beers have people tossed back, (maybe while driving down 59) in their own homes or down by the Leaf? Protectors of people and community need to realize that term papers and research for medicinal mary jane isn’t the same as a dime bag of weed and “Bother Government” or any other variation isn’t disrespecting an officer.
“A Free Radical” like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Payne and John Hancock. Really? You give Mississippians a bad name. Green tea is a very hipster beverage that kills free radicals supposedly (bad science if you ask me) so free radical may not be the adjective and noun you’re looking for. Constitionally-Conscience citizen might be alliteration you intend. And if we know anything in Mississippi Beauty and any other content of one’s character is in the eye of the beholder. Especially jack ass control freaks who want to label someone because they are different. So troublemaker is just a label you get when you disagree with anything local bigwigs do or say. Keep up your fight, Pete and Jason!
Why the heck dont you have cams hidden at the rear and front of the MARV??!!!? You couldve videoed the entire event without interference…..no you couldnt use it as evidence, but you could use it to corroberate your storys.
Anyway good luck with the police state, may it forever dissapear
I completly agree with all said except you are misinformed over the last “goons” serving as officers. There is information soon to arise that will clear some of those “goons.” You are doing the same thing with that comment as these “idiots” are doing with this posting. All I have to say to the “IDIOTS,” sounds like you need to stay the hell out of Mississippi. We do things a the old fashion way in the South. If you don’t like it don’t come back.
@Trey – thanks for the well-wishes. We’re in Jackson, WI now and ran into a gentleman that used to live in Jones County. He had heard of our run-in from Adam and thought that such incidents as we experienced are currently not rare.
@Joe – good call. We’ve talked about such a set-up but with our limited funds have yet to make that a reality. If you have suggestions that may meet our needs please let us know.
@Josh – thanks for sharing your thoughts but I have politely disagree. It does not matter where an individual happens to be, if their rights are aggressed upon (even by someone with a badge) it is not right. And for others to stand idly by or to even support such rights-violations only enables and encourages additional tactics. Do you think that we have different rights since we happened to be born outside MS?
And you think SC is any better. Why don’t you come down here and see what Mississippi is really like you inbreed.
Robcol wrote: “I’m just saying there is no harm in someone searching your vehicle if you have nothing to hide.”
It’s just not true, Robcol. Can I come over to your house and dig through your personal effects? You got any embarrassing pornography or sex-toys? Sappy love letters to your girlfriend that you’d rather keep private? A diary that contains your deepest fears and insecurities? A bottle of Viagra or Propecia that you’d rather I didn’t know about?
In a way, “If you don’t have anything to hide, there’s no harm in a search,” but we all have perfectly legal things that we’d rather not show to a stranger, and it’s THOSE THINGS that the 4th Amendment protects from disclosure. That it also sometimes prevents law enforcement officers from detecting criminals is a necessary side effect, but the mistake is in thinking that protecting criminals is the foremost thing the 4th Amendment does. It protects you and me from disclosure of our private details first and foremost, and that protection is SO IMPORTANT that we as a society are willing to let some criminals go in order to maintain it.
nch20031 wrote: “No matter what the police beleived the MHD3 to have done or be upto there is no excuse what so ever to detain someone without reading there rights and telling them what there charged with. That in its self should be enough to have the arresting officer discharged from the force.”
Others have brought up the fact that they were not read their rights. This is a common misconception. Per Wikipedia:
“Police are only required to warn an individual whom they intend to subject to custodial interrogation at the police station, in a police vehicle, or when detained. Arrests can occur without questioning and without the Miranda warning—although if the police do change their mind and decide to interrogate the suspect, the warning must then be given.”
sir . i have lived in jones county ms all my life. that being told, where you were stopped, was inside the city limits of laurel,ms . it is WET aka beer legal to have . except for open container in vehicle. it disturbs me greatly when i see the county law on an interstate highway. our crime is rampant in the rual areas where they were elected to PROTECT AND SERVE. again i am sorry for the bad treatment.
Welcome to Jones county. We take pride in our sheriff’s department and the work they do. While they seren’t perfect, they are working very hard to keep drugs off the streets and riff raff from transporting into or through our count. They are a respected part of our community. If you don’t like it, stay out of Jones county.
Did they ever read you the miranda rights?
I empathize with you guys, however, to play devil’s advocate for a second, you have got to realize that exchanges such as this:
“Officer Adkins and another officer approached Jason and demanded that he produce his identification. After politely declining several times he was asked to place his hands on MARV. He also politely declined to do this.”
will put you on the wrong side of the officer’s good graces, every time.
I dont really know what you guys are about but I can say im from Jones County, MS and our Sheriffs department thinks they are God this kind of stuff happens on a daily basis to Jones Co. residents
And im not the chris from above
Absolutely Unbelievable… I will be writing a story for my readers on this bring attention to the absolute pile of rubbish.
Godspeed.
Its gonna be a obvious thing many of the times, when the working officials commits mistake and false behavior reports as wrong impression on the entire management.
I too have been harressed and abuse for more then 25 years here in Los angeles— the city of the devil angeles– which is what this city should be called- my stories are simular but I could never find a pro bono civil rights
attorney to defend me! the story is way to long and their are sound reasons for why I put up with it for so long but now all i want to do is die becuse i don’t have a physical ARMY to fight the police, building and safty the fire dept.
and the list goes on they have thrown aeverything at me. (818) 9123888
PART 2 FOR BILLYPILGRIM anyway the whole story should be at the very least heard throughout the whole united states because of the egomaniac
tactics used by not only the authority officials but also the sniches in neighbors that get thier way with the protection of anominious cover when
they do their EYE SORE FANATIC REPORTS that end up destroying peoples lives both physical and monetary, it just isn’t right that people pay taxes that
are used to create terrorist in other countries by killing their children babies,
innocent men and women then make up a huge number of consentrated
visious cycle laws, to excessively control people along such a narrow band of existence, that usually the first to suffer continually are the poor that are kept poor by the evils that go on LEGALLY under COLOR OF LAW to hust people like me over and over again , If I could have only been left alone in peace I would have done great and beautiful things but there are just to many evil
and neglent people in this country,,, it’s has never surprized me that people blow up buildings, fly into building, drive trucks into state capitols, walk up to
Part 3 billy pilgrim on motor home abuse—- walk in to the Pentagon- and the list is again way to long to cover in this web site but you should be getting the picture! the evil forces of control freak fanatics run everything and what can only one person do when they have already done so much perminent damage
my life’s work destroyed 25 years and for what? thats why when i die I will be so glad it is over, I only lived a life of abuse, I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs,
or anything alse that we hear all about it glorified by the evil media, they would rather print the unibombers manifesto then to tell my story and then CRAWEL
UNDER A ROCK from the shame they SHOULD feel and so well deserve because of what they have done me and especially to all those who are like me and don’t do those much more terrible things we all read about in the papers, it’s no wonder even our children go to schools that end up in violence
also, well if anyone wants to try to help me I shure (mic) would need it.
Go after these thugs guys and make them pay. What you guys went through is a risk to any and all with these cops down here. I could tell you some stories about these clowns in uniform. It is really getting to a critical point in having to deal with these jokers in power.
I am fed up with them and everybody that backs them. It makes me sick to hear the Grand Juries just rave about how these officers do such a good job. Good Job?
Good job of breaking the law to enforce it.
Good job of doing as they please with no consequences to worry about. Good job of shredding the rights of the citizens.
Good job of being no better and even more guilty than the citizens that they lock up.
Good job of making people like me hate them more everyday.
Like I said at the start, go after these clowns in full force with everything you got. I am behind you in whatever you decide to do because I know where you are coming from and I know exactly how you feel.
I agree. The JCSO does not “make up” reasons to arrest ppl. Bottom line here is that some one is out to make a name for themselves by taking some southern miss “hicks” to court. The truth is that the JCSO has done a better job in the last few years than ever before. You ass clowns fail to mention how many drug dealers these cops take off of our streets or how everything they have purchased & donated is paid for with seized funds – in return giving back to the taxpayers by not having to request money.
Reading through the comments above, I have noticed that many are angry about how the search went. Bottom line here is that a cop can lawfully search a vehicle. No warrant needed.
I may be wrong but I recall reading that you guys were charged with open container as well? Can’t help it that your to stupid to throw out a open beer can.
Now that I think about it…..this group of pussies is probably the same type of ppl that voted for OBAMA. See where that’s got us?
Do us all a favor and pull your heads out of your asses ppl.
“Bottom line here is that a cop can lawfully search a vehicle. No warrant needed”
Wrong again genius. The only time you can search is:
• Consent searches. Any citizen who agrees voluntarily to a search by officers waives his or her rights under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Any incriminating materials or evidence found during a consent search provides law enforcement officers with the right to detain, arrest, and confiscate.
• Plain View Rule. If a motorist is stopped for a traffic violation and he or she has an illegal substance or possession (i.e. drugs or a weapon) in plain view, an officer does not require a search warrant to investigate further.
• Searches made in connection with a legal arrest. If a motorist is arrested for driving under the influence, then a search of his or her vehicle is permissible under law.
You need to go back to cop school (or ask for a refund – you surely didn’t get your moneys worth).
this is almost as dumb as eating boogers. why did you try to get arrested in the first place? if you had nothing to hide then why didn’t you allow the cop to search your vehicle. ha that was a genius move by you yanks haha. In MS the cop has a right to search a vehicle if there is probable cause since you declined his request he still has probable cause because you did not obey him…
Let me say that I live here and just becaue some people act like backwodds people does’t mean the whole entire community is a backwards little community so think before you open your little stupid mouth.
@Charlene, thanks for your comment. I’m not entirely sure who you’re addressing but, at least for me personally, I hope you don’t infer that I ascribe negative characteristics to an entire group of people based on the actions of a few.
Whatever blame I’ve dished out related to the illegal detainment/arrest/jailing/property destruction/etc. of May 14th of 2009 relates solely to those who aggressed upon myself and my two colleagues. My aim is not to belittle you or your community at all. We’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of really great people in/around Jones County both online and when we returned to the area last Sept. for our Justice Court date. Many of whom have welcomed us into their homes and supported us and for whom I’d do the same.
My aim is to hold accountable those who violated our rights.
Wow.. I’m from MS and this does not suprise me at all. The cops here are just douchebags that are pissed at life cause they were too stupid to go into any other profession. Just about every person I know would be in prison by now if they did their job instead of parking their cruisers behind a line of trees and whackin off.
The Sheriff department are not alone with the the way that they act some city cops act just as bad! About (2)two weeks ago a big truck came off of interstate 59 and landed on to highway 84 I was looking at the whole thing so I called 911 and went to see if the trucker needed any help, soon after an officer showed up and said to me boy get from over here , I tried to explain to him why I was over there and he yell I will not tell you again. It seems to me that doing the right thing is really the wrong thing. Do not get this wrong there are good officers here in Jones Co just a few bad ones who need to be weeded out!!! I wish you guys luck and will be prying for you
Mr. X – sorry to hear that. We had a similar experience when in Manchester, NH a few months ago – a trucker got hung up on a curb so Adam and I were directing traffic for about 20-30min (and got honks and someone even said “y’all are much friendlier than the cops”) then when the police did show up they just ordered us gone. Without thanks or even recognition. But, when we went back into the Starbucks at which we were working they appreciated our efforts and gave us vouchers for a free coffee. Different incentives when the relationship is voluntary (Starbucks depends on us as customers whereas the police don’t since they claim a right to our money and can’t be fired).
BTW – Hodge has a Facebook group to get support to be re-elected (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Re-elect-Sheriff-Alex-Hodge-for-Jones-County/108850935839590?ref=ts). Adam and I and a lot of other folks have joined and encouraged Hodge to answer for the way he treated us. He proceeded to delete our comments and block us.
Замечательно! Где взяли то?
Высокопроизводительные стабилизаторы – FG, AY, Elitech, TCC
I take offense at calling Jones County a “backwards little community”. Where there might be unlawful acts being performed by a out of control police force does not mean that the entire area is full of hillbillys. You are categorizing an area simply based on your preconceived ideas about south Mississippi. Would you have thoughtlessly thrown out such a insulting comment had this happened in California or New York?
I do not agree with anything that happened there but bashing a community because of acts committed by a few renegade cops does not make you any better than them and can only lead to to a negative outcome.
Bruce, thanks for your comment. I agree with your sentiment which is why myself and my colleagues – Adam and Jason – have not used such language to belittle the very real and very friendly community here in Jones Co.
Adam and I are now back in Jones Co. for our third time here (May 2009 arrest, Sept. 2009 trial, and now) and everyone we’ve encountered – save those with badges – have been nothing but welcoming to us, which is why we strive to differentiate between the people here and those who purport to work for them.
FYI, a “public memo” was just left on my car (parked in the lot across from the Jones County Sheriff’s Dept.) announcing that Mr. Mueller & Mr. Eyere “will be in Laurel this week to connect with others “who have suffered rights-violations at the hands of the Jones Co. Sheriff’s Dept”.” The memo goes on to urge me not to visit their website, not to share my police brutality story, not to attend their meetup (at the local Buffalo Wild Wings).
I find myself doubting this was from the Sheriff’s Department.
Personally, having grown up in this god-forsaken county and having heard about all of the things that department has gotten away with in the past, I WOULD NOT ADVISE MESSING WITH THEM. If you do enough research about, say, area drug taskforces, you might get some idea of how far from legitimate some of the deputies have been found to be in the past.
i live in tn a southern state close to la and Mississippi all southern cops are alike and always keep in mind the three civil rights workers that where murdered by southern deputy’s and also not much has changed from that time.i am glad we have young guys like these young men going out and seeing whats wrong in this country.but always remember anytime your in the south try your best not to get stopped by southern police they don’t like outsiders and you could wind up in prison for along time on phony charges ,these three are real lucky they didn’t get beat by the deputy’s if it had been at night they would have had to make a trip to the hospital.LUCK WAS WITH THEM
As a resident of jones county i am sorry that you and your friends got caught up in this hilter run town,and county. Just be glad it wasnt the city, the are worse. What happen to you guys happens here every day. I hope you are able to take some very drastic legal measures against them. I, myself have my own legal battle going on with the city for setting up illegal road blocks. I hope you will be able to drag these roaches into the light. Again, on behalf of the really good people of jones we are sorry. People should be able travel without fear. Good luck, Brian
u are an idiot
From what I can tell he was a punk and just tried to provoke the officers with the camera. I don’t buy your crap about the way they acted at all. I’m sure they were just a sweet group of christen boys doing nothing but right. My advice to you is just stay out of Jones County, we love the way it is ran and the way it is. Go around us and stay out of our county.
i have lived in jones county all my life.i hate that ppl always try to make us out to be stupid hicks when in reality we are all very smart. first of all let me say that i am very proud to live in jones county, next would be that i know the officer that took the camera from that guy and he is a great man. i feel that he asked you to turn it off and you refused so he did his job.. he has a right not to be filmed. then all of you instead of acting like adults and speaking with an adult attitude instead of some smart ass kids then you may not have ended up in jail.. when asked a question just answer if you had nothing to hide then why not just be respectful and then you would have been treated with respect. our sherriffs department is doing a great job and i do not believe that anyone of them were just out and out mean to you. i saw that they were trying to be nice and you refused to comply , well then they had to do thier jobs for their saftey and everyone else that was traveling along 59. i would like to say to alex hodge and all his deputies great job i do not feel you fringed our their rights at all you were doing your job.. they are no better than anyone else.. their tag was not valid then fine they could have gotten a ticket and been let on their way if they would have acted like they had sense but instead they acted like assholes and got treated that way…i am not sorry for them at all and to officer mckenzie i am proud of you and they other officers thanks for protecting our community….
Okay, that’s right. The officer has a right to not be filmed but we don’t? Enjoy the fascism you cherish so much. I for one don’t enjoy it and will also film any encounters. I refuse to submit the “shut up and obey” mentality that you adore. We are civilians and do not “need” to do as ordered. This isn’t the military.
The posts from Lornep and mzjonez pretty much sum up the mentality and type of persons who reside in Jones County, MS. Read their posts and you will see exactly the kind of people. Their expressions make me sad for the good people in Jones County (and those who happen to be traveling through it) no doubt about it.
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I would love to know what the final result of the trial is
Jace, my charge was dismissed due to the length of my detention. Jason chose not to continue allocating time to the situation. Ademo (Adam) represented himself pro se in Dec. 2010, which resulted in a hung jury. Video and the write-up is posted to Cop Block.
http://www.copblock.org/1352/hung-jury-in-jones-co-ms-for-filming-police-officers/
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