MARV Ransacked by Jones County Sheriff’s Department
As you may have heard, a few weeks ago we were wrongly arrested, detained and had our rights violated by those at the Jones County Sheriff’s Department. In total, we were held for over 12 hours but fortunately due to the outpouring of support we were released from their cage around 10pm. However, we were left homeless until the following day when we were able to get our RV back.
During that time the Jones County Sheriff’s Department searched our RV, which serves as our home, office and mode of transportation not once but TWICE (on the side of I-59 when we were stopped and again at another location to which the RV was brought). Not only did the Jones County Sheriff’s Department have no regard for our property, but they also used this time to delete 10 minutes of film I had taken during our arrest.
A lot of you have come forward to share your story of wrong doing by the thugs of Jones County and for that I thank you. On this note, I would like to add that there is a website up and running to document the rights-violations committed by those at the Jones County Sheriff Department.
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- Jun 8, 2009: » Jones County, MS Sheriff versus Motorhome Diaries | the Motorhome Diaries
- Jun 8, 2009: Jones County Sheriff’s Department Ransacks Motor home | Freak Politics
- Jun 11, 2009: » Thank You Thursday: MHD Comes Full Circle | the Motorhome Diaries
- Sep 23, 2009: Jones County Sheriff’s Department Ransacks Motor home | Ever Becoming, Never Completed
- Sep 25, 2009: Report: MHD3 Found Guilty by Jones County Judge David Lyons | the Motorhome Diaries
Good to see the camera wasn’t wiped. I suspect you got or could get the data back.
I grew up (24 years) in a small town in North MS which is also a dry country, this doesn’t surprise me.
We lived 5 minutes from the TN state line (which drinking was legal). The police stay pretty bored given the otherwise uneventfulness of the area, so there were constant road blocks at the TN/MS border to catch people crossing the line with a 6 pack.
This type of police behavior is rampant in small towns within dry counties (at least in the South). I was once taken to jail coming out of a public restroom after the police decided to break up a group of young adults talking in the parking lot without any reason for doing so. They tried to charge me with a DUI because I had my keys in my pocket. I had a beer that night, but I wasn’t driving. During the trip to the jail I managed to convince the policeman that the DUI wouldn’t stick and was instead given a public drunk. I wasn’t drunk, but I was a minor at the time and there is a zero tolerance law.
After the 21st amendment was repealed, local laws that existed during prohibition were never changed. And now it’s being propped up by old ways, misinformation, religious disapproval and a generations apathy.
And their probable cause? For searching your car? Was the look on a dogs face. I can’t wait for the trial: “Officer DoLittle, how often is your dog wrong? How often does your dog lie to you and the court? We must prosecute your dog for perjury!
this is mississippi, right? Leos used to murder civil rights activists in mississippi. i guess you could call this encounter, progress?
There was a guy in the St. Louis area who experienced similar harassment at the hands of badge-wearing thugs, and he was recording at the time, too. The cop who tyrannized him, however, was fired (shouldn’t be too hard to find via google; I think his last name was Darrow or something like that).
The difference? This Darrow kid had a setup by which his videos were sent in real time via wireless to a secure server. The thugs who harassed him examined his camera, probably in an effort to erase the evidence of their thuggery, but even if they figured out how to do it, a copy existed outside of their control.
A word to the wise. If you’re going to stand for freedom in this country, you’re going to become the target of those with the most to lose by you being free. Better get yourself a more secure video setup.
To the MHD dudes:
Have you watched the Flex Your Rights/ACLU video BUSTED yet? It’s prime material for learning how to assert your rights during just the sort of police encounters that you’ve had-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA
Gretchen,
Brent Darrow is the guy who records while driving-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3GlEe1kCHA
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1522.asp
MHD dudes, I suggest you do the same, by installing an inexpensive HD camera (Flip e.g.) where it can record drivers-side window interactions with LEOs (and place it so it’s hard to see or find.) Rear window too, as that’s also where cop-on-citizen action takes place.
If you or a friend have electronics skills, wire ‘em up to a common switch, so you can start recording as soon as a police encounter begins.