Grindall61, Citizen Activist Arrested for... Exercising His First Amendment Rights

August 24th, 2017, We the People Rising attended the LA County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.

Instead of meeting at the Metropolitan Water District in Downtown Los Angeles, the Commission opted to meet at the Federal Court House in Pasadena.

The problems emerged within seconds of our arriving.

I was told that I could not bear signs or record in the room.

I was not allowed to clap or show approval for statements offered at the podium.

The staffers who were running a very poor supervision and inspection process at the front of the building.

Gary Grindall61 Gileno

The worst part had happened before I arrived, though. Gary Grindall61 arrived with his camera, prepared to record, as he is wont to do in every public meeting hosted in the state of California in connection with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Within seconds, the security guard told Gary that there would be no recording in the meeting.

Unbelievable. Instead of respecting his right as a private citizen to record a public meeting, the security guard immediately whisked him around and put him in handcuffs. He was placed under arrest!

Here is the whole video recording what he went through:

One hour later, he received a citation with a fine of $285 and a misdemeanor charge citing his refusal to obey an officer.

Crazy.

The court date for his summons took place October 18 at the Roybal Federal Building in Downtown Los Angeles.

Here is his statement on what he had to deal with:

Arrest Update

I went to court today and the judge obliterated my rights. I was arrested for filming inside a federal building where a public meeting was being held that is suppose to follow open meeting laws which means I am allowed to document the event. I was immediately placed in handcuffs because they were "enforcing the law." I now have to have a trial in front of a federal judge because it's "against federal law" to tape in a federal court building.

So I am being prosecuted for breaking "federal law" but the thought of arresting someone for being in this country illegally is unthinkable and is racism. They break federal law by crossing our border and they get all kinds of free stuff. I allegedly broke federal law and I am facing time in jail because I dare requested a trial.

THIS IS WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. AMERICANS ARE BECOMING SECOND CLASS CITIZENS IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. THE "LAW" WAS ENFORCED AGAINST ME BUT NOT THE ILLEGALS AND THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHITE PRIVILEGE?

Here's the video of his full statement and everything that he endured:

Here are the list of outrages I will place before all of you:

1. The Civilian Commission was too ignorant and uninformed to place the meeting in a proper venue.

2. The Commission and the court building refused to respect the First Amendment rights of We the People.

3. The Federal prosecutor is looking to mount a head on someone's wall rather than pursuing justice. He insists on throwing the book at Gary, even though he did nothing wrong, and everything emerged as a result of massive misunderstandings.

4. The Magistrate judges took arbitrary measures to ensure that Gary could not receive proper representation. Apparently, a citizen has to be dirt-poor living on the street to qualify for a public defender. Outrageous.

5. The judge is threatening Gary with 30 days in federal prison and a $5,000 fine if he brings his own attorney to defend him in court.

Whatever happened to the rights and protections of individual citizens? This is unbelievable!

Please share this story far and wide. We need to put pressure on the US Attorney's Office and US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. This abuse of federal power is unconscionable!