Texas officers detain black 'cop watcher' who refuses to show his ID

theGRIO REPORT - A black photographer who has been filming Austin police as a YouTube user called The Battousai was detained by police after he refused to show them his ID...

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A black photographer who has been filming Austin police as a YouTube user called The Battousai was detained by police after he refused to show them his ID.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the incident began when the cop watcher filmed an Austin police facility from a Sonic parking lot as part of a “First Amendment test.” When officers approached and asked for ID, he refused and asked if he was doing anything illegal. While one officer initially said yes, they then admitted that he was not.

“You’re not doing anything illegal, but based on your suspicious activity we’re going to go ahead and ID you,” the officer says. “If you have no warrants or anything like that, we’re going to go ahead and wish you a good day and we’re going to be on our way.”

Watch the the man’s entire ordeal with police unfold below:

But the man refuses ID once more, to which officers respond they will get ID “one way or another.”

“I know you’re used to this going one way based on the YouTube education you’ve gotten, but that’s not how we do it,” the officer says. “OK, we’re going to do this according to our policy and according to law.”

The man continues to refuse on the grounds that the parking lot is a public space.

“If he doesn’t want to do it, go ahead and put him in handcuffs and we can do it until we find him in the system,” the officer says. “That’s the way it goes — suspicious people, suspicious places, suspicious circumstances. The code of criminal procedure gives us that authority.”

Texas law states that officers can ask for ID if there is reasonable suspicion.

The officers then cuff the man and place him in the squad car for 15 minutes, where he sits calmly and continues to film. The officers even help him film and place the camera while he is in custody.

Eventually, the officers let him go without charging him, though they said they would file an unidentified subject report.

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