Ademo Freeman of CopBlock.org has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, with nine months suspended. What did he do?
Ademo Freeman faces 21 years in prison because he stood up for a 17-year-old student who was assaulted by school liaison officer Darren Murphy at West High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. Despite his actions, Murphy was back on the job the next day while the student was suspended. Another student, who had captured the exchange on video, had been ordered by school personnel to delete the footage.
Freeman, concerned about the lack of accountability, posted the video online then made calls to the Manchester Police Department and West High School seeking comment. His phone conversations were included on a video update and from that, he was was charged with three felony counts of wiretapping.
Jerome Tuccille writes, in turn:
Does a government official, in a taxpayer-supported office, using publicly funded phones to answer questions from an activist, journalist or any other person under the sun about official business really have an expectation of privacy?
Carlos Miller of Photography Is Not a Crime, who has worked with Mueller [Freeman], has an in-depth post up at which he writes, “It was clear from the conversation that Mueller was seeking on-the-record comments and it was clear from the responses of both police and the school official that they were well aware of that.”
Get details on the case and stay on top of developments by visiting the special Ademo page at CopBlock.org.
(Here’s Ademo, left, with a slightly fatter version of your host, center.)
