Watch Chicago Police Officer Harass, Handcuff Man In Garfield Park For Doing Something Perfectly Legal

By Jon Graef in News on Aug 9, 2014 6:00PM

Photo by: jmuch

A Chicago masseuse who was practicing her craft in Garfield Park was allegedly interrupted by seven police cars in Garfield Park. The police were concerned about the crowd who were gathering in the park. (A concern, it should be said, which has some validity after what occurred in Montrose Beach a few weeks back.)

A man, standing next to the masseuse, began recording. For the first two minutes of this video, which surfaced online yesterday, you can see a perfectly reasonable exchange of ideas. The woman, who uploaded the video on YouTube under the handle 'Keyia Massage' (a search for which yields this LinkedIn page) explains that Garfield Park is the only safe place for her and her neighbors to go. The police officer responds by saying they were concerned about reports of alcohol and marijuana use, and that those could lead to violence.

All appears well and civil. But all good things, they must come to an end. That end comes via a...let's just call her an overly enthusiastic police officer who, despite being required to enforce the law, doesn't actually know the law:

A Chicago police officer stepped out of a patrol car with her phone recording before snatching a camera from a citizen who was recording her, handcuffing him and telling him he had no right to record her.
“Did I give you permission to record me?” the cop demanded to know.

“I’m recording the whole situation that is going on,” the man said.

The cop then demands his identification before the video turns off.

Here's the not exactly Serling-esque twist to this particular saga: In Illinois, it is perfectly legal to record police officers, or anyone else for that matter, in public, thanks to a recent ruling.. The death knell to the Illinois eavesdropping law was delivered this past March.

And yet, it appears that not everyone got the word. Behold:

This is certainly not the Chicago Police Department at its alleged worse, nor is it likely be the most high profile case of security overreach. But it does go to show that just because Chicago's finest are charged with enforcing the law doesn't mean they necessarily know it.

We'll let The Clash have the final word here. (And speaking of know your rights.)