Baptist minister beaten and tazed by border patrol
Via Radley Balko, this video of a Baptist minister's account of his beating at the hands of the border patrol in Arizona is worth watching. He refused to consent to allow his car to be searched, citing his Fourth Amendment rights, and found out the hard way how much our government agents really care about the Constitution.
I have not been able to find a news story on this guy as of yet, and have not seen any independent verification of his story - if anyone comes across other information I'd be glad for you to post it in the comments, thanks.
Edit: Thanks to Micah at LightsCameraSnead for finding a news report from KPHO in Phoenix:
A Valley pastor is claiming border patrol agents beat him and stunned him with a Taser at a checkpoint, but he said he had done nothing wrong.Steve Anderson, a preacher at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, said the incident happened Wednesday night at a checkpoint along I-8, far from the Mexican border.
Anderson said agents stopped him on his way back to the Valley from San Diego. The agents asked him where he was going and if he was a U.S. citizen. Anderson said he wasn't answering any of their questions and told them he wanted to go home.
The agents then told Anderson to pull over. He said he sat in his car for an hour before DPS arrived to tell him he was under arrest.
"He said, 'Our dog alerted us that you either have a human being or drugs in this trunk,'" Anderson said.
The officers then forced Anderson from his vehicle, he said.
"They told me, 'You're coming out of this car one way or the other,'" he said.
Then, Anderson said the agents broke the windows of his car, removed him from the car, and beat him.
The checkpoint described was nowhere near the Mexican border. The news report above has a link to more video coverage.
Comments
Very troubling. . . and seemingly credible.
Posted by: Feisty | April 17, 2009 11:33 PM
Coverage: http://www.kpho.com/news/19207871/detail.html
Posted by: Snead | April 18, 2009 2:27 PM
Thanks.
Posted by: BFrederick | April 18, 2009 3:27 PM
The Baptist preacher acted like a fool and then blames law enforcement? Getting out of his car would have violated absolutely NO scripture. The Bible teaches us to obey the laws set up by the nations as long as they don't violate scripture. Even Daniel, when ordered not to pray, didn't make a show of it, he just continued as before. This guy was ready for the trouble HE was about to create. The Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement has every right to have you get out of your vehicle. This gentleman just wants to make trouble for no reason. His actions were unscriptural, unwarranted and a poor example for a minister of the gospel!!!
Posted by: Kevin P. Murphy | May 17, 2009 9:45 PM
There is no law requiring us to answer questions posed by law enforcement. There is no justification for law enforcement to lie regarding probable cause for searches (ie the dog alerted on your car, or I smell the odor of marijuana).
God's plan is not for the United States to be governed with an iron fist by a militarized police force.
Our country is founded on principles that include the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures (and beatings), and if you do not exercise your rights and speak out to support them, you will lose those rights along with everyone else.
This guy is a hero.
Posted by: BFrederick | May 18, 2009 6:48 PM