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How state is asking employees to handle so-called '1st Amendment Auditors' - YouTube
Channel: WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7
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they call themselves first amendment
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auditors and citizen journalists they're
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on social media and known for getting in
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people's faces well now the state is
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instructing its 50 000 employees on how
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to respond to these types of verbal
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attacks but we also wanted to hear from
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the people responsible for these
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so-called fraud it's so tonight a
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popular social media star is opening up
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to 7 action news reporter jim kirchner
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about what's at stake
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please please
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you made contact with me what's your
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name and badge number officer
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hey do you want to tell me your name
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because i'll be happy to help you out
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there you go guys the walk of shame
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freedom news now has been posting videos
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for several years the person behind it
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justin mcdermott there has never been a
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better time than now to do your first
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first amendment audit can you tell me
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what you're doing
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anything we had somebody calling about
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you being out here this video is from
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2017. mcdermott is outside the warren
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tank plant a federal contractor he's
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wearing a full face mask long before
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covid refusing to answer questions about
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who he is why he's there if he has any
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weapons
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these people present themselves i mean
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officers are killed in the line of duty
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trying to do exactly what
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officer reed and those officers were
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doing are they asking
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legitimate questions
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oftentimes there are they are legitimate
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questions and i'm
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i'm okay with questions from officers
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and my
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my auditing style has changed throughout
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the years there's absolutely no doubt
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that he was attempting to provoke the
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officers stop please please oh they're
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grabbing me they're driving me am i
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being detained the police commissioner
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says the plan can be to get even more
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follow a lawsuit
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they're going to get a settlement from a
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city
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they're possibly going to get the
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officer terminated the trend prompted
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this email to go out to 50 000 state
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employees telling them how to
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uphold the general rights of the public
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while remaining vigilant for suspicious
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behavior email continues the encounters
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often include behavior that's designed
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to provoke a reaction that could be
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viewed as a violation of first amendment
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rights do you believe that some behavior
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is deliberately provocative
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next question
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the e-mail continues the most important
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thing to do is to remain calm and
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pleasant
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hey do you want to tell me your name
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because i'll be happy to help you out in
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another video outside a prison in adrian
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mcdermott is shooting video with two
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cameras when he's approached first by
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prison officials and says this they
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abuse their
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inmates every day
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most of them abuse their wives you don't
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know that when you're out there
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yeah they don't have any they don't know
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any of that about myself either get this
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mcdermott says this is the key to his
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first amendment audits there's nothing
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to hide then there should be nothing to
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fear at the end of his videos when
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police walk away he draws conclusions
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often calling them first amendment fails
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there goes the walk of shame guys these
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are youtube channels
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part of it is entertainment value hey
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don't grab me
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a couple of weeks ago another team of
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three first amendment auditors were
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confronted by the saginaw county under
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sheriff he says he wanted to get video
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of their faces this was their second
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visit to that department their first
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visit was in the lobby a few days
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earlier shooting videos through windows
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the undersheriff says several young
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women employees are inside extremely
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uncomfortable because they want to know
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why is this guy recording me and why
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what are they going to do with
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the recordings of me after this incident
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the men filed a complaint with michigan
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state police the undersheriff says
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that made a record of who they are yeah
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i'm good with that go ahead do do your
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investigation i went out there so that
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if something were to happen one of my
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employees i can say these three
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gentlemen were here i told the
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undersheriff about my questions and lack
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of answers from justin mcdermott they
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believe it only works one way
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if they're true to me if they're truly
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the media then
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aren't they subject to the same rules as
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what apply to you
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mcdermott tells me he posts his videos
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for comments and discussion he sells
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merchandise he seeks subscribers he
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wants to grow his online audience
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it is all his first amendment right
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in warren jim kirchner 7 action news
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