You know all those videos shot on the hard shoulder, from inside a car that’s been pulled over by the cops?
Well, they could be made illegal if a bill proposed by Texas Rep. Jason Villalba (pictured) passes.
He’s proposing that it should be made illegal to film police officers any closer than 25 feet, or around 7.5 meters. If the person who wants to film is carrying a gun, the distance grows four times to 100 feet…
It wouldn’t be a serious offense, though, and even if the law did pass it would be considered a misdemeanor. You’d only be allowed to film from up close if you were an accredited journalist.
This is an odd moment to propose such a bill, particularly because it was amateur closeup videos that made us understand what happened in places like Ferguson, Missouri.
We have doubts about Rep. Villalba’s real intention being to “just asks filmers to stand back a little so as not to interfere with law enforcement,” and think it’s a ridiculous explanation for a bill that really sounds like it’s aimed at something else.
I started this article by mentioning in-car videos shot on the side of the road, as those would no longer be legal; think of how many gems we’ve seen shot through that method and just how revealing they were about American cops, their conduit and often trigger-happy nature that foreigners always thought was an unjust stereotype – it’s not, it seems.
Voice your thoughts in the comments box below.
Via the Houston Chronicle, photo from Wikimedia Commons