Washington Cop Attempts to Incite Photographer by Invading Personal Space

by Carlos Miller
PINAC
Nov. 21, 2014

One tactic we occasionally see is when a cop stands directly in your personal space, close enough where he can kiss you, claiming he has the right to stand where he pleases -- when you know if you would do the same to him, he would fear for his life and kill you.

What they’re really doing is hoping the citizen pushes the cop off or punches him in the face, which you will see is very tempting in this video where a smug Tacoma cop named Barry Paris does his best to incite photographer Scott Shimek, not only standing in his personal space, but brushing up against him for no reason.

Paris is a veteran cop who shot an innocent man in 1996, resulting in a $538,000 settlement for the victim with no disciplinary action against him, so he learned early on he can get away with anything.

The latest incident took place Tuesday as Shimek aka Rogue Reflections was photographing a union protest in front of a hospital. As he was photographing the protest, he noticed undercover Tacoma cops following and video recording him, so he turned his camera on them.

After 45 minutes, he crossed the street and was issued a jaywalking citation, even though several cops and protesters were also crossing the street in the same area.

But he was the only one video recording police, so obviously they need to send a message of intimidation.

However, Shimek, who was arrested earlier this year for recording cops, doesn’t intimidate easily, accusing them of being hypocrites and singling him out, so Paris had to increase the escalation by standing in his personal space in the hopes he would take a swing.

From his Youtube description:

On 11-18-2014 I was filming a protest at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Tacoma, WA. I started to notice security was watching me and taking pictures, so I started filming them. After about 45 minutes of this, it appeared I had my own “under cover” security detail following me in an unmarked vehicle. Of course, I started filming them. I walked around the entire perimeter of the medical center and they followed -appearing to try to remain incognito, even though I was filming them at every turn. When I got to the back side of the medical center, I noticed 2 marked vehicles from Tacoma Police Department arrived to my general location. It was reported they were telling the protesters (who had a permit for their free speech) they had to go another 50ft away. I called across the street to encourage them to get the names and badge numbers of the police employees.

Since the sidewalk was closed in a few different locations, making crossing the street in a crosswalk difficult, I looked both ways and crossed. I was immediately issued a J-Walking ticket. Of course, the police employees J-Walked a few times to give me this ticket, after running my info. I pointed out that many other people were crossing the street in the same fashion and asked why I was singled out. I received no conclusive answer and can only guess it was because I was the only one actively filming the police employees.

After I was issued my ticket, Tacoma Police Employee B. Paris hovered around me. He bumped into me a few times and stood within inches from me. It appeared that issuing a ticket was not enough for this pirate and his cohort. He seemed to actually want to provoke a physical altercation with me.

I think it is important to note the obvious: I was pretty upset with the way these employees acted like simple dogs, pissing on a rock and posturing. I think it is OK to be pissed at cops who act in the SAME WAY that would be an arrestable offense if a citizen did it.

Whether one agrees with what I do or how I do it, one should ask if it is ever OK for a police employee to physically touch a person in this way. If a citizen did the same thing, a police employee would articulate that the citizen was standing within their “reactionary gap,” they felt threatened and used force. When a cop does it, they say they can do it if they want.

Is this the type of policing we need in America?