"First Amendment Auditor" sues NYPD again

In May, Reason wrote about the trend of “First Amendment auditors,” activists who film in government buildings in order to test the limits of what is and is not allowed. One in particular, SeanPaul Reyes, films with a GoPro and posts the videos on his YouTube account. Reyes has been arrested multiple times for filming in public places, including inside New York City police stations.

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Today, Reyes filed a federal lawsuit against the NYPD in conjunction with LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a New York–based legal defense fund that focuses on police abuse. LatinoJustice attorney Andrew Case announced the suit at a press conference Monday afternoon.

The NYPD Patrol Guide states that while recording the police is generally allowed, “Members of the public are not allowed to photograph and/or record police activity within Department facilities,” and officers are authorized to ask the person to stop filming and to arrest them if they don’t. A department spokesperson told Gothamist that recording inside a police station “undermines the privacy of people who interact with the criminal justice system and compromises the integrity of ongoing investigations.”

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