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Richmond, VA — A group of black children in Richmond got their first dose of the police state recently when a police officer threatened them for no reason. This interaction will undoubtedly lead to these children growing up resenting police, thus furthering the divide between the police and the policed.

The group of students from Albert Hill Middle School was walking home from school earlier this month when someone nearby them yelled an expletive toward a Richmond cop who was parked close by. The cop them circled over toward the group—after the shot to his pride caused him to react—and told the children to “man up” and admit who said it, according to one of the students, Cameron Hilliard.

The group of 13-year-old kids insisted it wasn’t them, but then one of them proceeded to tell the officer that even if it was one of them, it didn’t matter—thanks to the first amendment.

“Even if we did say it, that’s our choice of words,” one of Cameron’s friends is heard telling the officer. That’s when the officer snapped and threatened the children.

“Wait till your asses turn 18; then you’re mine,” he says as the children scream in disbelief. The cop then speeds off.

Luckily the kids were filming and this officer is now internet famous for making these remarks.

The video was posted to Facebook with the following description:

While waiting to walk to their after school program a Richmond City Police officer drove past my daughter and her classmates that were standing in front of Alberthill middle school, made a U turn and yelled out of his window “what did you say?”. They told the officer they didn’t say anything and he replied “ yes you did”. One of the young ladies said no we didn’t and if we did we have the right to speak. He proceeds to tell the minors that “That’s ok when you turn 18 your ass is mine”. I am disgusted and disappointed but not surprised that a white male officer would make a threat and use that tone or language towards a group of children. My child and her friends have to walk to their after school program and knowing that the police are making idle threats to them is unsettling. I want to know who this officer is and I demand an apology and some form of reprimand to this officer. Please repost and show how the city treats its youth!

While waiting to walk to their after school program a Richmond City Police officer drove past my daughter and her classmates that were standing in front of Alberthill middle school, made a U turn and yelled out of his window “what did you say?”. They told the officer they didn’t say anything and he replied “ yes you did”. One of the young ladies said no we didn’t and if we did we have the right to speak. He proceeds to tell the minors that “That’s ok when you turn 18 your ass is mine”. I am disgusted and disappointed but not surprised that a white male officer would make a threat and use that tone or language towards a group of children. My child and her friends have to walk to their after school program and knowing that the police are making idle threats to them is unsettling. I want to know who this officer is and I demand an apology and some form of reprimand to this officer. Please repost and show how the city treats its youth!😡#channel12news#channel6news#lavarstoney#williamcsmith#channel8news#wtvr6#blacklives#leaveourbabiesalone#cnn#nbc Posted by Tenesha Calloway on Thursday, March 28, 2019

On Wednesday, Richmond police confirmed an investigation into the incident was underway and that the department “takes these concerns very seriously,” The Washington Post reported.

“This behavior is unacceptable. It reinforces stereotypes of our communities that are hurtful and damages the relationship between our police department and the citizens they are charged to serve,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney wrote in response to the video.

We agree with the mayor. Treating kids like this is unacceptable and had the officer been interested in community policing, he could’ve killed the kids with kindness instead of threats. Had he merely engaged the children and asked them why they felt that way, a mutual understanding may have been met. Instead the officer acted like a hall monitor on a power trip and threatened the small children.

As TFTP has frequently reported, yelling at cops is not a crime as being an as*hole is not illegal and a person’s right to nonviolent speech should never be removed.

Yet still, in the land of the free, a person can be kidnapped and thrown in a cage for arbitrary sounds made with their mouth that cause harm to no one.

Aside from this being clearly asinine, it’s well-established by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional.

In Cohen v. California, the U.S. Supreme court upheld a citizen’s First Amendment right to wear a jacket to court that read “F*ck the Draft,” the court held:

“For, while the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more distasteful than most others of its genre, it is nevertheless often true that one man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric. Indeed, we think it is largely because governmental officials cannot make principled distinctions in this area that the Constitution leaves matters of taste and style so largely to the individual.”

What’s more, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in City of Houston v. Hill, that police must tolerate even more abusive speech than an average citizen. The court concluded that “in the face of verbal challenges to police action, officers and municipalities must respond with restraint,” and added that, “the First Amendment protects a significant amount of verbal criticism and challenge directed at police officers.”

Here at the Free Thought Project, we feel there are no such things as ‘bad words’ but, rather, certain words some people don’t like to hear.

The arbitrary nature of government enforcing laws that dictate what vocabulary a person can use is as ridiculous as it is tyrannical. Sadly, it remains a part of society.

Freedom of speech does not come with terms and conditions as words alone, less the obvious yelling “fire” in a movie theater, cannot cause physical harm.

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