Justin King (TheAntiMedia)

Establishment mouthpiece Bill O’Reilly ran a short segment attacking Cop Block on his show this week. He referred to the activists as “clowns” and disapproved of the idea of filming police. For anybody that pretends to be part of the news apparatus to openly discourage the ability to film public officials and even hint that it should be illegal shows viewers that the “cable news show” is anything but news. No self-respecting journalist or even a tabloid hack would ever condone an encroachment on the First Amendment.

Bill described the organization’s activities by saying they are “spying on the police.”

Perhaps Bill has missed the list of articles detailing how local police departments are, in fact, spying on Americans, or maybe it just doesn’t fit into his narrow worldview so he just overlooks it. Recording public interactions is not spying by any definition. If anything, it’s journalism; albeit a bastardized and guerilla form of it. Journalism is that subject Bill studied at Boston College. It’s been a while, so maybe he just forgot what it was.

Bill took the opportunity to show a clip of an Arlington Police Department representative saying

“officers are actually being followed. A lot of times the officers don’t have any idea who’s following them.”

He echoes the complaint by Dallas Police Association President Ron Pinkton when he said

“We don’t know who it is pulling behind us. We don’t know they’re there to videotape, they might be part of… if that guy has has just done a kidnapping they could be part of the kidnapping. You don’t know.”

As was previously pointed out, if an officer is unable to tell the difference between a camera and firearm, perhaps that officer should seek out a different line of work before they kill an unarmed birdwatcher. It’s either that or the department needs to step up its training program.

Megyn Kelly of the Kelly File, smiled and chuckled as she mocked the appearance of one of the activists and stated that an officer could be

“riding down the road, trying do your job, and suddenly it’s like Paul Bunyon is after me!”

The ever-present echo for ideas supporting a police state, Bill O’Reilly, chimed in by stating

“Yeah, there’s somebody with a camera in your face.”

Of course, the more likely scenario is that you’re rushing home after you’ve found out your house has been broken into and a cop sticks a gun, not a camera, in your face. The video below shows that exact scenario. Before Bill responds by saying that the cops have their own video and this case proves it, he should note that, as usual, the equipment malfunctions just as the officer begins taunting the teenager about sticking a pistol in her face. So, no, the American people can’t just trust the police to police themselves.

Then there are the incidents that take place away from the dashcams in patrol cars. The video of Eric Garner being killed by the NYPD wasn’t captured by an activist associated with Cop Block, but by somebody who embodied their beliefs and mission. Without the video captured by a citizen the incident would have probably been swept under the rug, but that’s probably just fine with Bill. After all, Garner was accused of something by the police; therefore it’s ok to kill him without repercussions. When you stand against police accountability that is exactly the stance you are taking.

Bill goes on to use the standard authoritarian line to further attempt to marginalize the Cop Block activist:

“The guy with the beard, and he looks like a biker.”

As Bill points out, if somebody looks or dresses a certain way, they are obviously a threat. That excuse has been used to condemn rape victims, kill blacks, determine whether or not somebody should be sent to a concentration camp, and a host of other evils perpetrated by men who look down with disdain on the working class.

Then he goes on to say that the American people just don’t understand. Since Bill thinks his viewers are too dumb to think for themselves he says

“Being a police officer requires a lot of patience, and I don’t think people understand that. You have to deal with idiots like all day.”

Given that it’s clear that Bill isn’t exactly in the news industry, maybe he missed the case where an officer shot and killed a subdued mentally ill teen after allegedly saying

“We don’t have time for this.”

It doesn’t seem like all officers have the patience they need.

Bill, as far as them having to deal with idiots all day, the American people were unaware that officers were required to spend their days on set with you. On behalf of Cop Block, I would like to apologize to police officers everywhere. Knowing this, Cop Block will now be much more understanding of law enforcement indiscretions. After being forced to spend time with you, I might be mentally unstable enough to take out my frustrations and kill the nearest unarmed homeless person while they begged for their life.

Did you hear Kelly Thomas’s pleas for help, Bill? Did you listen to him beg for his dad as officers beat him to death? You and others who constantly defend police, no matter how inappropriate their actions, allowed that happen. Furthermore, your deafening silence in regards to the officers’ actions allowed them to walk free.

Megyn Kelly chimed in again with the wonderful observation that the American people don’t really want Cop Block when she said

“No one has hired them or really wants them to provide that service.”

Well, Megyn, allow me to humbly disagree. America’s wants can accurately be measured by social media in the modern era. Cop Block’s main Facebook page has over 825,000 subscribers. That doesn’t include the local chapters, or the dozens of similar organizations. In case you were unaware, that’s more than three times the number of subscribers you have on your page. So if America’s desires are indicative of whether or not somebody should continue with an activity, we can safely assume you’ll be tendering your resignation.

The dynamic duo of police state propaganda then goes on to attempt to scare the American people into believing that Cop Block might start shooting cops with something other than cameras when they bring up a film titled When Should You Shoot a Cop?

Of course, they don’t discuss the content of the film. That’s most likely because they didn’t watch it. The film lays out the fact that the regimes of Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot used their cops to commit the worst crimes in the history of man. The film actually states that if law enforcement is simply protecting the people from attackers and thieves that it is never ok to shoot a cop.

Everything done by the oppressive regimes outlined in the film was legal. The governments passed laws to make genocide and tyranny legal. Had the talking heads actually watched the video, they might understand that the Founding Fathers of our country were, in fact, cop killers. There are only a few options in regards to Bill O’Reilly’s actions: he ran nothing more than state propaganda and didn’t even watch the video, he watched it and intentionally misled his viewers, he watched it and didn’t understand it, or he stands shoulder to shoulder with the people who supported the worst regimes in history. In a zone without political spin, those are the only options.

Bill O’Reilly fashions himself as a supporter of the U.S. Constitution. It’s clear from his condemnation of this video that he is either full of hot air about his support for the U.S. Constitution, or he doesn’t understand that the intent of the Second Amendment was to give the citizens a means of defense against congressional tyranny. The video is included below, and I would suggest any freedom-loving person spend the twelve minutes it takes to watch it.

In closing, the American people want Cop Block and like minded organizations. More importantly, they need them. There was a time when journalists and newsmen were willing to buck the system and give a voice to the voiceless in pursuit of justice. As Bill O’Reilly perfectly exemplifies, the once honorable profession of journalism has been hijacked by fear-mongering and misleading opportunists that seek only ratings. The First Amendment was included for people to express dissent and allow public discourse and accountability. Given that most of those that proclaim to be journalists do nothing but regurgitate political talking points, it won’t be long until Americans move from exercising their First Amendment rights to exercising their Second Amendment rights.

So while it may be unsettling, the very sad reality of the situation dictates that those members of the establishment that would stop organizations from shooting public officials with cameras will be the cause of them shooting them with guns.

Disclosure notice: While I am not an active participant in Cop Block activities, the organization has republished with permission articles I have written on its website. I have also done just about everything short of publicly endorsing the organization. The reader can consider this article my public endorsement.

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