According to one Florida cop, people can now be penalized for playing anti-cop songs in his very presence, because, whatever, “rights.”

Hialeah cop Harold Garzon made this snap judgement over Thanksgiving break, when “double Harvard grad” and current law student Cesar Baldelomar happened to pull up next to him as he filed paperwork from a recent traffic accident. And unfortunately for the both of them, “Fuck Tha Police” happened to be playing:

At that moment, another song came on Baldelomar’s stereo. “Fuck tha police/Comin’ straight from the underground,” N.W.A. rapped. “A young n**** got it bad cause I’m brown / And not the other color so police think / they have the authority to kill a minority.” Then came the song’s eponymous refrain — “Fuck tha police!” — four times in a row. “Really?” Garzon said to Baldelomar through his open car window. “You’re really playing that song? Pull over.”

Baldelomar quickly pointed out that, despite the lyrics, he was legally allowed to play “Fuck Tha Police” as loudly as he wanted. “In 2012 the state supreme court struck down any law banning loud music,” Baldelomar told the Miami New Times. “I knew that because it was a case I had actually studied in law school.” (And yes, Baldelomar is right!)

That didn’t stop Garzon from giving him three tickets: One for not wearing a seatbelt, one for driving a car with Massachusetts license plates (he’s from Massachusetts), and one for not having a paper copy of his insurance information. Baldelomar plans on fighting all of these tickets in court, since he’s positive he didn’t break any laws, and argues that this incident is just another example of policemen abusing their authority.

“I’m educated. I know my rights. And I speak English, so I can fight this,” he said. “But what about when this happens to someone who’s not so lucky? Policing has to change in this country.”

(Fun fact: Garzon has had 16 internal affairs cases filed against him in the 17 years since he joined the Hialeah Police Department.)

[h/t Fortress America]

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]

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